Record Your Insights Using Notes

Note: This feature is available to all users.

Skip ahead to:

Open the Notes tool

Create Notes and Highlights

Add an Image to a Note

Organize Notes and Highlights

Anchor Notes and Highlights

Navigating the Notes Tool

Searching for Notes and Highlights

Sorting your Notes

Notebooks

Adding a Note to a Notebook from the New Note button

Adding a Note to a Notebook from the context menu

Moving Notes to Notebooks

Visual Filters

Filter Resources by Notes or Highlights

Delete a Note, Notebook, or Highlight

Undelete a Note, Notebook, or Highlight

Print your Notes and Notebooks

Open the Notes tool

You can open the Notes tool from the Tools menu, from the Notes tab on the resource toolbar, by creating a new note using the Selection or Context menus, or by clicking the link below:

Open the Notes Tool in Verbum

From the Tools menu

Click Tools and select Notes, or click Tools and begin entering notes in the Tools search box. Click Notes to open the tool.

From the Notes tab on the Dynamic Toolbar

From the Notes tab on the Toolbar, click the Add note button to add a note.

If you have a portion of text selected, the note will be added to that selection; if you don't have text selected, the note will be added to the reference currently showing in the reference box. In either case, the Notes Tool will open with the newly created note selected.

From the Selection menu

1. Select a word or range of text in any resource to display the Selection Menu.

2. Click the Add a note button to open the Notes Tool and create a new note anchored to the selected text.

   

From the Context menu

1. Select a word or range of text in any resource.

2. Right-click your selection, select from the options on the left side (such as Selection, Reference, etc.), then click Add a note on the right side. The Notes tool opens in a new panel if not already open.

   

Create Notes and Highlights

In addition to the two methods of creating new notes explained above, you can also create both notes and highlights using the Notes tool. Highlights call out a section of text, and notes contain content that you’ve written. With text selected in a resource in one panel and the Notes tool open in another panel, click the dropdown arrow beside New note and select New note on selected text. (Clicking New note creates a note that is not anchored to your selection.)

A new pane appears in the Notes tool where you can type the content of your note. Verbum automatically assigns the note’s first line to the title. The formatting toolbar allows you to format your note in a variety of ways. Learn more about this toolbar below.

Note: When a notebook is selected in the Notes tool, new notes are automatically assigned to it. If a notebook is not selected, any new notes are not assigned to a notebook.

Create a note in a Notebook

Notebooks (previously Notes documents in earlier Verbum versions) are collections of notes you create. Learn more about creating Notebooks below.

To create a note within a notebook:

1. Select the notebook in the Notes tool.

2. Create the note using the New note button in the Notes tool.

   

Note: You can also create a new note within a specific notebook through the Context Menu. Right-click your selection to open the Context Menu, expand the Add a note section, and select the Notebook to which you want to add your new note.

Shortcuts

With your text selected, use the following keyboard shortcuts to quickly add or remove annotations:

• N – Creates a new note and opens the Notes Tool.

• H – Applies the last used highlighting style (You can also use Ctrl+K for Windows or Cmd+K for macOS).

• R – Removes annotations.

Add an Image to a Note

Adding media to notes is currently available in Verbum 10 Starter and higher. Learn more.

1. Click the Insert media icon .

   

2. Select an image from one of the tabs—Your Media, Faithlife Stock, or Unsplash.

   OR

   In the Your Media tab, click Upload.

   

   Verbum opens a dialog box from your operating system. Select an image from a location on your computer and click OK.

   

3. Click Insert.

   

   Verbum inserts the image into your note.

   

Note: Alternatively, you can also drag an image from your hard drive and drop it into a note. This will upload the image to Your Media and insert it into the body of the note. 

