November 06, 2015

Accordance Web Browser Bookmarklets

Tired of all those scripture links on web pages opening up in biblegateway? Looking for a quick way to look up some text in your browser not in wikipedia, but in your Accordance tool?

Since Accordance has added the new URL Links (accord://) protocol, it has enabled new ways of interacting with Accordance, even while working in other applications. The URL Links are designed primarily for you to add links to Accordance modules in your own webpages and documents, handy indeed, especially now that you can even URL Link to a specific point in an Accordance module (as of 11.1). For more information on URL Links, visit the very informative help page on the topic.

However, there's an additional way of making use of URL Links: incorporating them into bookmarklets. Bookmarklets are a way to code advanced functionality into the bookmarks/favorites saved in your web browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc.).
This trick allows you to select text in a web page or pdf that's open in your web browser, and then select the Accordance Bookmarklet that searches based on that text. This essentially duplicates the functionality available in the Accordance Services, but they're much quicker when in your browser:

  • reading a selected verse reference in either the default text or a specified text
  • searching for a selected word or phrase in either the default text or a specified text
  • searching for a selected word in any of your Accordance tools within a stated search field
  • looking up the study topic function of either a verse list or an article from the default study tool
In the table below are a series of Accordance Bookmarklets to get you started. You can drag any of these links into the "Favorites Bar" (as it's called in Safari) or "Bookmarks Bar" (as it's called in Chrome). Then, you simply select the text in a web document and then click the Bookmarklet you wish. In Safari, you can also use the keyboard shortcut Command ⌘ + Option ⌥ + 1, 2, 3, etc. to activate the corresponding bookmarklet in the bar.

Open a verse selection to read in Accordance
ReadVerses = Open the verse selection in your default text module.
Open the verse selection in a specifically named text module:
ReadNRSVS ReadNIV ReadESVS
Search for a selected word or phrase in an Accordance text
SearchWords = Search for the selection in the default text module.
Search for the selection in a specifically named text module:
SearchNRSVS SearchNIV SearchESVS
Search a specific search field of a specified tool module:
SearchAnchorEntry = Search for the selected text in the Entry field of the Anchor Bible Dictionary.
SearchAnchorEnglish = Search for the selected text in the English Content field of the Anchor Bible Dictionary.
SearchNIB-NTReference = Search for the selected text in Reference field of the New Interpreter's Bible NT.
Search the Study Topic function in Accordance
StudyTopicVerses = Display a list of verses related to the selected topic.
StudyTopicArticle = Show an article on the selected topic.

You can test out your Bookmarklets.
Let's say you want to research, say:  dung
Just highlight the word and click the appropriate bookmarklet.
Same goes for looking up a text reference, such as:  John 11:35   or    Micah 6:8

You can customize a bookmarklet by right-clicking (control-clicking) on the bookmark in the bar and select "edit address". At the end of the long javascript address, you'll see where you can alter the Accordance URL Link.

Here is a video showing how to install, use and edit the bookmarklets: