Thursday, September 4, 2008
Downtime
BibleShared.com will be unavailable today between the hours of 8am and 7pm. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Database Server Updates
Hello,
If you experience any errors on the page today it's because the database server is being updated. This will increase security and performance in the long run. Everything should be back to normal by this afternoon.
Thanks for your understanding!
- Nick
If you experience any errors on the page today it's because the database server is being updated. This will increase security and performance in the long run. Everything should be back to normal by this afternoon.
Thanks for your understanding!
- Nick
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Timeout Issues
Well, I finally got to the bottom of the Timeout issues. BibleShared uses SQL Server on the backend to store the bible data, user data, and notes data. Unfortunately, in my haste to get the site up and running, I forgot to properly configure the way it handles logging. This miscalculation finally caught up with me. The log file has been growing at a rate of ~100 MB / day to the point that 10 minutes ago it reached 24 GB.
The server its running on happens to run a set of hard disk drives that backup the data as its being written. When trying to back-up large sets of data there is a noticable delay in writing. The large file size combined with this delay was too much for the web site to handle. It took the delayed response as meaning the database server was down, and it gave up.
Fortunatley, all that was needed was a simple configuration change. It should be up and running smoothly now.
This article provides an excellent technical overview of the problem and the solution:
http://www.nigelrivett.net/TransactionLogFileGrows_1.html
The server its running on happens to run a set of hard disk drives that backup the data as its being written. When trying to back-up large sets of data there is a noticable delay in writing. The large file size combined with this delay was too much for the web site to handle. It took the delayed response as meaning the database server was down, and it gave up.
Fortunatley, all that was needed was a simple configuration change. It should be up and running smoothly now.
This article provides an excellent technical overview of the problem and the solution:
http://www.nigelrivett.net/TransactionLogFileGrows_1.html
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Login Process Timeouts
Hello all,
I've noticed an increase in error reports indicating that there have been timeouts while logging on. I'm not really sure why this is an issue right now, but I'll try to get to the bottom of it.
I've noticed an increase in error reports indicating that there have been timeouts while logging on. I'm not really sure why this is an issue right now, but I'll try to get to the bottom of it.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
BibleShared.com API
Hello all,
I've been hard at work on BibleShared.com this last week, and am excited about some of the new things in store. This might not interest much of the general public, but for software developers and web designers, this might generate some excitement.
I'm working on developing an open API for BibleShared.com that will allow programmers to create software and web sites that use the features of BibleShared.com. Imagine being able to access your notes using a program on your cell phone, or searching the scriptures by sending a text message. These kinds of thing, and more will be possible.
It will be implemented as a SOAP web service which should have .NET programmers especially excited. An API Key will be required for applications to be able to call its methods, but that will be provided for free to those who request it. To access any information for or about a user, direct authorization must be granted by that user through an interface already implemented on BibleShared.com.
Currently the following methods are planned to be supported:
I've been hard at work on BibleShared.com this last week, and am excited about some of the new things in store. This might not interest much of the general public, but for software developers and web designers, this might generate some excitement.
I'm working on developing an open API for BibleShared.com that will allow programmers to create software and web sites that use the features of BibleShared.com. Imagine being able to access your notes using a program on your cell phone, or searching the scriptures by sending a text message. These kinds of thing, and more will be possible.
It will be implemented as a SOAP web service which should have .NET programmers especially excited. An API Key will be required for applications to be able to call its methods, but that will be provided for free to those who request it. To access any information for or about a user, direct authorization must be granted by that user through an interface already implemented on BibleShared.com.
Currently the following methods are planned to be supported:
- AddNote
- AddNoteComments
- CreateSubGroup
- GetAuthCodeStatus
- GetChapterAddress
- GetNewAuthCode [Done]
- GetNote
- GetNoteComments
- GetPassageText
- GetPassageURL [Done]
- GetProgress
- GetRecentNotes
- MarkAsRead
- SearchBible [Done]
- SearchNotes
If you are a developer and would have interest in programming against this API, let me know in the comments, and suggest any methods you would like to see. No destructive methods will be supported (i.e. there will be no "delete" operations offered through the API).
