This article will introduce you to Verbum and show you how to start using the software.
There are two main views into Verbum - the Dashboard and the workspace - and this article briefly outlines key functionality in each. You can toggle between them by clicking the Dashboard icon.
Using the Dashboard
The Dashboard is designed to be your launchpad for study, where you can keep track of reading plans, courses, workflows, prayer lists, and more. But in this article, we will focus on three particular ways to start using and becoming familiar with the software.
Searching from the Dashboard
Near the top of the dashboard is a Search box - where you can enter a Smart Search (assuming you have a subscription) to search either your Bible or the entire Verbum catalog. This is a great way of quickly finding information you are interested in. For example, I could ask the question where was Jesus born
and then click:
- Search Bible to find the most relevant answers to this question in my Bible
- Search All to find the most relevant answers - along with a synopsis of the top results - found by searching the entire Verbum catalog, including books that I don't own
Get Started Wizard
The Get Started Wizard is designed to help you launch into a particular type of activity - carrying out personal study, preparing for a group Bible study and more. When you click one of the main options - we'll use Personal Study for this example - you are asked to provide a bit more detail:
And then Verbum opens a layout designed to help you with that activity.
And the other tiles in the Wizard operate in a similar way.
Help Center
The Help Center is designed to provide information and support as you use the software. Here you can (1) enter a simple search query and (2) press Search - or (3) select one of the more focused support areas:
A range of information - including articles and videos - will be selected that address your query.
Using the Workspace
The workspace is where you will engage with books, tools, guides, notes and much more. And the icons on the left of the application (or the top depending on how you have configured it) provide quick access into different areas of the software.
The Command Box
The Command Box is a great way to start reading a book, studying a passage, examining a particular word and much more. Enter a term in the box and select the option you want from the dropdown list.
Specifying a biblical passage, for example, gives options to:
- Open your preferred Bible to that passage
- Choose from a range of study layouts on that passage
- Study information about the passage in the Factbook tool
- Have the software start reading the Bible to you at that point
- Carry out a number of different search operations on that passage
Note: The order of the different sections shown may vary, depending on which options you use the most.
More information on using the Command Box is available in the Verbum helpfile here.
Library
The Library icon gives you access to all the books in your library. From here, you can open them or change some of the information associated with them. To find particular books, you can use the filters on the left or type into the search box.
Here, I've:
- Used the Bible Commentary type filter (from the left sidebar)
- Used the Bible N.T. subject filter (from the left sidebar)
- Specified title:Philemon in the search box
- Selected the second commentary in the list to populate the Information field on the right of the panel
More information on using the library is available here.
Search
The Search icon provides access to all the powerful search capabilities within Verbum - with different options for searching Bibles, Books, the Factbook and more. It supports two different search modes - Smart and Precise - that provides different approaches to searching.
A Smart search (requires a subscription) is AI-enabled and allows natural language queries while a Precise search uses explicit Verbum syntax and (optionally) takes advantage of extensive Verbum tagging.
More information on using search features is available here.
Bible
The Bible icon opens your preferred Bible to its last open position. Then, as well as reading the text, you can select from a range of options in the toolbar at the top to change the way information is displayed and how the Bible links to other books and capabilities within the software.
More details on engaging with Bibles is available here.
Factbook
The Factbook icon opens the Factbook tool that can be used as a starting point for study on people, places, biblical books, theological themes and much more.
More information on using the Factbook tool is available here.
Documents
The Documents icon gives you access to all the documents you create within Verbum - including Passage Lists, Reading Plans, Clippings, Visual Filters and much more. You can use these to help you keep lists of passages you are interested in, read through books in a planned way, file particular pieces of information that interests you, change the way information is displayed in Bibles and other books and much more.
More information about Documents is available here.
Guides / Workflows
The Guides / Workflows icon provides access to powerful tools to assist in your study.
- Guides pull together relevant information from your library when studying a passage, studying a word, studying a theme and more.
- Workflows provide a guided step-by-step process through a particular study task.
More information about using Guides is available here and information about using Workflows is here.
Tools
The Tools icon gives access to a wide arrange of tools that you can use in your study. These include tools to create highlights in texts you are reading, to create notes and link them to the text, to copy portions of the Bible in a range of formats, to compare different texts for variations, to group different books together, to gain quick access to information on a word, to visually engage with the book of Psalms and much more.
More information about the tools available and how to use them is in the help file here and here.