Need testers for the new Kindle version of the KJV Bible with the best navigation

[osnova]

In short:

I would greatly appreciate if heavy Bible users with any version of the Kindle (especially, the Kindle 1 and Kindle 2) would test the attached sample file of the KJV Bible and report any issues. The sample file contains only Pentateuch, the Gospels, and Acts; however, it should work as the full version in all other respects. By the way, if this file works on anything other than Kindles please let me know as well.


More detailed post:

After looking at almost all versions of the KJV Bible available for the Kindle, I was not satisfied with any of them. I am not just a casual reader of the Bible (when you pick up reading right where you left off the previous time). I need to be able to turn to a specific verse anywhere in the Bible at a moment's notice while studying a specific passage, reading a theological book or listening to a sermon. As a result, even the versions with the hyperlinked tables of contents were not sufficient for me. Moreover, almost all versions that I could find did not preserve the formatting or deleted some of the text that I find in my paper copy (for example, italics, small caps for "LORD", the headings of many Psalms, or the Hebrew letter names in Psalm 119, KJV notes at the end of some of the Paul's epistles). So, I have set off on making another Kindle version of the KJV. It has been a long haul, but now I am almost ready to release this version and would appreciate help with beta testing it.

Some features of this version of the KJV Bible:

– correctly formatted (i.e., preserving the formatting of the original KJV – italics, small caps in LORD, etc.)
– with original KJV translators’ notes (to see a note, press a hyperlink; after you are done with the note return to the main text by pressing "BACK" on your Kindle)
– original text, notes, book titles carefully preserved (e.g., see the notes at the end of the Paul's epistles that are found in the original KJV.)
– four different ways of easy and quick navigation between books, chapters, verses. Once you learn all of the four navigation methods, you will be able to open any verse in your Kindle Bible as fast as (or even faster than) in your paper copy.

Note: One of the navigation methods makes it necessary to have a slight indent for each verse; however, the benefit of this navigation method far outweighs the slight "cost" of such indents.

– easy to determine where you are in the Bible (for this reason the words "CHAPTER" were replaced with short book names)
– Jesus' words are in bold
– as any Kindle book, the KJV Bible is searchable; however, when you first install the file please wait for the Kindle to index the whole Bible (about 10 minutes of Kindle "on" time) before searching. The file is large and it takes a long time to index. For this reason, one of the navigation methods that relies on the search function will not be immediately available.

Areas of special focus for testing:

• Let me know if you find anything that is not in accordance with the paper copy (text, formatting, etc.). Note that I have intentionally made the indents and replaced words “CHAPTER” with the book names.
• Please see if the cover looks well on your Kindle.
• The current version allows jumping from book to book by pressing joystick right or left. Do you find this useful? Would you prefer jumping between chapters (rather than whole books) using this method?
• Kindle 1 owners, do you mind that the TOC is left-justified? I have heard that right-justified TOC is preferable for Kindle 1 owners.
• Please test all available navigation methods (i.e., hyperlinked table of contents, direct verse jump that uses the Search functionality as described below, pressing joystick left and right, and just the old-fashioned page browsing).
• Do you need any other hyperlinked spots?
  

New Navigation Method: direct chapter/verse jump using the Search functionality:
In this version, all you need to do is type an abbreviated book name period chapter number period verse number and press “find” twice (you need not wait for the Kindle to display the search results) and you will be looking at that verse. If you just need to open a chapter then verse number is not necessary. Do not forget periods and use only the abbreviations that are listed below.

For example, if you wish to select Chapter 3 of Genesis, you would:

1. type the standard abbreviation for Genesis (see the list of standard abbreviations for all 66 books below), then period, and finally number "3" in other words: Gen.3
2. click “find” twice and you are there.

For John 3:16, you type John.3.16 and double click “find”.

Note that you should put the chapter number even for books that have only one chapter. For example, Epistle of Jude verse 5 would translate to Jude.1.5 and a double click.