On an unrelated side note, the Verse of the Day widget is still planned, we just need more verses to feature. Please leave comments with your favorite verses. Thanks!
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Global Notes Complete
Well, the Global Notes functionality of BibleShared.com is now live and available for exploration.
I went ahead and marked all of my own Shared Notes as Global Notes so that they will be available across all of the groups of which I am a member. This adds around 8 pages of notes to each and every one of these groups -- I hope the groups' administrators do not mind the flood.
This brings me to an interesting tidbit about Global Notes. If you are a group administrator or a moderator, you can prevent specific Global Notes from appearing in your group by simply deleting them as you might do with any other especially offensive note. This will not actually delete the note, but instead add it to a blacklist for your group. Though the note is not entirely lost, this process cannot be reversed, so don't delete notes casually.
Enjoy the new feature! I'm going to bed.
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
I went ahead and marked all of my own Shared Notes as Global Notes so that they will be available across all of the groups of which I am a member. This adds around 8 pages of notes to each and every one of these groups -- I hope the groups' administrators do not mind the flood.
This brings me to an interesting tidbit about Global Notes. If you are a group administrator or a moderator, you can prevent specific Global Notes from appearing in your group by simply deleting them as you might do with any other especially offensive note. This will not actually delete the note, but instead add it to a blacklist for your group. Though the note is not entirely lost, this process cannot be reversed, so don't delete notes casually.
Enjoy the new feature! I'm going to bed.
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Coming Soon
Let the screenshot to the right be a teaser of what is to come.
If you look carefully at the icon, and the extra piece of information included under the text of the note you just might be able to figure it out. Otherwise, I'll just say it. Global Notes.
Have you ever posted a note in one group, and wished that you could see it in another group? Have you been a member of a group for a long time, and want to join another group, but don't want to lose your notes? Well soon you will be able to set certain notes as available everywhere, and as long as you are a member of a group, these notes will appear there.
This should provide a better experience for members of groups, as well as group administrators that are just starting out, as they can migrate all their existing notes without having to change anything at all.
Currently, on the "Recent Notes" list, you see notes that are either "Shared" notes, or "Private" notes which you have direct permissions for. Global Notes makes this a little more complicated. Now you will see a note if any of the following is true:
- The note is global and the creator is in your group
- The note is shared and it was created in your group
- The note is private, not written by you, you have permission, and it was created in your group
- The note is private, written by you, and was created in your group
- The note is completely private (i.e. "Only I can view" was selected), and written by you in any group.
Let me know your feedback on this feature that is in development by posting a comment.
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
If you look carefully at the icon, and the extra piece of information included under the text of the note you just might be able to figure it out. Otherwise, I'll just say it. Global Notes.Have you ever posted a note in one group, and wished that you could see it in another group? Have you been a member of a group for a long time, and want to join another group, but don't want to lose your notes? Well soon you will be able to set certain notes as available everywhere, and as long as you are a member of a group, these notes will appear there.
This should provide a better experience for members of groups, as well as group administrators that are just starting out, as they can migrate all their existing notes without having to change anything at all.
Currently, on the "Recent Notes" list, you see notes that are either "Shared" notes, or "Private" notes which you have direct permissions for. Global Notes makes this a little more complicated. Now you will see a note if any of the following is true:
- The note is global and the creator is in your group
- The note is shared and it was created in your group
- The note is private, not written by you, you have permission, and it was created in your group
- The note is private, written by you, and was created in your group
- The note is completely private (i.e. "Only I can view" was selected), and written by you in any group.
Let me know your feedback on this feature that is in development by posting a comment.
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Verse of the Day Widget
Hello All!
I've been hard at work getting new things prepared for BibleShared.com. Among those things is a widget that will show the "Verse of the Day". Unfortunately that requires going through the Scriptures and picking out 365 different verses to feature. That's a LOT of work!
Just going through my own margin notes, I can come up with around 80-100, but I need your help! If you have a favorite verse, or one that you think should be a "verse of the day", post it as a comment to this blog, and I'll see what we can do about including them in the rotation.
Thanks to TwinkleMom for the suggestion!
