Synchronized Sections
Today we have released an early version of a feature that I envisioned over three years ago. Those of you who memorize extended passages of the Bible might have noticed that there is sometimes a lack of context and continuity as verses which should appear contiguously unfortunately are reviewed haphazardly over the weeks.
This is most acute in chapters such as Matthew 5-7 (the Sermon on the Mount). I think most would agree that the following verses form a logical unit and should be grouped together during review:
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
I had always hoped that as people added passages it would gradually become clear which verses should be grouped together within a passage. It turns out that is, indeed, the case. Enough users who have a heart for fasting - but less for prayer and giving - have added the above verses and not the surrounding verses and it is possible to infer that Matt 6:16-18 belong together.
Clearly this works best in sections of the Bible that are heavily memorized and less well in the minor prophets (I always think it will be awkward when we meet Obadiah one day and he asks us what we thought of his book!).
This feature is still a work in progress and I am currently the only one using it. If you like living on the edge, you can enable Synchronize Subsections on your Update Profile page. This will ensure that over time, related verses will be reviewed on the same day and the review interval will be synchronized. Please leave feedback or comments by clicking the black 'Feedback' tab on the right. We will be refining this feature over the coming months so feel free to wait if you want.
One of the disadvantages of this feature is that if you forget one verse in a subsection, the whole subsection will reset and appear to be unmemorized. If you'd like to see how your passages have been subsectioned, you can navigate to this secret page and click on the relevant passage. The last number in the list that appears shows the various subpassages.
We highly recommend that most of you wait for a few months before enabling this feature.
I hope you all have a blessed 2015.
New Feature
memorization, passages
18 responses to Synchronized Sections
This sounds like a really useful new feature. I actually was recently thinking how it might be easier to memorize certain passages if I could always review the related verses together. But I'll wait until the feature is a little more ready before I try using it :)
Thank you for all you do, and I hope you have a wonderful new year!
Looking forward to using the new feature :) I actually find the "disadvantage" to be a good thing. I've had the problem of memorizing all the verses but one in a particular passage, and then being left with the one verse out of context to work on. I like the idea of not having a passage fully "memorized" until I know ALL the verses in it.
Thanks so much for all you guys do here. This website has really facilitated being able to hide God's word in my heart. Thanks for offering this for free :)
God bless! Happy 2015 :)
As others have said above, I too like the idea of working on verses in context.
And I wish also to say thank you; I haven't been here very long but it has already been a blessing!
This sounds really good, I know that I'm not the only one who has been waiting for something like this. Will there be a way for individual users to set what is a passage and what isn't? For example I would divide Psalm 119 into the 22 passages it has divided in 8 verse sections, because If I were to receive the whole chapter one day it would be cumbersome to have 176 verses for review.
I think I can say for all of us Bible Bee-ers that this will be an extremely helpful feature. Thank you!
~Esther
P.S. Obadiah happens to be a passage we memorized for Nats last year. :P Minus the last three verses, anyway.
Yay! I'm so glad you've decided to implement this. I've been off my account since Nationals but I'm going to try to get back on more consistently. The sycronizing will really help. :)
I hope that this feature, when it's eventually introduced to all of Memverse, is made optional. B/c while I entirely understand & endorse the logic of grouping verses together that speak on a unified subject, I prefer to do that myself mentally. It helps memorization, and permits me to form richer mental associations--rather than having it handed to me. Also, I add on verses in a pretty piece-meal fashion, so I'd like to be able to continue that :)
Is there a function to even-out the list of currently due verses? Some days have too many verses to review while other days have none.
@Richard Hollenbeck, if you select "Add verses as needed" on your profile, Memverse will automatically pend/unpend verses to make sure you always your desired amount of verses (which ends up being about one verse for every minute you have on your Target Time). I hope that helps, and please tell me if any of that didn't make sense!
Blessings as you study God's Word!
Emily
Yeah, I've noticed this problem. I've enabled the feature now, so I'll let you know how I like it.
I'm a PhD student in CS, and this sounds like a really interesting problem. Can you describe the basic algorithm you're using? I don't really know how I would approach it. (I'm not in machine learning, so don't expect me to have great suggestions; I'm just curious.)