Looping Announcements?

[wnp]

I have just started using ZionWorx 2.0 (we will do our first Sunday with the software this week), and one feature I have not found (and Christian confirms that it is not there) is "looping announcements".

This is one of the features I found most useful in the Linux-based "Lyric Display System".

You type in the announcements for the event like a song, and then tell the program to loop through them at a specified interval, i.e. 10 seconds. Each page will stay up 10 seconds, after the last one it goes back to the first.

Would anyone else find this sort of thing useful?

[zer0burn316]

hey there this may sound elematarym but i may have a solution for you. if you got powerpoint, do your slides in there, then you can controle them through zionworx with the powerpoint controls, in the powerpoint area there is an option to loop the show. maybe you already figured that one out but thought i would share it anyway. but it would be a good thing to have added to zionworx for the user that does not use powerpoint. (just a thought) i do songs and sermons in zionworx, but never did announcements accept in Powerpoint. would be cool to try.

by the way my email has changed if you want to contact me it is now
daysweb@hotmail.com

[Diceman]

How about this for a sollution. Shift developent of version 4 accross to C++, team up with the linux project and develope new features, borrow from each other and save time on the core features developed by both. That way you can easily port to linux (which is free and unless I'm very much mistaken shares some of the core idologies of the Zionworx project).

This will have three major advantages:

1) Zionworx R&D will be open to the opensource community for scrutiny, comment and improvment.

2) Zionworx will become M$ independant and trully the worship tool for all, irrespective of financial ability to buy expensive software.

3) This is our Whitness as Christian coders/hackers/nerds/engineers. God rocks bigger than anyone else, and it's not just the musicians who are showing it.

Just a thought.

[zer0burn316]

not to be rude, but i hae messed with Linux and have had nothing but problems, zionworx is left better in a windows based system, just my opinion. if it worx in both cool, but as long as a windows version is still avalible. Linux

[intuitas]

Hi Diceman,

Don't think we need to go to C++ for porting to Linux (Delphi will do just nicely in the end).

Do you have any connections with the Open Source people? If so I suggest you 'talk' to Christian about any resources or contacts you can "throw" his way!

I have posted a query regarding the question of dual monitor support in Impress - witha view to us (the ZionWorx community) being able to dispense with that need for PowerPoint licence and provide for good portability across platforms.

Regards,

Paul

[Diceman]

Cool, I remember I sent a email to Christian months ago about intigration with Impress but didn't get much back - must have been snowed under.

Integration with impress, would certainly cut out the requirement for M$.

Re contacting the wider opensource community- if the project is posted at slashdot and sourceforge you'll get some rapid response. Zionworx is great as it is, but opening it up to the wider community will take some of the workload off Christian, but mean he still has control as a moderator.

The nice side effect would be that we (Christian Nerds - or whatever you are comfortable with calling yourselfs) don't have to hide in their own little community they can get out there and really start making a difference in the wider development community.

I feel like a broken record harping on about this but it'll really make a big difference.

Dice

[Christian]

I really do appreciate where you're coming from Diceman, and maybe one day ZionWorx could become an open source project...though this is not something I'm considering at the moment.

Regarding Linux, I'm not convinced of the benefit of porting to this platform either. Besides the technical challenges, I just can't realistically forsee many churches or organisations being bothered with Linux. I've never (properly) used Linux myself, though I'm sure it does a very good job at what it does, but unfortunately we're living in a M$ Windows dominated world and so I think this is where the focus of development should be - for the time being at least.

I'm VERY keen for ZionWorx to support 'Impress' when it eventually handles dual monitors (thanks Intuitas for your efforts here) and especially since the recently released 'PowerPoint Viewer 2003' managed to let us all down so spectacularly by not supporting OLE!

[Diceman]

Points taken. Thanks for the reply. Great work BTW

Re: Linux in general

I work in advertising design and am not as technical as some. My PC is tri-booted with xp-home, 98se(for legacy hardware) and Mandrake linux (I had redhat and it was too big for my little brain ). The more I use it, the more I like it. It's fast, efficient, secure, stable and now easy to get running with. Most of all its free. I can't really knock it.

M$ dominates the world because of apathy to the success of alternatives, reluctance to try the un-tried and widespread faith in the gesticulations of the M$ marketing machine.

To say that the level of linux uptake warrants a port urgently would be as you've fairly pointed out a little over the top. But I read that one of the Scandinavian countries recently switched all their social security, government and administration office systems over to Linux and Open Office. So I certainly believe the platform will be worth keeping an eye on if nothing else.

Incidentally (before I start a flame war or something) I havenÂ?t got anything against Delphi dev. To be honest - I was slightly out of my depth and have learnt to hopefully be more discerning in my future postings

Diceman

[zer0burn316]

hey there i just wanted to drop a note to say that we all have preferences to what we would like t see in zionworx and it is best to step back look at them all and make the best of them all, for example i hate linux but love mac and windows, so there should be a mac or windows version, and for those in to linux they should have one too just look at what all the users are wanting and form the new ideas around that

[Mealz]

Yes you are right churches wont be bothered to run linux..... while quality software isnt available. Opening Zionworx to the open source community would accelerate development.

Linux is still the ideal platorm, in fact you could make a live CD out of Zionworx just put it in the Cd drive turn on the pc and there u have it!



I will shutup now

[zer0burn316]

i totally agree with what you saying, i am just not a linux fan. we all have the right to voice our opinion and yours matters just as much as mine.

[Williamting]

I just wanted to go back to the original discussion, ie, looping announcement, it would be nice if smooth scroll of advertisement can be made available, whereby the scrolling speed can be set.

William

[zer0burn316]

hey there it will be a good idea, but a problem presents itself. the ability to have multiple sized text on one slide, all i can tell is that zionworx has one size and that can be kinda cheese when doing annnouncements that is why i use PP to do my announcements but as for the looping that would be nice, maybe if you could make text boxed in the slide and the ability to change sizes and all to give it a more pro look Just a thought

[jefff]

i know java has it's downsides. but if zionworx were made in java, it would work on windows, mac, linux, my toaster, and everything else that ever gets a java platform written for it.

[Diceman]

here here (but then All good suggestions regarding plattform independancy are consigned to the dustbin it seems by the management under the premis of lack of userbase