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
I've been hard at work getting new things prepared for BibleShared.com. Among those things is a widget that will show the "Verse of the Day". Unfortunately that requires going through the Scriptures and picking out 365 different verses to feature. That's a LOT of work!
Just going through my own margin notes, I can come up with around 80-100, but I need your help! If you have a favorite verse, or one that you think should be a "verse of the day", post it as a comment to this blog, and I'll see what we can do about including them in the rotation.
Thanks to TwinkleMom for the suggestion!
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
KJV and Search Features
In my January 18th blog, I promised to develop two search features by the 17th of February. Well, it is the 16th and both of those features are now available for general use.
- It is now possible to view the text of the Bible in both the King James Version (KJV) and the New American Standard Bible (NASB).
- It is now possible to search the Bible and search margin notes.
Both of these features were planned since the very beginning in one way or another, but have been put off until now. My only concern through all of this is that the navigation is starting to get cluttered. I may eventually unify the search so that one page searches both the Bible and margin notes. Until then, this is what is available.
UPDATE 2/17/08 11:00 PM: I unified the two search pages into one page, and added an advanced search page for searching the Bible. It looks so much better now.
I hope you all enjoy these new features, and make frequent use of them!
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Facebook Group
For those of you who use Facebook and like to join random groups, you can now join the BibleShared.com group at the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7284667412
Enjoy!
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7284667412
Enjoy!
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Vacation
Well, I'll be headed out on a much needed vacation tomorrow. As such, support requests and group creation requests may not be answered in a timely manner. If I have internet connectivity I'll try to get to those as I can, but I cannot make any guarantees.
I'm fairly certain reading plans will be added (in some capacity) in a future version, along with configurable email notifications as well. I probably will not include native support for text messages, simply because I don't want BibleShared to be responsible for running up peoples' cell phone bills. However, if you put in the email address for your cell phone, it won't bug you about it.
Another feature was suggested by Pastor Marty of Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in Everett, WA (my home church, and the origin of BibleShared.com). That feature was a prayer journal. This will most definitely be incorporated in some future version of BibleShared.com, I just don't know when at this point.
I will make one promise though. On or before February 17th, 2008, I will finally unveil fulltext searching of the Bible AND margin notes. It MIGHT even search multiple versions of the Bible under the hood so that if the wording stored in your memory isn't the NASB, it will still find it. Right now I have the KJV, NASB, and NLT indexed (with only the NASB published), so it is possible to do this, but don't hold me to it. I still have to research the legal implications of this with regards to the NLT.
I do have a random question before I go: Would you like the option to switch the Bible view so that it displays the King James Version of the Bible? Let me know via a comment.
Anyway, enjoy the next week!
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
I'm fairly certain reading plans will be added (in some capacity) in a future version, along with configurable email notifications as well. I probably will not include native support for text messages, simply because I don't want BibleShared to be responsible for running up peoples' cell phone bills. However, if you put in the email address for your cell phone, it won't bug you about it.
Another feature was suggested by Pastor Marty of Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in Everett, WA (my home church, and the origin of BibleShared.com). That feature was a prayer journal. This will most definitely be incorporated in some future version of BibleShared.com, I just don't know when at this point.
I will make one promise though. On or before February 17th, 2008, I will finally unveil fulltext searching of the Bible AND margin notes. It MIGHT even search multiple versions of the Bible under the hood so that if the wording stored in your memory isn't the NASB, it will still find it. Right now I have the KJV, NASB, and NLT indexed (with only the NASB published), so it is possible to do this, but don't hold me to it. I still have to research the legal implications of this with regards to the NLT.
I do have a random question before I go: Would you like the option to switch the Bible view so that it displays the King James Version of the Bible? Let me know via a comment.
Anyway, enjoy the next week!
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Two Feature Requests / Comments
This last week I've received two feature requests that I'm seriously considering implementing in a newer version of BibleShared.com.
The first request comes from Jacob of Southwest First Assembly of God in Lakewood, Colorado. He recommended that BibleShared.com add a "Reading Plan" feature wherein a user can create/follow a specific Bible reading plan, and track his/her progress as (s)he reads through the Bible (or a portion thereof) in a predetermined order.
