Ipad..tag and highlight studying Come Follow Me

I am studying the Come Follow Me lessons for the youth following the links there to talks and scriptures. Even though I am signed in, I am unable to tag, highlight or make notes. I'm guessing that is because the links are not going through Gospel library? Is there a way around this? The links from the lessons are so helpful, but not being able to tag or highlight is a problem. (The only option available is copy)..

It's not particularly clear just what actions you are taking. Here are the steps I followed in a regular desktop browser; please clarify if these match your actions:

1. Sign in to LDS.org
2. Open up a "Come, Follow Me" lesson. I chose Resources > Youth > Come, Follow Me > Aaronic Priesthood > May: Prophets and Revelation > How can I strengthen my testimony?
3. Click on a link to a scripture (I chose the first one in that lesson, which is John 7:16-17)
4. That opened a new tab (in Chrome) or popped up a window (in Firefox) that displayed the correct scripture (John 7:16-17). At that point, I had all the normal capabilities for marking, tagging, etc.

Or are you using the Gospel Library mobile app? I wonder this because you referred to Gospel Library. In that case, are these your steps?

1. Open up the Gospel Library mobile app
2. Open up a "Come, Follow Me" lesson. I chose Manuals > Youth: Come, Follow Me > Aaronic Priesthood > May: Prophets and Revelation > How can I strengthen my testimony?
3. Tap on a link to a scripture (I chose the first one in that lesson, which is John 7:16-17)
4. That took me to the correct scripture in Gospel Library. At that point, I had all the normal capabilities for marking, tagging, etc.

If I understand you correctly, for step 4 you find yourself in a browser window, rather than still in the Gospel Library mobile app. Is that correct?

I did just like you in the first scenario. The only difference is that I am using safari on my ipad. If I highlight a portion of text in the scriptures or a talk I am given the option to "copy". Nothing else.

Is the browser the problem?

Interesting. I can duplicate the problem in Safari under Windows. When I click on a scripture link, a separate browser window pops up, and it has no Study Bar.

Further experimentation showed that the basic problem is that the Study Bar does not appear in browser windows that are "too small"; if I make that popup browser window larger, there comes a point where the Study Bar suddenly appears. That limit seems to be somewhere around 700 pixels wide.

The reason I couldn't duplicate the problem in Chrome is that the scripture link opens up in a new tab, rather than a new window, and so it's full sized and (at least for me) wider than 700 pixels -- thus the Study Bar is visible. And with Firefox, the popup was a bit more than 770 pixels wide. But with Safari, the popup was only 620 pixels wide.

Now clearly the Safari browser on an iPad will work differently. If you use it in Landscape, I would think that there would be plenty of width -- even the iPad mini is 1024 pixels wide. But responsive web design may have many more variables than just the width, so the above analysis could clearly be a gross oversimplification.

Thank you for trying to help me figure this out.

I tried landscape mode - but same thing. I DO see a bar at the bottom that says "share" "bookmark" "journal entry" and a place to check for "study mode" which I have checked.

jaredfamily wrote:I DO see a bar at the bottom that says "share" "bookmark" "journal entry" and a place to check for "study mode" which I have checked.

If you see the Study Bar, then I guess that means I was on the wrong track.

So maybe we should back up and try some basics. Simply go to LDS.org, sign in, go to the scriptures, and then go to an actual chapter (e.g., 1 Nephi 1). Do you see the Study Bar? I assume you will. When you select text in actual verses of scripture, are you presented with options for adding a note or tag?

If the answer to that last question is No, then the fact that you got to the scriptures from a "Come, Follow Me" lesson is irrelevant -- the problem is that you can't add notes and tags in the scriptures regardless of how you got there. When I do this in Safari for Windows, it works just fine -- I do have options for adding a note or tag.

You are right, it appears that "Come Follow Me" is irrelevant.

I only get options to mark and tag when I use the Gospel Library App. I don't have that option when I enter scriptures from lds.org (on my ipad).

Is that a limitation on the ipad?

I've tried in both Safari and Chrome on the iPad with the same result. If I highlight something my only option is to "Copy", no highlight or add notes.

I have the same issue. Did you ever figure this out?

I have the same problem on my iPad. When I connect to the scripture links in Come Follow Me, I can’t highlight or use the other study features. This is a major drawback of the new study program and SS curriculum. Have there been any solutions or new updates on this issue?

dhsmith1 wrote:I have the same problem on my iPad. When I connect to the scripture links in Come Follow Me, I can’t highlight or use the other study features. This is a major drawback of the new study program and SS curriculum. Have there been any solutions or new updates on this issue?

Are you using the Gospel Library mobile app?

I have had some strange issues with Safari on a Mac (see this post). It wasn't quite the same thing as you are reporting, but it could be related.

Is the "copy" option coming from the web browser's native copy ability, or is it the church's menu popping up and the only available option is Copy?

Thanks for your response sbradshaw. Yes, I am using the Gospel Library mobile app. When I am signed into the app on my iPad, if I go directly to the scriptures section and to a specific scripture, then I have no problem being able to highlight, copy, link, etc. However, if I go into the Sunday School section and then into the Come Follow Me - for individuals and families and open up the scriptures which are hyperlinked in the readings, then if I select a phrase in the scriptures it gives me the option to copy, but not the option to highlight, link, etc. As I am doing the Come Follow Me program this year both in my own study and in SS class on Sundays, it would be really nice to be able to highlight, link, annotate, etc. my digital scriptures as meaningful comments are made, thoughts come to me, etc.

Sounds like a content issue. Not all content in GL is formatted such that it can support the full range of markings. The fact it works in one area but not the other is the tip-off.

dhsmith1 wrote:Thanks for your response sbradshaw. Yes, I am using the Gospel Library mobile app. When I am signed into the app on my iPad, if I go directly to the scriptures section and to a specific scripture, then I have no problem being able to highlight, copy, link, etc. However, if I go into the Sunday School section and then into the Come Follow Me - for individuals and families and open up the scriptures which are hyperlinked in the readings, then if I select a phrase in the scriptures it gives me the option to copy, but not the option to highlight, link, etc. As I am doing the Come Follow Me program this year both in my own study and in SS class on Sundays, it would be really nice to be able to highlight, link, annotate, etc. my digital scriptures as meaningful comments are made, thoughts come to me, etc.

When you click a link to the scriptures from Come, Follow Me (or another place), the content will open in the sidebar on the right. I'm guessing that's where you're trying to bring up the annotation tools. The sidebar only provides a preview – it doesn't allow you to annotate. However, at the top of the content snippet in the sidebar, you'll see a scripture reference link (in the default theme, the link is orange). Clicking that link will take you out of the sidebar to the full view of the chapter, where you can highlight and annotate.

Thanks to both of you for your responses. You are right on - I am able to do all the annotations when I switch to the full scripture view but not when I am in the sidebar “preview” mode as you said. The challenge is, both in my personal study but especially in class, to flip back and forth between the full screen mode and the study/preview mode to make annotations and keep up with the class, etc. In order to encourage members to really personalize their studies, do you know if there are any plans to format the preview mode in Gospel Library to allow for annotating in a more functional manner?

I'm not sure, but I'd recommend sending feedback using the "Send Feedback" option in Settings – the support team keeps track of common feature requests. I agree that it could be useful to allow full annotating in the sidebar.