PbiblxHelp> Users Guide

This Users-Guide is intended to acquaint new users to the driving concepts behind pBiblx2 and familiarize frequent users to the ministerial and evangelical possibilities behind the technologies utilized herein. This documentation is constantly developing thanks to the contributions of pBIblx2 users.

Author: Randy Pritts

Contents:

Introduction → - What is pBiblx2 and how could it be useful to me?
Section 1 → - The simplicity of pBiblx2 as a personal/public Christian (CMS) content management system.
Section 2 → - Organizational Features.
Section 3 → - Can I do this?
Ending Notes → - Further Resources and Child Threads.

Introduction - What is pBiblx2 and how could it be useful to me?

There are plenty of Bible software and mobile apps out there to choose from. pBiblx2, however, is more than a common study program or reading app. It is a content management system unlike any other expressively for Christians. Think of pBiblx2 as an integrated virtual suite of christian applications (bibles, dictionaries, maps, indexes, search engines, web directories, print and projection applications, etc...) built into a scalable content management system allowing notes, journals, blogs, user comments, web page publishing, tagging and more. pBiblx2 can be as private and hidden away for personal use or as public locally or world wide as you need it to be. One might start out small and personal and grow it out into something that you can build a home group or broader ministry around.

pBiblx2 is also sharable. You can configure it share it to yourself no matter where you are or what device you are on because it is browser based and served up from a compatible Linux server. You can configure it to share with your study group, street ministry or congregation for the very same reasons. You can ask others to collaborate or contribute their content to your system to host. There is also a self contained secret agent version of it (ShepherdPupLinux) that you can carry around with you on a bootable encrypted flash drive.

So why do you need it? Because like your faith and your own personal ministry, pBIblx2 is meant to shared and meant to grow right along with you. That's why!

Read further, I believe that you will be convinced.

I.The simplicity of pBiblx2 as a personal/public Christian (CMS) content management system.

How pBiblx2 is similar Content Management System?

The basic concept behind a content management system like pBiblx2 is to allow users to produce and manage their own content easily. There should be no need, as in times past, to know how to author HTML pages or program CGI or administer the back-end of a website. An author should be able to consciously write his composition as a stream of conscious thought without care of formatting, go back and add some very simple syntax to display headers and tables and display formatting (see: HelpFile), get on about his/her business. pBiblx2 carries this simplicity a step further for Christians by providing the additional syntax to easily link to or quote most every bible or dictionary or index resource with easy to write place holders; the macro magic of the pBiblx2 display system will accomplish the rest. Content on this system takes the ultra manageable form of plain text files with this evolving syntax, making it easily searched, easily linked to, easily tagged. And if you are running your own private server, this makes content easy to further manipulate and maintain with the standard GNU Text Utilities, even converted to plain HTML to be converted easily to hundreds of other book and text formats.

The "pBiblx2 Field Wise Bible System" then is such a content management system, but developed for Christians to be used in a variety of ways:

As a personal tool for daily devotion, study, research, training, journaling, personal web directory etc...
Shared via HTTP locally for home or study group resource and content.
Shared via HTTP globally using a free dynamic DNS address through services such as NOIP.
Integrated in to an existing DOMAIN NAME via a HTML server such as Apache on Linux with PERL CGI capability.
Used privately and securely on encrypted self contained flash drives such as PUPPYLINUX in gospel hostile countries and public internet hot spots. (Note - 2021 I am currently endeavoring to revive the PuppyLinux derivative ShepherdPupLinux, or at least the DIY how to instructions to this onhttp://likepreciousfaith.us/html/home/ShepherdPupLinux.html).

What does pBiblx2 add to content management that most other CMS products do not?

In addition to standard CMS services pBiblx2 comes with:

