Contents
- Introduction
- What is Synced
- Olive Tree Account
- Evernote
BibleReader lets you sync the notes, bookmarks, and highlights you have created using BibleReader with the Olive Tree sync server (explained below), thus providing a secure backup for these items in case, for example, you were to lose your iPhone. As bad as that would be, your notes, bookmarks, and highlights would be safe and could be resynced with BibleReader when you replace your phone.
BibleReader notes also may be synced with a free, third-party, note-syncing service called Evernote. Notes can be added to and accessed from an Evernote account (1) by using free Evernote apps (currently available for Android, Mac OS X, iOS, Microsoft Windows, and WebOS), (2) via the Internet, and (3) by using the Olive Tree sync server. Notes added to or edited in your Evernote account can be synced with your Olive Tree sync server account, and with any device running an Evernote app, and downloaded to BibleReader.
This chapter explains how to use these two syncing services.
When you sync BibleReader with the Olive Tree sync server, all the new notes, bookmarks, and highlights you have created using BibleReader are uploaded to the server, and any modifications you have made to notes, bookmarks, and highlights on the server are downloaded to BibleReader.
When you sync the Olive Tree sync server with the Evernote sync server, updated notes on the Olive tree server are uploaded to the Evernote server, and updated notes on the Evernote server are downloaded to the Olive Tree server.
Syncing BibleReader itself with the Evernote sync server is a two-step process. First you sync BibleReader with the Olive Tree sync server (to upload updated notes, bookmarks, and highlights to this server). Then you sync BibleReader with the Evernote sync service. This second step uploads updated notes on the Olive Tree sync server to the Evernote sync server, and it downloads updated notes on the Evernote sync server to the Olive Tree sync server. Thus BibleReader syncs indirectly with the Evernote sync server via the Olive Tree sync server.
The remainder of this chapter is divided into two parts: using the Olive Tree sync server and using the Evernote sync server.
Note: You only have one Olive Tree account. After logging in to your account via the Internet (click here to do so), you can access the Olive Tree sync server. See below for details.
To sync BibleReader with your Olive Tree account, on BibleReader’s main screen tap the Settings icon (letter A), then tap the Advanced Settings button to display the Advanced Settings menu, and then tap the Account button at the bottom of that screen to log in to your account.
Tap the Done button to close the Advanced Settings dialog.
From BibleReader’s main screen, tap the My Stuff icon (suitcase) to display the My Stuff menu.
Notice that the bottom of the screen displays a Sync button, the date and time of your last sync operation, and a Sync Log button.
Tap the Sync button to sync your BibleReader notes, bookmarks, and highlights with the Olive Tree sync server.
In the bottom left corner of the graphic above, notice the information that is displayed about the syncing operation.
When the sync is complete, you will see a new day and time listed for the last sync.
When the sync operation completes, click the Sync Log button to display the sync log.
BibleReader keeps a list of all your past syncing operations.
This section explains how to edit notes, bookmarks, and highlights, using the Olive Tree sync site.
Log in to your Olive Tree account by clicking here.
The first item listed under “My Olive Tree Account” is “Olive Tree Study Sync.”
Click “Olive Tree Study Sync” to display this screen.
The menu bar on the left lists Notes, Bookmarks, Highlights, and Share. The default setting is Notes.
Notice in the graphic above that Notes are listed by reference and title, and that a few lines of each note are displayed.
The Olive Tree sync site allows you to edit existing BibleReader notes and to add new notes (covered in the next section).
To edit a note, click the Edit button to the right of the note. With reference to the graphic above, we will edit the first note, which is on Genesis 3:15.
We will add one sentence: “New material added to this note.”
Click the Save button to save the note and to return the original screen.
In BibleReader, resync, following the instructions above.
Now when we go to Genesis 3:15 in BibleReader and select the note there, the new addition to the note is displayed.
Of course, you also can edit notes from within BibleReader, as explained here.
Note: If you wish to do extensive editing to any of your notes, it is faster to do this from the Olive Tree sync site, rather than from within BibleReader, since you can use a regular keyboard on the sync site.
As mentioned above, the Olive Tree sync site allows you to create new notes. This can be useful if you wish to create long notes, since you can use a regular keyboard to create them. Additionally, you can copy material from an existing file or Web site and paste this material into a new note.
