Bible Reading Plans - New feature in SAB 11.1

Scripture App Builder
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  • You can add a collection of Bible reading plans to your app. Each day within a plan can include one or more passages for users to read or listen to.
  • Plans are defined in text files, using standard format markers. For details about the required file format, see the ‘Bible Plans’ section in the ‘Building Apps’ documentation.
  • There is a new bottom navigation bar in the app, allowing users to navigate between the main Bible view, Plans, and the Contents menu (if there is one).
  • To add plans to the app, go to Engagement > Plans.
  • You can add pre-prepared plans from the Plans Gallery, by clicking the ‘Add Plan from Gallery…’ button.
  • More features are planned for the coming releases, including: daily reminder, settings/changing the start date, cancelling plans, choosing the days of the week on which to read, and devotional notes.

How to incorporate Bible plans to your apps - Info from SAB Documentation

Scripture apps can contain a selection of Bible plans, which include one or more daily
readings.

How do I define a plan?

Plans are defined in text files. Here is the format:

\id PLAN1
\title Read through the Gospels
\descr Read the Gospels of Matthew and Mark,
learning about Jesus, what he did, what he said and
why he came.
\img plan1.jpg
\day 1
\ref MAT 1:1-17
\day 2
\ref MAT 1:18-25
\ref MRK 1:1-8
\day 3
\ref MAT 2

The standard format markers to use are as follows:

\id - Unique identifier for the plan (for internal use)
\title - Title of the plan (seen by the user)
\descr - Description of the plan (seen by the user)
\img - Image
\day - Day in the plan (\day 1, \day 2, \day 3, etc.)
\ref - Scripture reference to read. (There can be one or more \ref lines for each day. References are defined using the Paratext book codes (GEN, EXO, LEV, etc.).

How do I add a plan to the app?

To add a plan to your app:

  1. Go to Engagement → Plans.
  2. Click Add Plan…
  3. Select a plan definition file (see above on the format of such files) and click
    Open.
  4. Double-click the plan in the table to edit the name, description or image.

There is a Plans Gallery with some pre-prepared plans. To use one or more of these,
click the Add Plans from Gallery button.

Please feel free to share links of apps with the new plans feature or share some of your created plan files which can be reused by other app builders.

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Thank you Joshy! Here is the link of an App we built with the new Plans feature:

Bible Na Ngai - https://tiny.one/BibleNaNgai-Android

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Excellent explanation!

Please also provide guidance for the code for the Multi-collection app.
For example, if we are creating an app with three or four collections, each with a different language, what should the collection code be?

Regards

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Here are two plans from James_Cuthbert from Biblica :

My first reading plan is Read the Bible in 365 days. I got the verses from https://www.biblica.com/resources/reading-plans/ . It has a verse from the Old Testament, New Testament and Psalms everyday.
Link to Download

The second reading plan was a test using ChatGPT. After a few prompts and editing, it was able to create a 30 day devotional to go through a summary of the life of Jesus in 30 days.
Link to Download

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Updates in SAB 11.2

  • Bible Reading plans – additional features
    • When starting a plan, you will be asked some configuration questions (whether you want to assign dates, the start date, the days of the week to do the plan, and up to two daily reminders).
    • To change the dates of a plan after starting it, go to the configuration tab and tap ‘Change Dates’.
    • To set up the daily reminder times, go to the configuration tab and tap ‘Set Up Reminders’.
    • You can add headings in the daily readings using the \heading marker in the plan definition file.