30 April 2023

About the new Skeptic's Annotated Bible website

Unless you've just visiting the Skeptic's Annotated Bible website for the first time, you've probably noticed that it has changed recently. The content is the the same, at least for the most part, although I add and revise its content each day. But it's no longer just a bunch of html files. It's now a database-driven site, which is a whole nother thing entirely.

With the site in a database, I no longer have to create, manage, and separately maintain tens of thousands of html files. It also allows me to present the site in ways that would have been difficult or impossible to do previously. And now that I don't have to spend so much time with housekeeping, I can spend more time adding content and presenting it in new and (hopefully) more useful and interesting ways.

Although the site functions much the same as it did before, there are a few things that we've added or changed that I should tell you about.

  • We've added a context sensitive search to the pages that allow you to search on the part of the site that is relevant to the page you are on.

    For example, it you are on the Bible homepage, the default is to search the text of the King James Version of the Bible. It will also find results for Bible trivia questions, Every Jot and Tittle, and other Bible-related content. If you are on the Quran homepage, the search will be for Quran, etc. And by using the advanced search, you can search whichever parts of the site you are interested in.

    The search box can always be found by clicking on the hamburger menu icon on the top right corner of the page.

  • Most of the pages on the site allow comments. To do so, login with a username and password or by signing in with your Google account.

    Comments can be used to ask questions, make suggestions, let me know about corrections that need to be made, and discuss the page's content with others at the website. I will try to read, review, and reply to the comments in a timely manner.

  • The text for the Bible in Fewer Words podcast episodes can be found on the site by clicking on the Text and notes for episodes link. I encourage listeners to read along with us on these pages as we do the podcasts.

  • The category icons on right column of each chapter can be clicked to display the category list for that chapter. As on the old site, a complete list for the book can be found by clicking on the category icons on the book's outline pages.

  • Many of the blog posts from Dwindling in Unbelief have been copied to the new blog. For now, I will try to post at both sites - at least until it seems that most visitors are aware of the new SAB blog here.

Please let me know if you have any comments, questions, or concerns about the new site.

1 comment:

Tharpa said...

I noticed that SAB does not seem to have a random page function. This is disgraceful - a divinely created site would have a random page function.