Book name abbreviations

Old Testament (39)
Gen – Genesis
Exod – Exodus
Lev – Leviticus
Num – Numbers
Deut – Deuteronomy
Josh – Joshua
Judg – Judges
Ruth – Ruth
1Sam – 1 Samuel
2Sam – 2 Samuel
1Kgs – 1 Kings
2Kgs – 2 Kings
1Chr – 1 Chronicles
2Chr – 2 Chronicles
Ezra – Ezra
Neh – Nehemiah
Esth – Esther
Job – Job
Ps – Psalms
Prov – Proverbs
Eccl – Ecclesiastes
Song – Song of Solomon
Isa – Isaiah
Jer – Jeremiah
Lam – Lamentations
Ezek – Ezekiel
Dan – Daniel
Hos – Hosea
Joel – Joel
Amos – Amos
Obad – Obadiah
Jonah – Jonah
Mic – Micah
Nah – Nahum
Hab – Habakkuk
Zeph – Zephaniah
Hag – Haggai
Zech – Zechariah
Mal – Malachi


New Testament (27)
Matt – Matthew
Mark – Mark
Luke – Luke
John – John
Acts – Acts
Rom – Romans
1Cor – 1 Corinthians
2Cor – 2 Corinthians
Gal – Galatians
Eph – Ephesians
Phil – Philippians
Col – Colossians
1Thess – 1 Thessalonians
2Thess – 2 Thessalonians
1Tim – 1 Timothy
2Tim – 2 Timothy
Titus – Titus
Phlm – Philemon
Heb – Hebrews
Jas – James
1Pet – 1 Peter
2Pet – 2 Peter
1John – 1 John
2John – 2 John
3John – 3 John
Jude – Jude
Rev – Revelation

[osnova]

Well, I've had no volunteers. So, I had to run my own tests to the best of my ability. I have just published the book on Amazon with a suggested price of $1.99. I am told it will be reviewed and posted in their bookstore. This is my first publication on Amazon, and I do not know what to expect. I just hope that my version of KJV will be useful.

[GeoffC]

you did post this in the kindle thread, as well as here ?
You have had 8 views at the mobi file ...... so all is not totally ignored ....

[osnova]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

you did post this in the kindle thread, as well as here ?
You have had 8 views at the mobi file ...... so all is not totally ignored ....

Thanks, Geoff.

No, to the first one.

I am new to this forum. Usually, on other fora they discourage you from cross-posting.

I am not upset. Thank you to all who downloaded the sample. I just wanted to let folks know that I went ahead with publishing it on Amazon. Yet I am still open to bug reports and suggestions.

[Spoon Man]

I just downloaded this and put it on my Kindle 1 using Calibre, however the search function doesn't work... I'm using the "search" button, followed by "Gen.2.3".

Also, the hyperlink page is definitely not k1 friendly, where there are a large amount of numbers the k1 will only display the first 13 for selection. For example, I'm seeing 40chapters giving me 24ch. in the first row, but I can only visibly select up to 13, the remaining chapters are all guess and check.

[osnova]

Thank you for reporting this.

You say you used Calibre to put the file on your Kindle. Does it pre-index the file? I don't really know what difference Calibre makes. Does it modify the file in any way (I don't think so but not sure)? For some reason Calibre hangs when I try to connect to my DX through it. Could you try putting the file directly on the Kindle without Calibre?

I know that on my Kindle DX the search does not work for about ten minutes after I install the book while the Kindle indexes the file (however, the sample file should be processed much faster).

Trying to understand the second issue. Could you post a screenshot? Is the problem that the chapter list does not reflow (it does on mine) and a portion of the line is cut off? Or is it some sort of limitation of Kindle 1 as to the number of hyperlinks on the page?

I've attached some screenshots to show how the Bible should look.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by osnova

Well, I've had no volunteers. So, I had to run my own tests to the best of my ability. I have just published the book on Amazon with a suggested price of $1.99. I am told it will be reviewed and posted in their bookstore. This is my first publication on Amazon, and I do not know what to expect. I just hope that my version of KJV will be useful.

I tried it on my K2 and it worked great. Do you have the link yet to the full version on Amazon?

[osnova]

No, not yet. Amazon says, "Your book is currently under review by the Kindle Operations team as we are trying to improve the Kindle customer experience. Please check back in 5 business days to see if your book was published to the store."
Apparently, they stopped accepting public domain books. I hope they don't reject this one.

