Set Up Your Workspace with Layouts

Note: This feature is available to all users.

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Layouts Menu

Tile Arrangements

Quickstart Layouts

Saved Layouts

Snapshots

Layout Shortcuts

Layouts Menu

The Layouts menu, which appears on the main application toolbar, houses three sections: 

• Top bar: Tile Arrangement buttons and a Find box for finding snapshots

• Left pane: Quickstart Layouts and Saved Layouts

• Right pane: Chronological Snapshots of your workspace

  

Tile Arrangements

Tile Arrangements are not saved Layouts but convenient commands that rearrange the currently open panels into one of several stock configurations. They don’t close any open panels or open any new panels like Layouts do.

1. Select the Layouts menu.

2. Choose one of the six Tile Arrangements displayed in the upper-left corner of the menu.
   

3. Open panels are assigned to tiles (areas of the screen) based on the shape of the tile arrangement chosen. Verbum groups similar panels together into tiles whenever possible.
   

   Note: Panels can still be moved by dragging the panel tab to another location. They can also be resized. When one panel is moved or resized, the other panels will adjust accordingly.

QuickStart Layouts

Built-in QuickStart Layouts are designed to streamline setting up your workspace for common tasks. 

By default, these QuickStart Layouts contain the following books, tools, and guides:

• Bible and Commentary: your Top Bible and your highest prioritized matching commentary (with these linked together in a link set)
• Bible Journaling: The highlighting Tool, your Top Bible, and the Notes Tool
• Bible Reading Plan: The Bible specified in your Reading Plan, your highest prioritized Study Bible (linked to the Bible), the Notes Tool, the Reading Plan document showing the current status
• Daily Devotional: Your highest prioritized devotional resource, your Top Bible, a prayer list document, the Factbook Tool (linked to the devotional and showing the specified date), the Notes Tool
• Greek Word Study: The Bible Word Study Guide, the Factbook Tool linked to it and showing the article for the same word as in the Guide, your Top Bible, and your highest prioritized matching lexicon
• Hebrew Word Study: The Bible Word Study Guide, the Factbook Tool linked to it and showing the article for the same word as in the Guide, your Top Bible, and your highest prioritized matching lexicon
• Lectionary: Your highest prioritized lectionary open to the current date (or the nearest date to that), your Top Bibles all linked together and open to the first lectionary reading, your highest prioritized commentary in the same link set as the Bibles, a devotional book and the Factbook Tool opened to the date matching that in the lectionary with these two in a separate link set, the Cited By Tool and the Explorer Tool in the same link set as the Bibles
• Lectionary Reading: Your highest prioritized lectionary open to the current date (or the nearest date to that), the Factbook Tool opened to the date matching that in the lectionary, your Top Bible open to the first lectionary reading
• Passage Study: The Passage Guide, the Factbook Tool, your three highest prioritized Bibles (linked together and in a link set with the Factbook Tool), your highest prioritized commentary (in the same link set), the Information Tool
• Proverbs Explorer: The Proverbs Explorer Tool, the Factbook Tool open to the entry on the Proverbs, your Top Bible (linked to the Proverbs Explorer Tool), your highest prioritized commentary on Proverbs (in the same link set)
• Psalms Explorer: The Psalms Explorer Tool, the Factbook Tool open to the entry on the Psalms, your Top Bible (linked to the Psalms Explorer Tool), your highest prioritized commentary on Psalms (in the same link set)
• Search: Opens a Search Window set to do an All Search
• Study Bible: The Highlighting Tool, your Top Bible, your highest prioritized Study Bible (linked to the Bible), the Notes Tool
• Topic Study: The Factbook Tool, the Topic Guide (linked to the Factbook Tool), optionally the Homily Starter Guide (depending on whether it has an entry to match that in the Factbook Tool), your highest prioritized Bible (opened to a relevant passage), your five highest prioritized encyclopaedias (in the same link set as the Factbook Tool and Topic Guide)

You can customize a QuickStart Layout to better fit your personal workflow. To save the current snapshot as a QuickStart Layout:

1. Click the  Layouts menu.

2. Right-click on the QuickStart Layout you’d like to customize and choose Replace with current layout. You can also click the blue triangle button on the right side of the item to view the same options.

3. To later restore the QuickStart Layout to its built-in state, choose Restore default layout from this same menu.

Saved Layouts

Saved Layouts allow you to easily return to your most commonly used arrangements. 

Create a Saved Layout

If you want to preserve the current arrangement of tiles and panels for later retrieval, save the snapshot as a Saved Layout:

1. Click the Layouts menu.

2. Locate the snapshot thumbnail you want to save in the right pane of the menu. The most recent ones will be listed at the top by day and time (older snapshots will eventually drop off the list).

3. Click Save as named layout and assign it a name.

   

Your new Layout will be added to the left pane of the menu under Saved Layouts.

Note: Duplicate names are fine; the list on the left will take you to the last saved version of that name, or you can use the Find box next to Recent at the top right to find all the earlier versions of that name in your history.

Edit a Saved Layout

If you are working in a Saved Layout and make changes to the arrangement that you'd like to save for future use, click Update Active in the current Snapshot to save the changes to your Saved Layout.

Tip: To quickly update the active Layout to the current snapshot, press Cmd + Alt + L (Mac) or Ctrl + Alt + L (Windows).