Here is an example of copying and pasting an article on biblical inerrancy by John M. Frame (from here) into a new note on 2 Timothy 3:16.
After copying the article from the site at the link in the previous paragraph, click the New Note button on the Olive Tree Study Sync page, and do the following:
- Paste the article into the User Note field.
- Type “Is the Bible Inerrant?” in the title field.
- Use the templates for “Start of Reference” and “End of Reference” to enter 2 Tim. 3:16.
- Enter “Biblical Inerrancy” in the Tags field.
Click the Save button to save the note and to return to the initial screen.
By entering “Biblical Inerrancy” in the Tags field, this term will be added as a Tag to BibleReader’s Annotations, once we resync BibleReader with the Olive Tree sync site. (For information about using Tags, click here.)
In BibleReader, resync, following the instructions above.
Now when we go to 2 Tim. 3:16 and select the note there, the new note is displayed.
Bookmarks can be edited in exactly the same manner as notes (see here) by starting at this screen.
Once edited, bookmarks can be synced with BibleReader.
Unlike notes, you cannot create a new bookmark from the Olive Tree sync site.
Highlights can be edited in exactly the same manner as notes (see here) by starting at this screen.
Once edited, highlights can be synced with BibleReader.
Unlike notes, you cannot create a new highlight from the Olive Tree sync site.
In the example above where we created a new note for 2 Tim. 3:16, we also created a new Tag—Biblical Inerrancy—for this note.
After syncing, the new Tag appears on BibleReader’s My Tags list.
For information about using Tags, click here.
Evernote consists of software and services for taking notes, archiving notes, and sharing notes.
- Software. Evernote offers free, downloadable, note-taking apps for Android, Mac OS X, iOS, Microsoft Windows, and WebOS.
- Services. Evernote offers free note-management accounts on their server.
The genius of Evernote is to integrate your notes from any supported device into one master copy on the Evernote server. Each time you sync a device with the Evernote server, all new and edited notes are downloaded to that device. This makes it easy to maintain and access one set of notes from a variety of devices. Additionally, Evernote’s online service allows selected files to be shared for viewing and editing by other users.
There are two additional advantages of using Evernote with BibleReader.
- Evernote allows you to create BibleReader notes in your account on the Evernote server. You can copy and paste information into these notes from any source, e.g., something you have written in a Word file, information you found on the Internet. This means you can easily create large BibleReader notes using Evernote and your desktop or notebook computer.
- By installing the appropriate Evernote app on your Mac or PC, you can access your BibleReader notes from your desktop or notebook computer. This makes it easy to transfer the content of BibleReader notes into documents you are preparing, e.g., Bible study handouts, sermons.
Using one of Evernote’s apps, you can take notes, edit them, store them on your device, and automatically sync them with a master copy via an account on the Evernote server. For example, if you have an iPad, an iPhone, and a Windows machine and the Evernote apps for each one, you could take notes, edit them, and store them on all three devices. Then you could sync the notes from each device with the Evernote server (a simple operation), and then sync each device with the server (another simple operation). The twofold result would be that (1) all your notes are integrated into one master copy on the Evernote server, and (2) each device ends up with an identical set of notes.
Evernote’s server and apps are arranged in a “hub-and-spoke” configuration. This means that each sync operation initiated from an Evernote app (a “spoke”) syncs to the Evernote server (the “hub”). For example, if you initiate a sync from the Evernote app on your iPhone, all new and updated notes will be uploaded to your account on the Evernote server. The next time you perform a sync from any other device, these new and edited notes will be downloaded to that device. Syncing always is initiated by a device running an Evernote app, not from the Evernote server.
That’s a bare-bones account of how Evernote works and what it is capable of doing. For more information, click here.
BibleReader and the Olive Tree sync site have been designed to work seamlessly with Evernote. The only thing you need to do to begin syncing your BibleReader notes with the Evernote server is to establish an Evernote account by clicking here. You do not need to download and install an app.
If, however, you also would like to use Evernote to take notes outside of BibleReader, click here to download the app or apps that are appropriate for the device or devices on which you would like to use Evernote.
What Are the Steps to Sync to Evernote?