Organize notes and highlights

Metadata

Verbum automatically assigns metadata to a note. This includes:

• Biblical book (if the note is anchored to a biblical passage)

• Resource (the note is anchored to, e.g. the ESV)

• Data type

• Date created

• Date modified

• Author

Use the filter view in the navigation sidebar to search for notes by their metadata. To assign or move an existing note to a specific notebook:

1. Open the note.

2. Click the Notebook icon, or click and drag the note to the desired notebook.

   Note: A note assigned to a notebook displays the notebook title in the note editor panel.

   

Tags

You can also assign tags to your notes. Browse your tags by scrolling down to the Tags section of the Notes filter view, or use the filter find box to quickly limit the displayed notes to those that match a specific tag. More details on note tagging are included below.

Anchor Notes and Highlights

Anchoring a note or highlight connects it to one or more locations in a resource. Verbum provides two options to anchor your note to the Selection or to the Reference.

For example, anchoring your note to the selected text of John 15:8 only attaches the note to the open Bible translation.

While anchoring your note to the reference, John 15:8, makes that note accessible in every translation in your Library (if you have the Notes and highlights visual filter enabled).

Access a note’s more actions menu to show full anchor text or add an anchor.

You can also click +Add Anchor within the note itself to attach the note to a particular Reference or selected text.

Navigating the Notes Tool

The Notes tool is made up of a toolbar, a collapsible navigation sidebar, a search results panel, and a note editor panel.

Toolbar

The panel toolbar features a search box and a New note button. When you’re interacting with a resource in another open panel, the arrow next to New note displays options to create a New note, New note on selected text, or Highlight selected text.

To browse saved notes, click the Sidebar icon to open the navigation sidebar.

Sidebar

The sidebar shows two tabs: Filters and Notebooks . Use the Filters tab to view all notes grouped by: Type, Resource, Bible Book, Data Type, Notebook, Anchor, Modified, and Created.

Use the Notebooks tab to create new notebooks or access existing notebooks along with their associated notes.

Select a Notebook and then click its more actions icon to Rename, Delete, or Share it.

Searching For Notes and Highlights

Search results panel

The search results panel lists all of the notes and highlights matching the search specified.

Or it matches the filter criteria selected in the sidebar.

Note editor

Each note features its own toolbar offering options for adjusting the note icon and color, assigning a highlight style, and applying a specific Palette.

Below the note’s toolbar, a full set of rich text controls are available to customize the note text. You can enter and edit notes in the text entry field. Although there are no icons for cut/copy/paste, you can do so using standard keyboard shortcuts, or by right-clicking in the note’s text field.

Tag Notes

You can assign tags to the note by clicking in the Add tags… field at the bottom of the panel. Begin typing and select from suggested options or finish typing your entry. Press Tab or Enter to complete the tag entry.

You can find tagged notes using the filters in the faceted browser of your Notes panel.

Sorting your notes

You can sort your notes based on a range of different criteria. To do so, click the Sort dropdown and select the desired sorting method.

Note: Available sorting options depend on what filters you have active. For example, in order to sort your notes by reference, you must have a biblical book filter selected or have specified the Reference filter Bible.

Hovering over a greyed-out sorting option shows a tooltip displaying the required filter.

Notebooks

Notebooks are groups of notes gathered together based on highlighting style, palette, topic, or other feature. It’s possible to have notes that are not connected to a notebook, just as it’s possible for notebooks to be empty.

Create a new notebook by selecting the notebook view in the sidebar.

Then click the plus icon .

Enter a unique name for your notebook and press Enter.

You can now select the Notebook by clicking it in the faceted browser

This results in the Notes selection panel being empty as there are not currently any Notes in that Notebook.

Adding a Note to a Notebook from the New note button

Create a new note from the New note button

This new note will be added to the notebook as indicated by the Notebook selection box at the top of the panel.

Adding a Note to a Notebook from the context menu

You can right-click a portion of text and add a note from the context menu. If you just click Add a note, then the notes will be created outside of any notebook.

