If we've got all the underlying data and build the logic in a way that makes it easy to make requests such as
getTimeline(date, displayOptions, detailOptions, variationOptions, ...)
Then perhaps, first we could start with simple pictures, later we could have flash for the web versions, and flash/pictures locally, etc. with multiple displays for one basic logical thing. I don't do Flash however, and don't know how easy it would be to generate those things, but I believe you could set up one Flash frame and then zoom in and out, etc. and the file would still be relatively small.
or perhaps, there are some other technologies around that would allow us to do that...
We could probably find some timeline javascript stuff (simple search on the web: http://simile-widgets.googlecode.com/svn/timeline/tags/latest/src/webapp/examples/religions/christianity.html) Actually pretty easy to use in th end.
Chris
Chris has suggested some interesting ideas for the User Interface1) Textbox for bible reference as opposed to 3
dropdowns. Use JSword to harmonise the anme
DIB: good idea, though I want the user to get
some help with the Bible Book names. Could it
include a drop-down on the left where they can
pick a Bible name to get started? The name they
pick would be written into the text area, so they
can EITHER start by typing the Bible book (in the
various forms which JSword accepts) OR start by picking the name.2) Not have every page show two bible passages
all the time, but make the parallel optional (If
"every pastor" doesn't know the Greek/Hebrew,
perhaps they want to compare versions ESV/YOUNG
or perhaps they only want the ESV up). See
BibleDesktop (they have a plus button with the
version next to it, which adds the parallel
version) or see web version, where they have
toggle on/off on the side to show the different versions of the bible.
Split 50/50 when there is only one passage (other
50 goes to the module), 25/25/50 when there are
two, 16/17/17/50 when there are three. Where
always there is half allocated to the history module.
Perhaps also make the module optionally hidden,
to do parallel comparison (given we'll already
have the code as above), so that they can use the
tool to do lookups, but also passage comparison, etc.
DIB: I like this, but I also like them to
remember the Greek & Hebrew exists, so I'd like
this to be the default for the second column which they can then change.
We will also have a Translations module which
will allow them to do multiple version
comparisons and other cool things, so we can keep the top of the page simple.
The idea is that each module has a standard
layout at the top, so when they change from
module to module, the two (or three) scripture
columns at the top remain unchanged.Cross referencing within the data from our module
to other data from module looks interesting (I
assume that's what the hyperlinks are about). How
do we intend to do that? Automatically? Or is
someone going to key in the cross references for every piece of data manually?
DIB: For most things, there isn't any automatic
way of getting refs. Looking up a person's name
only goes so far in finding passages which refer
to him/her. But the hope is that existing tools /
dictionaries can be harvested for such refs. Colin is onto this.3) Ideas for the timeline picture generation:
Allow the user to select the detail he wants on
the timeline, battles, historical empires,
historical biblical contexts, biblical people, etc.
DIB: Yep. Though too much choice is confusing.Allow the user to select date ranges (open as opposed to set of dropdowns)
DIB: Yep - though see below re zoomsUnless the writing is very very small, and web
pages where you have to scroll left and right are
a pain to use, as usually the web page is left on
the left… Maybe we want to be a little more cunning there!
DIB: Yes, vertical scrolling works much better.
The illustration is just an idea of the kinds of
details. We need to turn it on its side.
Vertical scrolling makes a difference to how we
label things. We could use graphical labels at 90
degrees for long time periods (lifetime of XXX,
reign of king XXX, Exile, ministry of prophet
XXX, etc) and put short horizontal labels for
point events (battle of XXX, dedication of
temple, etc) perhaps as an icon with a hover-over label.DIB: a few other points:
1) Colin is adding a 'fuzzyness' rating to dates,
to indicate how accurately they can be
pinpointed. I'm not sure how we will represent this - ideas welcome!2) There are also a couple of places of great
uncertainty. The biggest is whether the Exodus
took place early or late (with a highly
compressed period of Judges). Most scholars
(including many conservative ones) take the
latter view and most older works take the former
view. We need the user to be able to choose
either. There are a few other places like this.
Again, I'm not sure how to allow variation.3) Zooming in to different levels of detail would
ideally be gradual and smooth, but this is
perhaps too much to aim for. For the first
iteration let's aim for different levels of zoom.
The highest zoom is during the three-year
ministry of Jesus, with perhaps a higher zoom for
the last week. Perhaps we would have a complete
timeline at low 'resolution' (about 2000 pixels
for the whole 6000 years) and for a higher
resolution (about 4x size), then different areas
can zoom into separate displays. What happens at
the ege of a zoomed area? Eg, when you are zoomed
into the 3-yr ministry of Jesus, and you scroll
up to age 30, how do you move up?A suggestion: When, eg, you are looking at the 3-yr Ministry of Jesus
have a ribbon down the left-hand size of the last
portion labelled "Zoom in to Last Week of Jesus",
and two ribbons at both the top and bottom
labelled "Zoom out to Life of Jesus", "Zoom out to New Testament"David IB
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Posted By Tyndale STEP Project to Tyndale STEP - Programming on 9/14/2009 02:45:00 AM
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