Translations are automatic. Report a translation problem.

By

What is new in Paratext 9?

A lot of the functionality in Paratext 9 is the same, but there have been significant changes to the menus, how windows work and how to open things. Paratext 9 also includes Enhanced Resources, texts with information about the underlying Greek or Hebrew words.

Menus

An awkwardness of using Paratext since it began is how the menus change or apply depending on what your active project is. How often have you gone looking for a command, or realized you just ran a check or tool on the wrong project because you forgot what you’d last clicked in? In Paratext 9, this confusion is minimized because the menu commands applying to specific projects are launched from that project window. Menus for global Paratext functions are launched from the top left icon. Menus are not displayed when not needed, giving you more room for text.

Windows

Arranging windows of different projects or components was either a tedious manual process, or a fully automatic one if you used a stacked arrangement. In Paratext 9, it is easier to arrange windows than in the manual process of earlier versions, while you can adjust your arrangement to make one window larger and another smaller, which was impossible in a stacked arrangement.

Open

Rather than several different menu commands for opening different things, like a special command to open Biblical Term renderings, another for dictionaries, another for Notes lists, in Paratext 9 all of these things can be opened from the same Open dialog.

Enhanced resources

Paratext 9 has new enhanced Scripture resources which have been tagged with information about the Greek and Hebrew words found in the source text. This allows lookups to be performed for lexical entries, images, and maps pertaining to the source language text. These resources are being translated into many languages of wider communication. Existing Paratext 8 resource texts are also available in Paratext 9.

The comprehensive list of new features is found here.

By

What if I am involved in multiple projects as consultant or administrator?

Since Paratext 8 and Paratext 9 can run on the same computer, and Paratext 8 users and Paratext 9 users can work together in the same shared project.  We would encourage consultants to upgrade to the new version, but if you stay on 8, you will be able to continue consulting with teams who are using Paratext 9. In the same way, you can continue to consult for a team using 8 after you upgrade to 9.

By

Can users of Paratext 8 and Paratext 9 share via send/receive?

Yes. There is no need to migrate projects from Paratext 8 to Paratext 9. However, there may be a few small inconveniences when working with a shared project in both versions.

  • If the project includes figures, the markers for these may appear different in Paratext 9 than in Paratext 8, and it may be hard to edit figures in both versions.
  • If the project uses Ruby glossing (a special need for Japanese language texts), these glosses may not be visible for Paratext 8 users.
  • When creating a new project in Paratext 9, you can create it using USFM3 or USFM2. Paratext 8 does not fully support USFM 3 but it will open such projects.
  • Certain project plans may only be applied and edited in version 9.  However, the progress is shared between both 8 and 9.

By

Can I still use Paratext 8 after installing version 9?

Yes. Installing Paratext 9 does not remove Paratext 8 from your computer. The two versions use the same project folder, and there is no need to migrate projects like there was when moving from Paratext 7 to Paratext 8. Team members can share projects together even while some are on Paratext 8 and some on Paratext 9.

We would advise caution in opening both versions at the same time. Both versions read and write the same files in each project. If you make changes in one version, then changes in the same project in the other version, some of your changes might not be saved. You will get a warning message if you open one while the other is already open. We would advise you to heed the warning and close one before you open the other.

If after installing Paratext 9 you wish to remove Paratext 8, you can uninstall it from the Windows Settings App, (the gear in the start menu > Apps > find Paratext 8 in the list and click Uninstall) or from the Control Panel. (Programs and Features > Find Paratext 8 in the list, right click and choose Uninstall).

By

Are certain organizations or groups prevented from using Paratext?

The Paratext Board of Governors wishes to make Paratext available to all Bible translators with as few restrictions as possible. In the past, there were complaints about the difficulty of obtaining licenses for Paratext. The new registration system starting with Paratext 8 has been designed to decentralize the process of obtaining licenses. Now the approval process is managed by more than 250 organizations, each for their own personnel. Organizations and church groups are being added all the time by filling out a simple form found on this site’s registration information page. Here is how it works:

Any organization may request to become a Paratext Organization. There are two criteria:

  1.     They must agree to follow the standards for Bible translation set forth by the Forum of Bible Agencies International.  This is a checkbox on the form.
  2.     They must abide by the Paratext Terms of Use, in the section entitled Global Principles.  Although this is not made explicit on the organization registration form, it is in the confirmation email that is sent when the registration is received.

If any Bible translator does not have access to Paratext and its excellent set of resources for translators today, it is probably because they have not registered their organization.  In the rare case that a request is rejected, it is most often because the group is not involved in Bible translation. The only other cases of rejection are where they claim not to comply with FOBAI translation standards or have violated the Paratext Terms of Use in some way.

By

What is the difference between USFM 3 and USFM 2?

USFM3 includes some new markers for Ruby glosses (a special kind of annotation in Japanese), a new way of storing figures, and a few other new things. Details here

Versions of Paratext 8 before 8.0.100.76 (released May 2019) cannot read USFM3 projects. Recent updates to Paratext 8 can open these projects but the new markers might not display correctly. For instance, a figure inserted into a USFM3 project by Paratext 9 won’t be visible or editable in Paratext 8. You will see the info that a figure has been inserted but you will not see the figure in Preview or any other view.

When you create a project in Paratext 9, the default is to use USFM3 but it gives you this warning dialog before creating the project:

 

The warning lets you change the project properties to USFM2 if you need to be sharing the project with Paratext 8 users.  You can also specify USFM 2 when creating the project by going to the Advanced tab of Project Properties.