But if you open the Add a note dropdown you can select from the five most recently used notebooks. If you select New Notebook,

this will add the note into that notebook and open a new instance of the Notes Tool with its tab named to match the notebook selected.

Moving Notes to Notebooks

To assign an existing note (or group of notes) to a notebook, clear all Notebook filters and scroll down to the target notebook in the Notes Tool.

Click one of the notes you want to move and then add any others by holding Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (macOS) while clicking, or by holding Shift while clicking to select a contiguous set of notes.

Select the notebook from the dropdown in the panel

When you have selected the target notebook, click Apply Changes.

Alternatively, you can drag the note(s) to the target notebook

Visual filters

All your notes and highlights (can be displayed within your resources by toggling the Show note indicators control in the Show notes and highlights dropdown menu in the Notes tab.

You can use the dropdown menu to control which notebooks you want to be displayed.

Corresponding Notes and Highlights

When reading a Bible or other resource with multiple versions, you can choose to see notes and highlights anchored in another translation in the one you are reading. This is enabled with the Find other books with corresponding text option at the bottom of the Notes dropdown menu.

When enabled, this displays Notes and Highlights regardless of which version you added them to. As you can see in the example below, highlights applied in the NIV are shown in the LEB. And, notebooks can be selected / deselected for this option as required.

Filter Resources by Notes or Highlights

You can set any resource to display only those places where you’ve taken a note or made a highlight. 

Open the Notes Filter from the Notes tab

Select filters from the faceted menu

You can further control display options from the dropdown to affect how much surrounding context is shown

Delete a Note, Notebook, or Highlight

Select the note, notebook, or highlight, Click the note more actions icon and select Delete this note.

Undelete a Note, Notebook, or Highlight

You can click Trash at the bottom of the Notes menu to display notes, highlights, and notebooks that have been deleted.

Clicking any deleted item displays options to Permanently delete or Undelete the selected item at the bottom of the panel.

Print Your Notes and Notebooks

You can print individual notes (along with the anchor text) or entire notebooks.

To print a single note, select the note you want, and click the Notes Tool more actions icon followed by Print/Export.

To print an entire notebook, make sure you don't have any notes selected then open the relevant notebook and click the Notes Tool more actions icon followed by Print/Export without selecting any of the notes within it.

Skip ahead to: 

• Display your Notes in the Text
• Create a Note Anchored to a Word or Phrase
• Create a Note Associated with a Highlight
• Delete a Note
• Search your Notes
• Restore a Deleted Note or Notebook

Display Your Notes in the Text

Tap the More Actions Menu Icon , scroll down the menu, and select View Settings. Then, In the View Settings menu, toggle Show Notes/Highlights "on" and tap Done.

Your notes will display as an icon adjacent to the word, phrase, or reference where it’s anchored. To display the contents of a note, tap the note icon.

Create a Note Anchored to a Word or Phrase.

Select a word, phrase, or reference. The Insights Panel will appear, then select Note .

Write your note and, if desired, set the notebook and add more anchors. Tap Done and the icon for your new note will appear in the text.

Delete a Note

To delete a note, tap the note you want to delete to open it. In the Notes tool, tap the More Actions Icon . Tap Delete Note.

Another way to delete a note is to select a word, phrase, or reference where the note is anchored. The Insights Panel will appear. Tap Notes & Highlights, and then tap the More Actions Icon  on the relevant card. Tap Delete.

Search your Notes

1. Tap the More Items Menu .

2. Select Notes.

3. Select All Notes to search and view all of your notes. To search and manage your notes by notebook, select Notebooks.

Restore a Deleted Note or Notebook

1. Tap the More Items Menu .

2. Select Notes.

3. Tap Trash.

   

4. Select either Trashed Notes or Trashed Notebooks.

5. Tap the More Actions Icon , then tap Select.

   

6. Select the notes or notebooks you want to restore and then tap the More Actions Icon at the bottom of the tab. Then tap Restore to restore the notes.