[osnova]

One more note on Spoon Man's issues, in a review for a different Kindle book, I found this statement, "The Kindle appears to only have space to allow linking to the first 13 chapters." Apparently, it refers to some Kindle 1 limitation.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by osnova

No, not yet. Amazon says, "Your book is currently under review by the Kindle Operations team as we are trying to improve the Kindle customer experience. Please check back in 5 business days to see if your book was published to the store."
Apparently, they stopped accepting public domain books. I hope they don't reject this one.

Thanks. Please keep us posted. I'd like one.

[Spoon Man]

Originally Posted by osnova

Thank you for reporting this.

You say you used Calibre to put the file on your Kindle. Does it pre-index the file? I don't really know what difference Calibre makes. Does it modify the file in any way (I don't think so but not sure)? For some reason Calibre hangs when I try to connect to my DX through it. Could you try putting the file directly on the Kindle without Calibre?

I know that on my Kindle DX the search does not work for about ten minutes after I install the book while the Kindle indexes the file (however, the sample file should be processed much faster).

Trying to understand the second issue. Could you post a screenshot? Is the problem that the chapter list does not reflow (it does on mine) and a portion of the line is cut off? Or is it some sort of limitation of Kindle 1 as to the number of hyperlinks on the page?

I've attached some screenshots to show how the Bible should look.

The search function seems to work now, you just have to select it from the search menu, it does not directly send you to the verse.

The indexing issue though is a result of the k1 however, not the file. Its just hit or miss after the first 13 chapters because the selection menu on the k1 does not scroll.

Suggestion: when you pull up a searched for scripture, it would be nice if you could continue reading past the specific scripture.

[osnova]

Ok, the book is "live". You can purchase it at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002TG4P8Q.

The full name is
Holy Bible King James Version KJV (Direct Verse Jump, best navigation, searchable) by God-inspired

The easy way to find it on your Kindle is to search for the word "osnova".

I would prefer a shorter name but wanted people to find it if they search in different ways.

[osnova]

Originally Posted by Spoon Man

The search function seems to work now, you just have to select it from the search menu, it does not directly send you to the verse.

If it does not send you to the verse (as it does on Kindle DX and 2), then what does it do?

Originally Posted by Spoon Man

The indexing issue though is a result of the k1 however, not the file. Its just hit or miss after the first 13 chapters because the selection menu on the k1 does not scroll.

I am still very much interested to see what this issue looks like. I'd like to come up with a solution but I do not have access to Kindle 1.

Originally Posted by Spoon Man

Suggestion: when you pull up a searched for scripture, it would be nice if you could continue reading past the specific scripture.

Hmm. On Kindle DX, that's exactly what happens. You jump not just to the verse, you jump to a page in the book where the searched verse is displayed at the top and is followed by the rest of the text. Are you just looking at the search results window (i.e., not going to the text itself)?

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by osnova

Ok, the book is "live". You can purchase it for $1.99 at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002TG4P8Q.

The full name is
Holy Bible King James Version KJV (Direct Verse Jump, best navigation, searchable) by God-inspired

The easy way to find it on your Kindle is to search for the word "osnova".

I would prefer a shorter name but wanted people to find it if they search in different ways.

Thanks! Got it! Now I just have to wait until my K2 fully indexes it before I can use the search feature. I'll let you know how it works out.

[Spoon Man]

Originally Posted by osnova

If it does not send you to the verse (as it does on Kindle DX and 2), then what does it do?

I am still very much interested to see what this issue looks like. I'd like to come up with a solution but I do not have access to Kindle 1.

Hmm. On Kindle DX, that's exactly what happens. You jump not just to the verse, you jump to a page in the book where the searched verse is displayed at the top and is followed by the rest of the text. Are you just looking at the search results window (i.e., not going to the text itself)?

It sends you to the search page, from where you must select the verse you are searching for "from book" as apposed to "from wiki" or "From dictionary" or "From Amazon"

I'll get pictures posted ASAP.

You've got it, you don't go to the text itself, just to the specified verse. If you hit "next page" it takes you back to the search page.

I'll get pictures posted as soon as I can, if I had another Kindle 1, I'd gladly send it to you, but unfortunately this is the only one I've got and I'm quite fond of it.