Revised Websites and Apps soon

[Chris7]

By April (according to the Annual meeting 6 month rule 😁) we will see the new jw.org website and new JW Library app. These will be unified and become even more user-friendly.

These will greatly help us in our meetings and ministry since the new JW Library will include the content and features of WT Library as well as content that now appears only on the jw.org website.

This should, I hope, help us use different language videos more easily in our multi-language territory. What benefits do you look forward to?

 

[Alexa]

Color friendly and color inviting 

[Tortuga]

Recently we have noticed some odd things happening on jw.org and jwl that might indicate the brothers are currently moving things around. 

[dove]

I love the new Home screen..everything is so easily available in one place..is this the new jw.org, or will it change again in April..

[leoperales]

1 hour ago, Dove said:

I love the new Home screen..everything is so easily available in one place..is this the new jw.org, or will it change again in April..

I believe the current home screen in JW.org is the same as it has always been.

[dove]

Up to lately Home always pictured the preaching work done around the world. Now in it's place its' featuring the Bible Lessons Online, and many other contacts at the bottom. 

 

[Tortuga]

5 minutes ago, Dove said:

Up to lately Home always pictured the preaching work done around the world. Now in it's place its' featuring the Bible Lessons Online, and many other contacts at the bottom. 

 

Good catch...

[Hinata]

I really wonder how it will look, because the site now already is very easy to use, and already extremely professionally built. This kind of CSS skills don't come from nowhere!

 

26 minutes ago, Dove said:

Up to lately Home always pictured the preaching work done around the world. Now in it's place its' featuring the Bible Lessons Online, and many other contacts at the bottom. 

 

 

The home screen still shows the preaching work pictures in other languages; the Online Bible Lesson is yet to be available in those languages.

 

Speaking of which, I wonder if the newly-designed website will be available in other languages immediately, I guess we won't be able to tell.

[dove]

3 minutes ago, YukitoMatsuzuki said:

 

 

 

The home screen still shows the preaching work pictures in other languages; the Online Bible Lesson is yet to be available in those languages.

 

 

My Home screen is as I mentioned. Maybe it's just in the English language right now?

[Hinata]

Just now, Dove said:

My Home screen is as I mentioned. Maybe it's just in the English language right now?

Yes, I meant that, in other languages, the home screen will still show the preaching work screens as it was before, but in English, it will show Online Bible Lessons as you said. Sorry if I caused confusion.

[Dages]

1 hour ago, Dove said:

Up to lately Home always pictured the preaching work done around the world. Now in it's place its' featuring the Bible Lessons Online, and many other contacts at the bottom. 

 

Ho yes, we don't have these in French yet

[Beggar for the Spirit]

I am hoping that there will be an easy way to backup and combine our "notes" from phone, tablet, PC. 

[leoperales]

54 minutes ago, Beggar for the Spirit said:

I am hoping that there will be an easy way to backup and combine our "notes" from phone, tablet, PC. 

Br Neil, currently we can backup our notes, but combining can only be done through a different app (not the Society's) called JWL Merge.

[Beggar for the Spirit]

Hi Leonardo,

Thanks for replying, I do have JWL Merge but I was hoping that the updated JW app would have an easier way to merge notes between devices. 

Edited March 2, 2019 by Beggar for the Spirit

[leoperales]

2 hours ago, Beggar for the Spirit said:

Hi Leonardo,

Thanks for replying, I do have JWL Merge but I was hoping that the updated JW app would have an easier way to merge notes between devices. 

I agree and I’m sure that’s in the works. 

[Qapla]

I would like to see JWL add the ability to show "external" images and/or videos to the app instead of having to use VLC (or something similar)

[Chris7]

9 hours ago, Qapla said:

I would like to see JWL add the ability to show "external" images and/or videos to the app instead of having to use VLC (or something similar)

Do you mean that when brothers bring pictures for public talks etc. they can be shown at the Hall without using a third party application?  That would be handy, especially for brothers on the sound desk.  However I wonder if allowing that would make it appear to be ‘approved’ by the society when it’s a personal (or copied) picture or video? If I have understood you correctly?

