WOL & WTL to be phased out.

[jwhess]

2 hours ago, Sheep said:

Hhmm. I don't remember Watchtower Library ever running on DOS. In my recollection it has always been a Windows-based utility. However, the furthest back that I had an IBM compatible "clone" computer was in 1994. It ran Windows 3.1, and I had Watchtower Library on it.

 

(Before that I still had a Commodore 64... )

Br. Eric, I apologize for a miscommunication.  For dedicated DOS users, Windows 2.0 and 3.0 were just "skins" or "overdubs" that ran on top of DOS.  You could not start the Windows programs without the DOS loading first.  There was no way to load windows otherwise (and you could buy the WIN 3.1 disk but it would not work unless you installed the DOS first. So we considered that a "Dos" application or program.

 

It was less true when Windows 95 was released.  You did not have to buy DOS 6.22 (or any other version) to get the Win 95 to install.  It was built into the install disk and was not sold as a separate program.  So I always think of WIN 2 and WIN 3 versions as a DOS program (like a game or menus that ran on DOS).

 

However, they eventually stated that ordinary DOS/Win combinations (like Dos 6.22 and Win 3.11) would not support the new features and we would all have to upgrade to WIN 95.  It was a big step for me. All of the other libraries (?)  like Folios and Qsearch diskettes were strictly Dos based.

 

I again apologize for an oldtimer's point of view...😎

[Luigi62]

7 hours ago, Brandon said:

That is, in fact, available online and has been for some years: https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/library/r1/lp-e/all-publications/publications-index/index-1930-1985

 

Reading the full text of the 1930s' watchtowers is not even 'doable' from the cd rom WTL, and never has been! 🙃

You can only read the Watchtower from the 50's and the Awake! from the 70's in WTL and WOL.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Luigi62

[Thesauron]

You can only read the W&A from the 50's in WTL and WOL.

Yes, the efforts to make publications available digitally from end of 19th century until 1949 would be overwhelming and useless to most. It probably would not be a wise use of resources. Instead, focus is on what actually helps most people today.

[AH173]

7 hours ago, jwhess said:

I again apologize for an oldtimer's point of view...😎

I haven't heard this speak in 35 years or so. 

 

In techno speak, you took me to the early 1980's!

 

Now I've got to get back to the future! 😆

[jwhess]

2 hours ago, Thesauron said:

Yes, the efforts to make publications available digitally from end of 19th century until 1949 would be overwhelming and useless to most. It probably would not be a wise use of resources. Instead, focus is on what actually helps most people today.

I have almost all of these printed publications in PDF (so they have been converted already to this readable format). It takes about 50 GB of space to store them.  They are searchable through a PDF reader.

[Thesauron]

I have almost all of these printed publications in PDF (so they have been converted already to this readable format). It takes about 50 GB of space to store them.  They are searchable through a PDF reader.

Yes, people have done that and distributed them, some have scanned their own publications, but that’s not good enough for the Governing Body. When an older publication is prepared for digitalisation, you select which print to use, scan it, then several people check the texts for errors. It takes a while. It is also made available in ePub, JWPUB and some other formats. Right now, focus seems to be on adding images and illustrations to the older publications already digitised.

[jwhess]

14 hours ago, Thesauron said:

Yes, people have done that and distributed them, some have scanned their own publications, but that’s not good enough for the Governing Body. When an older publication is prepared for digitalisation, you select which print to use, scan it, then several people check the texts for errors. It takes a while. It is also made available in ePub, JWPUB and some other formats. Right now, focus seems to be on adding images and illustrations to the older publications already digitised.

Two points come to mind.  First, I would prefer a scanned PDF of the old publications from the GB but it is not going to happen soon (it appears ). So I would rather have my own scanned copy than having to look every one up in my hard copy.  Plus I do not have all of the hard copies in my possession.

 

Second, the PDFs I have DO have the charts and pictures in all of them.

 

So I will use what I have until better comes along.  I realize that this is not a solution for everyone but it is the best I can do at present.  The point I originally was making was that the 1930 Index was useful (to me).

 

[Brandon]

The point I originally was making was that the 1930 Index was useful (to me)

Ya but then you said "it's not doable on WOL" which is incorrect; you can access the 1930-85 publications index in English and several other languages from our website.

