I’m always on the lookout for new online ministry resources. So when the creators of Bible Shark emailed me and asked me to have a look at their new online application I was more than happy to oblige. I even offered to write a review of it, and they liked that idea so here I am… writing a review.
General overview
If you click the “about us” link on Bible Shark here’s what the creators say,
The staff at Bibleshark.com is made of two computer geeks who believe that the internet is the future of bible study. We will provide convenient, intuitive, and accurate Bible study tools that are easily accessible on the net. If you are a first day Bible reader or an experienced theologian, Bibleshark.com will provide you the bible study tools necessary to advance in your knowledge of the scriptures.
So, at the time of writing, Bible Shark only features a parallel Bible lookup application. Other features are promised in the future. I’m looking forward to some more features to go along with the parallel.
The site utilizes Python and the Django framework for it. I’ve used Python a little but never Django; they tell me it’s the bees knees though. Database is MySql. Other software used includes Subversion and then CentOS to run the servers.
Technical overview
All of the above software makes for one blazingly fast application. From looking up a passage to adding new translations alongside existing ones, Bible Shark is the fastest online parallel Bible I’ve ever used. No contest.
User actions are obvious, buttons do what they say and everything is really easy to find. I never felt lost or confused while using Bible Shark.
I trust that in the future there will be other Bible study tools available, but since I don’t know what they will be or when they will be released I can only comment on the parallel Bible application. That said, my biggest frustration from a technical point of view was the selection of translations from which to choose.
So far, these are the Bible translations available:
- Darby
- Young’s Literal
- American Standard
- Bible in Basic English
- Webster (1833)
- World English
- New American
- Douay-Rheims
- King James Version
Not that those are bad translations but for this tool to be usable, I need at least these translations added to that list:
- New International Version
- English Standard Version
- New Living Translation
- New American Standard
The selection of translations was the most glaring down-side of this application.
Design overview
Bible Shark looks like it was designed by programmers from a utilitarian point of view: function over form. Functionally it’s fantastic. The form needs some work though. Color choice leaves much to be desired. I question the decision to have text spread from one edge of the window to the other, it makes for extremely long lines of text and I frequently lost my place. This problem is remedied somewhat when I choose to display more than one translation at a time.
The site logo is good. But it could be great. I don’t like the oversized Trebuchet MS fonts spread around the application. I think some other font family and font size would be a better choice for the buttons and search fields.
Conclusion
The design of an application should definitely come secondary to how well it functions. Functionally, Bible Shark shows a lot of promise. Once those extra applications are in place it could do with a professional web designer’s input.
I’m going to keep my eye on Bible Shark. If its creators continue to put work into it (which seems like their plan) then I can see it being a great resource for ministers and lay people alike.
8 Comments
Excellent review.
Just playing around with it, I like that you can add more than just 2 translations at a time. I also agree about the width, the almost unbearably bad logo, and that it looks like a programmer designed it.
Right, I mean, functionally this site is awesome. And it’s REALLY fast. It just needs a professional web designer to work a bit on it.
It would seem that biblegateway.com would offer all these features and more. Am I wrong?
As Pete says, BibleGateway.com already offers all of this and more – and whilst I see how promising it can be, I’m not sure it’ll succeed whilst there are such good alternatives around. It’ll have to do something very special to make me change my ways.
@Pistol & James: I use Bible Gateway a lot. But only for passage lookup. I don’t think they have a parallel display . . . if they do, it’s not obvious to me. My biggest critique against BG is how cluttered it is. Like I said, I use it a lot, yet there are many times when I’ll enter a passage into the wrong field, or click the wrong buttons. Also, looking up a passage in BG takes for EVER! Seriously, it’s slow.
But you’re right, they definitely offer more features than Bible Shark or most any other online service. However, I never use any of their services other than passage lookup. And like I said, that’s really slow.
I think that once a service like Bible Shark gets some other features besides a simple parallel lookup it’ll have at least three things over Bible Gateway: 1) simplicity 2) speed 3) intuitive interface.
Ben, I want to give out a heart felt thanks for your review on the site. We are truly gracious. I also appreciate all the comments. User feedback is truly the key.
I completely agree with you in regards to the available translations on bibleshark. As of now we are using public domain translations. We hope to get the copyrighted translations such as the ones you mentioned. We had to get the site live so we could begin writing our proposals to the different foundations responsible for them. Wish us luck.
I do want to state that this is phase 1 of the site. There is much more on the way and we are excited about the future. Again, we really appreciate the time you spent on this.
In Him
Derek
Definitely a great beginning, Derek. I’ve had a hand in launching an online application so I fully understand how you have to get something live, and start getting feedback as soon as possible.
I personally am not critical (in a bad way) of your project. Like I said, functionally it’s definitely on the right track towards being a success. It’s a lot of work doing something like this, and I don’t think anyone can look down on you for it.
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