[Qapla]

Yes, I am talking about being able to use JWL for pictures at the meetings. 

1 hour ago, Chris7 said:

However I wonder if allowing that would make it appear to be ‘approved’ by the society when it’s a personal (or copied) picture or video?

Are you asking if such images would appear any more "approved" then they already do when they are displayed on TV's or a large screen in the front of the KH during the Public Meeting?

[Chris7]

7 minutes ago, Qapla said:

Yes, I am talking about being able to use JWL for pictures at the meetings. 

Are you asking if such images would appear any more "approved" then they already do when they are displayed on TV's or a large screen in the front of the KH during the Public Meeting?

Yes, I suppose I am,  being over cautious again, sorry. I just would not want to risk installing a foreign program into JWL, it just feels like we would be contaminating it. 

Would make life easier at the meetings for sure. ✅

[Chris7]

I would like to see the multi-language facility in teaching toolbox given to all videos in JWL.

if you click on the video (3 dots) you get a list of all the languages you have downloaded.  On the favourites videos you have to have a separate video icon for each language which takes up space.

[Qapla]

6 minutes ago, Chris7 said:

I just would not want to risk installing a foreign program into JWL, it just feels like we would be contaminating it.

 

I'm confused ... how would allowing JWL to display an image or a video require "installing a foreign program into JWL"? Nothing would have to be installed into JWL. It already has the ability to display images/videos - we do that now with the ones included in the meetings. This option would just allow it to access ones that are not d/l to the private area already accessed by JWL

[Thesauron]

Do you mean that when brothers bring pictures for public talks etc. they can be shown at the Hall without using a third party application?  That would be handy, especially for brothers on the sound desk.  However I wonder if allowing that would make it appear to be ‘approved’ by the society when it’s a personal (or copied) picture or video? If I have understood you correctly?

As for ‘approved’ images, the Governing Body never approves of any images or media outside of what they produce themselves, or procure rights to publish.

As for any images a speaker uses, it is understood that he himself or the BoE makes sure that the necessary rights required by the local law has been secured. Some might feel images fall under ‘fair use’ or alike, since they reason the purpose is educational.

[Chris7]

46 minutes ago, Qapla said:

Nothing would have to be installed into JWL. It already has the ability to display images/videos - we do that now with the ones included in the meetings. This option would just allow it to access ones that are not d/l to the private area already accessed by JWL

You’re right, thanks for clarifying, let’s hope we get that facility. Its me that gets confused, I’m sure I will think clearly in about a 1000 years 😊. Maybe we won’t need JWL then, but right now we do and I can’t wait for the upgrade.

[stuarteyre]

On 3/2/2019 at 3:41 AM, Qapla said:

 

I would like to see JWL add the ability to show "external" images and/or videos to the app instead of having to use VLC (or something similar)

 

We use a program called JWL Helper. As long as you have all the images/videos downloaded in JWLibrary, it pulls those files from the library media folders, including the song videos. 

You can also add external images for a public talk for example. 

When playing videos or showing images you only use JWL Helper and not JWLibray. So no fighting back and forth over what program is showing media. 

You can even shut down JWLibrary after opening Helper. 

It works really well. 

 

[On the huh]

This is the announcement about the changes

https://www.jw.org/en/whats-new/new-publications-revised-websites-apps/

 

Additionally, the JW Library app will be redesigned to incorporate the content and features of Watchtower Library as well as content that now appears only on the jw.org website. The overall appearance of the new website and the new app will be unified and become even more user-friendly. For example, to ensure that the redesigned website and app are not too hard to navigate, key aspects will be simplified to help users find spiritual food quickly.

 

While I, like many of the sound operators, would like to see new features in JW Library to help at the meetings, there is no mention of any feature like that being incorporated.  The main focus at the moment seems to be is to unify and make more user-friendly.  Some content from jw.org is already available in JW Library in the Publications > Articles Series, although only recent articles, not the back catalogue going back to the website launch of 2012.  Can we expect to download articles from the Newsroom as well into JW Library?

 

I also honestly think that once the all content from Watchtower Library is transferred to JW Library, then it will be gradually phased out, leaving the unified jw.org website and the JW Library app.