The second request comes from Dan of Overlake Park Presbyterian Church in Bellevue, Washington. He recommended that a user be able to set an option that has BibleShared.com send him/her emails if (s)he does not read the Bible on a certain day. This would not be enabled by default (so as to reduce unwanted spam), but could be enabled if so desired.
Post your comments, and tell me if these are something that you would like to see in a future version of BibleShared.com.
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
The first request comes from Jacob of Southwest First Assembly of God in Lakewood, Colorado. He recommended that BibleShared.com add a "Reading Plan" feature wherein a user can create/follow a specific Bible reading plan, and track his/her progress as (s)he reads through the Bible (or a portion thereof) in a predetermined order.
The second request comes from Dan of Overlake Park Presbyterian Church in Bellevue, Washington. He recommended that a user be able to set an option that has BibleShared.com send him/her emails if (s)he does not read the Bible on a certain day. This would not be enabled by default (so as to reduce unwanted spam), but could be enabled if so desired.
Post your comments, and tell me if these are something that you would like to see in a future version of BibleShared.com.
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Blog Widget
Starting today, you can now add a BibleShared.com widget to your blog that will display your current reading progress.
For details head over here:
http://www.bibleshared.com/widgets.asp
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
For details head over here:
http://www.bibleshared.com/widgets.asp
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Bug Round-up
So it has been 4 months since the initial launch of BibleShared.com. This has allowed enough time to pass for bug reports to begin piling up. I fixed a few issues today, and will continue to work through these issues throughout the next few weeks.
Here's a list of all the issues submitted thus-far, for the curious:
Fixed
- A favicon should be created -- FIXED: Now an open bible
- Include an option for sub-groups -- FIXED: Now available under "Admin"
- Cannot create a group with 32767+ members -- WON'T FIX: The group would be virtually unmanageable anyway
- Profanity filter does not work on feeds -- FIXED: Now feeds are filtered
- Bug report form should make description optional -- FIXED: Now only the title is required
High Priority
- There is no search feature
- Undefined behavior when group subscription lapses
- There is no page describing subscription levels/pricing
- There is no password reset feature
Normal Priority
- User notes page pagination UI error
- User can change their password to nothing (but then cannot log in)
- RSS feeds need to be protected with a key value
- Session can time out while writing a note
- Bad grammar in closed forum thank you message
Low Priority
- UI looks awful on IE6 under Windows XP at 800x600 resolution
- Switching group and clicking "Edit Note" on note from previous group gives incorrect message
- Hitting the back button after switching a group forces sign-in
- Error message "User "" is not a member of this group" is seen after removing self from group
Feature Requests
- Re-create sign-up page to make more sense
- Widget to add to blogs to track bible reading progress
- Memory verse list
- Cancel button on delete confirmation page
- Copyright info bar extends too far to the right
- Button backgrounds are too light and hard to read
- Blog link should be moved
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
Here's a list of all the issues submitted thus-far, for the curious:
Fixed
- A favicon should be created -- FIXED: Now an open bible
- Include an option for sub-groups -- FIXED: Now available under "Admin"
- Cannot create a group with 32767+ members -- WON'T FIX: The group would be virtually unmanageable anyway
- Profanity filter does not work on feeds -- FIXED: Now feeds are filtered
- Bug report form should make description optional -- FIXED: Now only the title is required
High Priority
- There is no search feature
- Undefined behavior when group subscription lapses
- There is no page describing subscription levels/pricing
- There is no password reset feature
Normal Priority
- User notes page pagination UI error
- User can change their password to nothing (but then cannot log in)
- RSS feeds need to be protected with a key value
- Session can time out while writing a note
- Bad grammar in closed forum thank you message
Low Priority
- UI looks awful on IE6 under Windows XP at 800x600 resolution
- Switching group and clicking "Edit Note" on note from previous group gives incorrect message
- Hitting the back button after switching a group forces sign-in
- Error message "User "" is not a member of this group" is seen after removing self from group
Feature Requests
- Re-create sign-up page to make more sense
- Widget to add to blogs to track bible reading progress
- Memory verse list
- Cancel button on delete confirmation page
- Copyright info bar extends too far to the right
- Button backgrounds are too light and hard to read
- Blog link should be moved
About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.
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