For more options, right-click a Saved Layout and choose from the following: Load, Rename, Update to current snapshot, or Delete.

When you close the application, the current snapshot will be saved under the name “Application Closed” and synced to the server for access at a later time or on another machine. Up to ten snapshots will be retained. Application Closed layouts, like other snapshots, must be renamed to be saved in the left column.

Snapshots

Snapshots allow you to revisit your most recent workspace arrangements and, if you want, save them for future use. 

1. Click the Layouts menu.

2. The current configuration of tiles and panels is shown at the top right of the menu. Previous snapshots are listed below it, going back in time.

   

Layout Shortcuts

Open a Layout When Verbum Starts Up

You can enable an option to dive right into your most recent study whenever you start Verbum from Program Settings. In Program Settings, expand the menu next to At Startup Open to and select from the available options.

The Layout specific options include:

• Most recent layout - any: opens the last Layout you used from any device that is signed in to the same account.
• Most recent layout - local: opens the last Layout you used on the current device.
• All of your Saved Layouts appear below the horizontal line at the bottom of this list.

Add a Layout to the Toolbar

You can drag a Layout to the shortcut bar for easier access.

1. Click the Layouts menu.

2. Drag the desired Layout to the shortcut bar. For more information, see this article on the Shortcut Bar.

Add a Layout to the Dashboard

You can add a Layout Card to the Dashboard to provide easy access to it.

To do this, go to the Verbum Dashboard and click the icon at the top right of the Get Started section and select Layout from the dropdown menu.

Then choose the Layout you want to add and click the Add button. This puts a Layout Card on the Dashboard, and you can click it to open that Layout.

While the web app does not offer the same Layout customization options and ability to save workspaces as the desktop app, you can still rearrange panels in a matter of seconds. Plus, you can add Quickstart Layouts to your Dashboard so that your daily Bible study is only one click away. 

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Layouts Menu

Add a Layout to the Dashboard

Layouts Menu

The Layouts menu appears on the main application toolbar. When selected, it displays eight different Tile Arrangement buttons. Tile Arrangements are not saved Layouts; they are convenient commands that rearrange the currently open panels into one of several stock configurations. They don’t close any open panels or open any new panels like saved Layouts do.

Choose one of the eight Tile Arrangements displayed to rearrange your currently open panels. 

Panels are assigned to tiles (areas of the screen) based on the shape of the Tile Arrangement chosen. Verbum groups similar panels together into tiles whenever possible.

Note: Panels can still be moved by dragging the panel tab to another location within the Tile Arrangement. 

Add a Layout to the Dashboard

You can add a Layout Card to the Dashboard to provide easy access to it.

To do this, go to the Verbum Dashboard, click the icon at the top right of the Get Started section, and select Layout from the dropdown menu.

Then choose the Layout you want to add and click the Add button:

• Bible and Commentary: your Top Bible and your highest prioritized matching commentary (with these linked together in a link set)
• Study Bible: your Top Bible and your highest prioritized Study Bible (with these linked together in a link set)

This puts a Layout Card in the dashboard and you can click it to open that Layout.

Skip ahead to:

• How to Create a Layout
• How to Save a Layout
• Open a Saved Layout
• Update or Delete a Saved Layout

How to Create a Layout

A Layout is a collection of open books, tools, or documents. To create a Layout:

1. Tap the Tab view icon while viewing any resource.
2. Tap the Plus icon to add another tab and select the book, tool, or document you want to open.
3. Click Done when finished.

You can organize open items in a few ways.

• Split a tab
  1. Tap the tab management icon at the bottom of the screen to open Tab View, then tap the split screen icon at the bottom right of the tab where you’d like the split screen to display.

  2. Select the resource to appear in the second panel from your library.

  3. Open the linking options menu and link the resources to scroll together by tapping the Link icon at the top of a panel.

  4. Tap Done to apply the changes.
  5. To remove a split screen, press and drag the divider between the two panes to the edge of the screen or enter tab view and tab the close icon X to remove any split screen.
• Link sets: Tap the Link sets icon to connect tabs so they scroll together. Learn more about link sets.

Creating a Layout on a tablet offers pre-set templates, which offer more complexity and flexibility. After opening the Tab view , tap the Layouts icon and choose a template.

How to Save a Layout

You can save any collection of tabs for use at a later time.

1. Tap the Tab view icon while viewing any resource.
2. .Tap the Layout indicator below the tile group(s).

   

3. Tap Save as new layout under the Currently Open section.

   

4. Give your Layout a recognizable name like “Romans Homily Series Notes” or “Bible and Commentary.”

   

Note: Layouts sync between mobile devices of the same class (so phones sync with phones while tablets sync with tablets), but not between mobile and desktop.

Open a Saved Layout

Open any Saved Layout to replace your currently-opened tabs with your selection.

1. Tap the Tab view icon while viewing any resource.
2. Tap the Layout indicator  below the tile group(s).
3. Tap the Saved Layout you want to open.

   

Change or Delete a Saved Layout

You can change or delete a Saved Layout in a variety of ways.

1. Tap the Tab view icon while viewing any resource.
2. Tap the Layout indicator below the tile group(s).
3. Tap the More Actions Menu icon to reveal options to Rename, Duplicate, or Delete.

   

To update an existing Layout, choose Save changes under Currently Open.