Blinx is a Microsoft Word (for Windows) add-in that converts Bible references within Word into Bible links: Have a look at [this example Word document](docs/Example article with Bible links.doc) or even [this pdf](docs/Example article with Bible links.pdf). These Blinks contain the passage (stored as an endnote in the Word document), which becomes visible as a tooltip when the mouse pointer is hovering over it. They are also hyperlinks to an online Bible ("ctrl-left click" on the link). On computers where the Blinx add-on and BibleWorks are installed, a "right-click" on the link opens it directly in BibleWorks.
The following screencast demonstrates the main features of the add-in:
Requirements1
- Windows (Windows XP+)
- Microsoft Word (2003+)
- Internet Explorer 8+ with an active internet connection or alternatively BibleWorks (7+) or Logos (4+).
- Close Microsoft Word and Outlook.
- Copy Blinx.dot into your Microsoft Word start-up folder:
C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP. (If you have changed the startup folder or if you are on Windows XP, see https://wordaddins.com/support/how-to-find-the-word-startup-folder/.) - The add-in will now be loaded automatically when Word is started.
- Important: The execution of Blinx can always be interrupted by pressing "Ctrl-Break"
- The add-in contains 5 functions that can either be accessed through the Blinx toolbar (in the Add-Ins tab in Word 2007+) or through keyboard shortcuts:
Create Blink (Alt-B): Converts all Bible references within the selection or the closest one to the left of the cursor into a pure Bible link without passage.
Create Blink & tooltip (Alt-B): Converts all Bible references within the selection or the closest one to the left of the cursor into a Bible link with the passage as tooltip.
Create Blink & insert text (Alt-Shift-B): Converts all Bible references within the selection or the closest one to the left of the cursor into a Bible link and inserts the passage into the text.
Unlink Blinks and hyperlinks (Alt-U): Converts all Blinks or hyperlinks within the selection or the closest one to the left of the cursor into normal text.
Open Blinx options dialog (Ctrl-Alt-Shift-B):
- Language of Bible references: English, German
- Bible version used for inserted text: ESV, NIV, NASB, KJV, ... (This needs to be one available in the chosen text source:)
- Bible app or online Bible to use as text source: BibleWorks, Logos, biblegateway.com
- Online Bible for the hyperlink
- Passage tooltip length limit
- Reset Blinx (which can solve a few issues)
- Abbreviations for all Bible books, which can be edited with a double-click.2
- If a text is selected that contains Bible reference hyperlinks from a Logos export and BibleWorks resource, these will be converted too.
- The current version of Blinx obtains Bible passages either from BibleWorks or Logos (if installed) or otherwise from www.biblegateway.com for this initial proof of concept.
- All modern Bible versions are copyrighted. See www.biblegateway.com/version for copyright regulations of various Bible versions. For extensive quotes in a publication (usually if over 200 verses or more than 10% of a biblical book), a permission in writing needs to be obtained from the appropriate copyright owner.
- Copyright notices will need to be added manually, especially if the document is to be shared.
- Using Logos for Blinx
- The support for Logos is experimental.
- The "Copy Bible Verses" settings from within Logos are used automatically to determine the Bible version and format. The Bible version in Blinx should then be selected to match this one. And the Logos format is not yet preserved on insert.
- If Blinx does not recognise Logos, try out the command given in this thread or the PowerShell scripts provided here.
- The Logos SmartTags and Copy Bible Verses features may be good alternatives to using Blinx.
- The reference links contain a special Unicode space between the book name and the chapter number. If it is not displayed as a space, choose an appropriate font (e.g. Times New Roman, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri ...)
- A bug in BibleWorks means that every creation of a Blink will reset the display versions to what they were at the start-up of BibleWorks. If you restart (or just close) BibleWorks, the current display versions will be the new default versions for every following Blink creation.
- Running Blinx might reset some formatting options of a previous search/replace in Word.
- The initial start-up of BibleWorks, Logos or Internet Explorer (hidden) can take up to 20 sec on slower computers.
- BibleGateway limits passage lookups to about 5500 words.
Let me know about bugs or improvements at https://github.com/renehamburger/blinx/issues.
- For the present Word add-on, it would be great to move to using a public API rather than biblegateway.com to obtain the passage online.
- A complete redesign of the core functionality of the plugin into a cross-platform library that could also be made available through a public API would be desirable. blinx-core was an initial proof of concept for this using a cross-platform language, but I would probably now rather move to developing this in Node.JS and/or offer the functionality in an open API.
- A plugin system could be used to add any data source for retrieving Scripture passages (e.g., BibleWorks, Logos, theWord, free online Bibles & Bible APIs).
- Custom add-ons for Word, Open Office Writer, Adobe Acrobat, Google Docs could then be added to creating Bible links on the fly.
- (The [example pdf](docs/Example article with Bible links.pdf) linked above was generated with an alpha version of such an Adobe Acrobat plugin.)
- I'm looking for other developers to join the project before embarking on it.
[1] The add-in should also work with some earlier versions of these applications.
[2] Blinx will only recognize the abbreviations in this list (allowing for variations like Roman numerals instead of 1/2/3 before book names, additional full stops, additional or fewer spaces…) Chapter-verse separator can be either ":" or ".". The book name must be separated from the rest of the reference by at least 1 space or 1 full stop (e.g. "Jn 3:16" or "Jn.3:16").