[jwhess]

4 hours ago, Brandon said:

 

Ya but then you said "it's not doable on WOL" which is incorrect; you can access the 1930-85 publications index in English and several other languages from our website.

 

you can access the index but you can't access the publications listed before 1950 in WOL.

[Brandon]

you can access the index but you can't access the publications listed before 1950 in WOL.

nor can you on the cd rom though...

[jwhess]

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

 

nor can you on the cd rom though...

 

I am afraid our communication is still incomplete so I will make one more try to explain.

 

A comment was made about the 1930-1985 Index.  I pointed out that it was valuable to me personally because I could make use of it.  I have the PDF versions of the publications that are referenced in this index.  So I can go and look them up (including charts and pictures).  Some others thought we should wait for the GB to go back and re-scan these documents from 100 years ago.  I said it was unlikely.  I will continue to use the copies that I have on my devices (not on CD-ROM).

 

I do not wish to drag this somewhat off-topic exchange any further.  If I have confused you in any way, I apologize.  The "old stuff" is valuable to me.  As one GB member said, "You can't know where you are going if you don't know where you have been."...❤️

[Old]

2 hours ago, jwhess said:

I am afraid our communication is still incomplete so I will make one more try to explain.

 

...

 

I do not wish to drag this somewhat off-topic exchange any further.  If I have confused you in any way, I apologize.  The "old stuff" is valuable to me.  As one GB member said, "You can't know where you are going if you don't know where you have been."...❤️

More power to you! I wish I had the mental ability to research these old articles, I don't . I know they sometimes represent understandings that are no longer held to today. That is our history.

You cannot tell that the light is getting brighter if you don't look behind you. 

[1MKnight]

 

On 3/3/2020 at 12:35 PM, Thesauron said:

Are there any features from tv.jw.org that you are missing in jw.org? (Except for perhaps the dark background...)

There is one feature that seems to have been removed:

You cannot listen to audio on shuffle.

Before, you would go to tv.jw.org > Audio then choose your category and hit shuffle. That is no longer possible. 

Yes... you can shuffle the music videos, but I don't always want to wait for videos to load if I'm on the other side of the house, or use gigabytes of data. 

[Thesauron]

 
There is one feature that seems to have been removed:
You cannot listen to audio on shuffle.
Before, you would go to tv.jw.org > Audio then choose your category and hit shuffle. That is no longer possible. 
Yes... you can shuffle the music videos, but I don't always want to wait for videos to load if I'm on the other side of the house, or use gigabytes of data. 

JW Library has that feature. It is now a big button in top of each audio or video category. You can chose to download the files beforehand, or not.

[1MKnight]

 

2 minutes ago, Thesauron said:

JW Library has that feature. It is now a big button in top of each audio or video category. You can chose to download the files beforehand, or not.

True, however the audio player is buggy on every device I own. 

• I don't really want to download all of the audio, I'd prefer to stream
• Streaming on JWL is unusually slow on all devices I own. Often several minutes of pause between each song no matter my proximity to wifi/LTE (Not always, but it happens more often than any other music streaming service I've ever used)
• I cannot cast the audio to my Google Home to listen throughout my house. 
• JWL often crashes. 

I do need to iterate that I do not dislike JWL. I simply think the audio streaming (and even downloaded audio) functionality is not fully operational. I believe I stated before that I upload the songs to a private account on a music streaming service. I can stream the songs from any device, make playlists. I have a "JW Greatest Hits" playlist to put all my favorites from Original Songs, Vocal Renditions, Children's Original Songs, etc. into one place. You cannot do anything close to that with JWL. 

 

Why I liked to use JW TV for music:

• The web interface was simple enough.
• No crashes or bugs. Everything just worked as it was meant to on any device. It was as flawless as any other professional web service.
• I could "cast" to my devices without any issues.
• Shuffle.  

I'll be honest, I haven't even had a reason to use any official JW platform to play music since using a third-party service. The only reason I noticed the lack of a shuffle feature is because I went to listen in a different language, Hindi (we're planning on moving to India, but COVID-19 has halted our plans for now).

