Software demo

Starting Visual Liturgy

This demonstration is taken from Visual Liturgy 4.0 for Common Worship. In the two years since version 3.0 was released, Visual Liturgy has been taken apart and put back together again with the help of feedback from users, user panels, a panel of IT and liturgical experts, and designers with a background in web site design and software projects. The intention was to ensure that the software was much easier to use than any previous version, while also adding key new functionality.

The welcome screen

Select the image for a full-size version

The Welcome Screen will be the first port of call for most users when they start using the software.

The first improvement to note is that the ability to create new services or open saved services has been brought right into this opening screen. As a result, the number of 'clicks' between opening the software and getting into your services has been reduced.

The other major advance is the addition of the new Option bar, which runs down the left-hand side of the screen. The Option bar effectively provides Visual Liturgy users with a quick way of navigating to any major feature they require, and is always present on the left-hand side of the screen. (Although it is possible to turn it off if required.)

The Menu bar remains, but is now cleaner and simpler than in previous versions. The icons have been revisited to give them a more modern feel. A few buttons have disappeared since they are no longer relevant in VL4 - for example Summary Outline and Refresh. Meanwhile, new icons have been added for New item and Edit item, to allow users to quickly manipulate content.

Lastly, the new Welcome screen provides basic information from the Calendar. An automatic check will show which events are occurring each day and even provide some indication of the relevant liturgical colour via the small Stole icon in the top right-hand corner.

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