This section explains how to:
- Add and edit notes in your account on the Evernote server.
- Use Sync.OliveTree.com to sync to the Evernote server and upload updated notes from the Olive Tree sync server to the Evernote sync server and download updated notes from the Evernote server to the Olive Tree server.
- Use BibleReader to sync to Sync.OliveTree.com and upload updated notes, bookmarks, and highlights from BibleReader to the Olive Tree sync server and download updated notes, bookmarks, and highlights from the server to BibleReader.
Adding Notes on Evernote and Syncing Them to BibleReader
This subsection assumes that you have opened an Evernote account. Click here to do so.
Sign in to your Evernote account.
This takes you to the Notes screen.
On the left side of the Notes screen, under “Notebooks,” select the notebook “Olive Tree.”
Evernote allows you to create different notebooks. BibleReader notes must be kept in a notebook titled “Olive Tree.”
On the Notes screen, click the New Note button to open the note editor.
Create a new note and give it a title.
Click the Done button to save the note.
Now we will sync from BibleReader to the Evernote server so that the new note is downloaded to BibleReader.
Tap the My Stuff (suitcase) icon on BibleReader’s main screen to display the My Stuff menu. Scroll down until you see the “External Sync Services” option.
Tap the “External Sync Services” selection to display the External Services screen.
Tap the Evernote button to display the Evernote Sync screen.
Notice the information about updates provided in the graphic above. Three notes have been updated in the Evernote account (either by logging in to the account via the Internet or by using an Evernote app), and these updated notes have not been downloaded to BibleReader. There are no updated notes in your account on the Olive Tree sync server to upload to the Evernote server.
Tap the Sync Evernote button to sync to the Evernote server and to download updated notes to BibleReader.
Notice the sync progress information in the bottom left of the graphic above.
To see the new note created on the Evernote server and downloaded to BibleReader, tap “Notes” to display the My Notes list.
Tap “My Test Note” to display that note.
Editing Notes on Evernote and Syncing Them to BibleReader
Log in to your Evernote acount.
On the left side of the Notes screen, under “Notebooks,” select the notebook “Olive Tree.”
In the list of notes, select “My Test Note.”
Click the Edit button to open the note for editing. Add some text. Click the Save button to save your edits.
To sync the edited note with BibleReader, follow the instructions above (click here).
Doing the Evernote Sync from Sync.OliveTree.com
There are two ways to sync directly to your Evernote account: from the Olive Tree sync server (explained in this section) and by using BibleReader’s “External Sync Services” (explained above).
- Using BibleReader’s “External Sync Services” downloads updated notes on the Evernote sync server to the Olive Tree sync server and to BibleReader, and it uploads updated notes on BibleReader to the Olive Tree sync server (but not to the Evernote server).
- Using Olive Tree’s sync server uploads updated notes on this server to the Evernote sync server, and it downloads updated notes on the Evernote sync server to the Olive Tree sync server (but not to BibleReader).
This section explains how to sync to your account on the Evernote sync server from your account on the Olive Tree sync server.
Log in to your Olive Tree account (click here to do so).
At the top of the “My Olive Tree Account” screen, click “Olive Tree Study Sync.”
This displays the Olive Tree Study Sync screen. Click the Share button on the left of this screen to display the Share screen.
Click the Sync button to the right of the “Evernote” selection to display an information screen.
The information part of the graphic above says, “You have 56 updates in your Olive Tree Account and 6 updates in your Evernote Account since you last synchronized.” This means there are 56 updated notes on the Olive Tree sync server to upload to the Evernote sync server and 6 updated notes on the Evernote sync server to download to the Olive Tree sync server.
Click the Sync button to sync your Olive Tree account with your Evernote account. This uploads updated notes to the Evernote account and downloads updated notes from the Evernote account.
This successfully updates your notes on the Olive Tree sync server. They now are in sync with notes in your “Olive Tree” folder on the Evernote server.
One more sync operation is required to download all the new and edited notes from the Olive Tree sync server to BibleReader: You must sync BibleReader with the Olive Tree sync server. To sync BibleReader with the Olive Tree sync server, read the instructions here.
Doing the Evernote Sync from within BibleReader
This has been explained above (click here).