 

So, I guess it's not a huge issue to me. I've found a work-around that I'm more than happy with. 

[Qapla]

I guess I don't understand ...

 

Are we talking about JW Library .. the same app we use at the meetings?

 

I just tried several audio categories on my JWL on my PC. They all have a large "Play All" and "Shuffle"  button at the top of the music selection

 

I played several categories and they all streamed without problems ... and the change from the end of one song to the beginning of the next was almost instant.

[Thesauron]

 
True, however the audio player is buggy on every device I own. 

• I don't really want to download all of the audio, I'd prefer to stream
• Streaming on JWL is unusually slow on all devices I own. Often several minutes of pause between each song no matter my proximity to wifi/LTE (Not always, but it happens more often than any other music streaming service I've ever used)
• I cannot cast the audio to my Google Home to listen throughout my house. 
• JWL often crashes. 

I do need to iterate that I do not dislike JWL. I simply think the audio streaming (and even downloaded audio) functionality is not fully operational. I believe I stated before that I upload the songs to a private account on a music streaming service. I can stream the songs from any device, make playlists. I have a "JW Greatest Hits" playlist to put all my favorites from Original Songs, Vocal Renditions, Children's Original Songs, etc. into one place. You cannot do anything close to that with JWL. 
 
Why I liked to use JW TV for music:

• The web interface was simple enough.
• No crashes or bugs. Everything just worked as it was meant to on any device. It was as flawless as any other professional web service.
• I could "cast" to my devices without any issues.
• Shuffle.  

I'll be honest, I haven't even had a reason to use any official JW platform to play music since using a third-party service. The only reason I noticed the lack of a shuffle feature is because I went to listen in a different language, Hindi (we're planning on moving to India, but COVID-19 has halted our plans for now).
 
So, I guess it's not a huge issue to me. I've found a work-around that I'm more than happy with. 

What system are you using that is causing the JW Library to crash? Mine never does that, and both the shuffling and streaming works flawlessly.

[carlos]

On 4/11/2020 at 11:40 PM, Thesauron said:

What system are you using that is causing the JW Library to crash? Mine never does that, and both the shuffling and streaming works flawlessly.

Playing audio was unstable for me for a long time. If I paused the file, then resumed it, it would always throw an error and force me to either accept (and keep playing) or cancel. That was a pain in the neck when we were preparing the Watchtower and paused on every paragraph. But some of the recent updates fixed that in my device.

[1MKnight]

On 4/11/2020 at 2:00 PM, Qapla said:

I guess I don't understand ...

 

Are we talking about JW Library .. the same app we use at the meetings?

 

I just tried several audio categories on my JWL on my PC. They all have a large "Play All" and "Shuffle"  button at the top of the music selection

 

I played several categories and they all streamed without problems ... and the change from the end of one song to the beginning of the next was almost instant.

Jw library has those features, jw.org does not (the now defunct tv.jw.org had those features.) 

though these features exist on jw library, they are but consistently functional. Nor can I cast them as I could on JW Broadcasting.

On 4/11/2020 at 2:40 PM, Thesauron said:

What system are you using that is causing the JW Library to crash? Mine never does that, and both the shuffling and streaming works flawlessly.

Windows 10 Lenovo Yoga

 Android Essential PH-1

 Apple iPad Pro. 
 

all have issues in my experience. the iPad has never crashed as the others have. However, they all have issues streaming in either WiFi or data. Often, music never starts streaming,l. It will just sit in loading limbo. My jwl on Android crashes while streaming quite frequently. Often, music will just stop playing on the Windows app. 
 

At times, a song will not download. Or it will say it’s been downloaded but I cannot play it. That hairs on both Android and windows. 
 

Strangely, video seems to always work (recently anyways). I don’t bother streaming audio too much anymore as I’ve mentioned. I either ask google to talk to jw.org or use my own files. (Which, again, I prefer because I can make playlists and even add unofficial songs like the ones from Gilead.)

 

 Also, my sign language app streams video flawlessly. 

Edited April 13, 2020 by 1MKnight

[Qapla]

I don't know what to say ... I have JWL on both Android (Samsung Galaxy 7 Edge)and Windows 10 (HP Pavilion with AMD CPU) and have not had any problem downloading, streaming or playing 

 

I have not used the jw.org site many times to stream from - but, when I did it worked fine.