An user expandable library of public domain bible translations and dictionaries that can be linked to or quoted in any of your content.
An user expandable collection of user produced resource indexes in flat text @sv and csv formats that can be linked to or quoted in any of your content. Pre-installed indexes include BIBLEBYCHAPTER BIBLEBYSTORYLINE and several other others felt immediately useful (see: MYINDEX for others).
SEEKER which is a search facility for all of these installed local resources, including all of your content, and pre-populates several popular external christian internet search sites.
A user comment mechanism for comments or journals or keeping organized notes that don't need a separate content page.
A presentation generator. Any bible page or user page can be displayed automagically from pBiblx2 to SLIDY PRESENTATION or REVEAL.JS PRESENTATION HTML slide formats like slide:JesusByName . This makes it handy for in house study or lyric projection. The resulting HTML can be saved from the browser to a single HTML file to store or project on a different system. Screen recordings of it can be used for video production and screenshots of it can be used for posting memes etc... on social media. Randomized indexes can be used in content files to produce browser based billboards like this one random slide:RandomQuote2 simply by additional note syntax.
A inline content texteditor with much of the key format syntax built into the menubar thanks a modified SMARKUP.js. Otherwise locally hosted systems can be edited via your favorite text or grammar editor.
A remote REPEATER mode where you can control the slide display from another computer's web browser (EXPERIMENTAL)
Automated add-ons via CRON. Scripts that will set devotions and journals to the current date, download and import RSS news feeds, refresh random quotes etc...
Audio links from the /media directory can present your audio content on the content page in a functional media player container.
You can also host other media types in the pre-configured media directories (/html /media/epub, /media/pdf, /media/mps) and simple syntax on you content page will link to it.
pBiblx2 can be password protected inline with multiple contributor accounts or secured via HTML server config by changing root directory to HTTPS PORT 440. Inline password for comment users only can be unique from full content contributors only. Your files can also be locked for editing so that no one can edit them without a separate per file login.
Modifiable code that is written in PERL.

Simplicity is the key!

Why use it if it not simple?

Content is easily created, indexed, searched, tagged, linked to and referenced.
The system encourages a "write content first" then "format later" workflow via simple syntax.
Child threads of similar content can be easily birthed from each page.
Comment facilities can be implemented at the author's choosing for any page or section of page or topic.
Simple reader surveys or quizzes can be implement at the author's discretion as well.
You can easily comment or edit and you can allow others to participate or collaborate as well.

Further Resources:
UserContribution PbiblxCreateIndexes

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Organizational Structure

For ease of administration there are ten pre-built content directories established: /bible /devotion /featured /home /journal /pcarr /featured /indexed /random /tags. Most user generated content will be put into /pcarr, that is where MyPad TopicalNotes DoctrinalStudy main thread pages are stored to further organize notes and content, from there further child thread pages can be authored. /bible houses BibleNotes and RecentComments and BibleHome main threads. Other directories follow similar suit. The two remaining directories /indexed contains the systems resource indexes and /tags stores user tags (a way to further organize content). In addition, the administrator can create three digit numeric directories such as /100 to accommodate special case storage needs (example /101 for hymn lyrics) up to 1000 additional directories. Knowing what directory a file resides in that you are linking to will help in determining the proper syntax.

Here are some common examples:

Physical Directory:	Syntax:	Displayed Result:
/home	hFILENAME	HomePage
/pcarr	pFILENAME	ApostlesCreed
/bible	bFILENAME	BookOfRomans
/100	100FILENAME	MyLyrics
/media/epub	media[epub@FILENAME]	media: epub/mylatestbook.epub
/html	(any filename ending in .html)	test.html
/media/mp3	(any filename ending in mp3 MP3 or mpeg3)	(ERROR: FILENAME NOT FOUND)
/img	(any filename ending in jpg gif or png)

You may have noticed my frequent use of CamelCasealready in this document to produce automatic links.Note - That all content files are named in CamelCasesyntax (Capital words enjoined with no space between them). If a file resides in the same directory as the file linking to it, no further syntax is required. This is actually the way most files are referenced being that most files are within the same directory. You may have noticed my frequent use of CamelCasealready in this document to produce automatic links.

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3. Can I do this?

You can do this. The pBiblx2 system is there to help you all along the way. Not only in the way it is implemented, but also in the way it has being fully documented. The pBiblx2 system has been actively developed and implemented since 2009. The boldest full scale implementation of pBiblx2 to date can be inspected athttp://likepreciousfaith.us.

The best way to learn the pBiblx2 system is to immerse yourself in it by yourself. Explore the examples and structures already provided. Read through the files for syntax. Learn by emulating and doing it. Stretch your understanding of it a little further and further. And for those of you that haven't the desire or the time to fully learn this, use it like you already know, as a text editor that saves your compositions in a ready for internet form; learn only enough syntax to make it look nice.

You may already have a perfectly capable bible application or phone app. There is no need that it would have to be replaced. Use it for what you are comfortable with and integrate it alongside with pBiblx2 for whatever it is that it it is not presently capable of doing. Let each product do what it does best. The question then becomes not "why do I need this", but "what all can I do for the edification of ourselves and others with it"?

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Other resources:

ShepherdPup PbiblxEvangIdeas