[Hinata]

JW.ORG streaming can be a lot unstable. It can take indefinite amount of time to load a song. This becomes more apparent when I try to shuffle music. It was one reason why I decided to download all music files. But realistically, I can not download every single music files on JW.ORG, including in other languages. So this really needs to be fixed. (This was not a problem in tv.jw.org.)

 

Streaming in JW Library works completely differently. It only shuffles audio in which you have downloaded, which negates the purpose of streaming. However, other than that, it plays flawlessly without problems. Even more fluent than streaming from JW.ORG.

 

If there is one feature that I greatly miss about tv.jw.org, it was the live time streaming. It felt like you were actually watching a TV broadcast, with the complete scheduled programs. This was fundamentally different from a simply shuffling video. I really hope I can use this feature again.

Edited April 13, 2020 by YukitoMatsuzuki

[Luigi62]

Yet again French is ahead of the pack. i was thinking WOL had stopped being updated, then i look at the french site and this is what i discovered. In Spanish they don't even have may publications up in WOL.

Edited April 13, 2020 by Luigi62

[Thesauron]

Windows 10 Lenovo Yoga
 Android Essential PH-1
 Apple iPad Pro. 
 
all have issues in my experience. the iPad has never crashed as the others have. However, they all have issues streaming in either WiFi or data. Often, music never starts streaming,l. It will just sit in loading limbo. My jwl on Android crashes while streaming quite frequently. Often, music will just stop playing on the Windows app. 
 
At times, a song will not download. Or it will say it’s been downloaded but I cannot play it. That hairs on both Android and windows. 
 
Strangely, video seems to always work (recently anyways). I don’t bother streaming audio too much anymore as I’ve mentioned. I either ask google to talk to jw.org or use my own files. (Which, again, I prefer because I can make playlists and even add unofficial songs like the ones from Gilead.)
 
 Also, my sign language app streams video flawlessly. 

I have an Apple iPad Pro, and never experiences issues with streaming. Is it something with your network, perhaps?

[Thesauron]

JW.ORG streaming can be a lot unstable. It can take indefinite amount of time to load a song. This becomes more apparent when I try to shuffle music. It was one reason why I decided to download all music files. But realistically, I can not download every single music files on JW.ORG, including in other languages. So this really needs to be fixed. (This was not a problem in tv.jw.org.)

 

Streaming in JW Library works completely differently. It only shuffles audio in which you have downloaded, which negates the purpose of streaming. However, other than that, it plays flawlessly without problems. Even more fluent than streaming from JW.ORG.

 

If there is one feature that I greatly miss about tv.jw.org, it was the live time streaming. It felt like you were actually watching a TV broadcast, with the complete scheduled programs. This was fundamentally different from a simply shuffling video. I really hope I can use this feature again.

How was the live time streaming not just shuffling videos? You selected a category, and the server played it for you?

 

JW Library will shuffle also audio files that you have not downloaded as long as you have allowed it to stream over your network.

[Hinata]

12 minutes ago, Thesauron said:

How was he live time streaming not just shuffling videos? You selected a category, and the server played it for you?

JW Library will shuffle also audio files that you have not downloaded as long as you have allowed it to stream over your network.

 

I think you should understand that because tv.jw.org is now down, none of us can go and confirm this feature anymore. So you will just have to take my word for it. In tv.jw.org, there was a "streaming" section which broadcasted all kinds of different video categories. They were set up like in an actual TV broadcasting sessions. They did not start when you clicked "stream." Instead, there were a predetermined Broadcasting schedule that the system will stick by and let it play through randomly. It had the feeling of watching an actual TV Broadcasting. I specifically remember in the What's New update post, it mentioned that this feature was disabled during the integration to JW.ORG.

 

About the JW Library, I'll have to make a correction. When I posted that commented, I was yet to update my JWL. After browsing the forum I was notified that the JWL was updated on Android. When I updated, the option to stream audio/video that are not downloaded were presented. This would have been added newly in the Android version this early April, as the patch Note explicitly states that the Android version got this feature now. But this seems to have been updated already for a while in iOS/Windows.