Can I migrate resources to Paratext 8.0?

Question

In Paratext 8.0 (and later):

• You cannot migrate resources from earlier versions of Paratext.
• Resources have a different format.
• Resources from Paratext 7 cannot be read.

To get resources in Paratext 8.0 (or later), you can either:

• Follow the instructions in [How do I download and install a resource text from the Internet?](http://support.paratext.org/t/how-do-i-download-and-install-a-resource-text-from-the-internet/385)
• Copy a resource zip file from another user of Paratext 8.0 (or later), and put it into the "My Paratext 8 Projects\\_Resources" folder.

TIPS:

• Users may access only the resources that their organization has permission to access.
• It is no longer necessary, nor possible, for a user to extract a resource as in Paratext 7.

See also:

• How do I install a Source Language Resource?

Answer 1

We are working hard to get as many resources approved by publishers for P8 as possible. There are several possible roadblocks. Imagine a publisher that approved a resource for P6 when they thot a few hundred people might see it. Now imagine the same publisher trying to decide whether they are willing to make their resource available to 10,000 Paratext P8 users.

Imagine that publisher read posts on the support site describing how to make copies of their resources!

The good part about the new system is that any publisher who has uploaded their resource to DBL can make the latest version available to any Paratext user with a couple clicks.

Removing the ability to view resources by book.

Comments

There are 9 different Philippine resource versions available for Paratext 7. As of now there is only one available for Paratext 8. If this situation does not change rather soon, it is going to be very difficult to get people here to migrate to Paratext 8.

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Hear hear! “Imagine that publisher read posts on the support site describing how to make copies of their resources!”

I am someone who is in charge of one Bible society’s intellectual property. We do not have any problem allowing people to use our resources in PT, but our existence and survival is not depending on the sales income as is the case with some of our sister organizations. If there is even a hint of someone using “illegal” methodes in getting the resources into PT 8, we will be in a deep trouble in trying to convince Bible societies to open their resources to anyone outside UBS.

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Could somebody please give me a good suggestion on how to explain to the average Paratext user why the screen setup below would be perfectly OK, while displaying the same resources in the Paratext 8 window would be illegal? I have a hard time coming up with a good logic here.

image.png1366×768 131 KB

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Someone wiser can correct me if I’m wrong, but the way we explained it at the PT8 workshop was that the permission granted to use the materials in PT7 does not carry over to PT8. The exact reason for this, we did not attempt to explain as we didn’t understand it ourselves.

• It doesn’t seem that it’s because the permissions were tied to a particular version of Paratext, because they carried over from PT6 to PT7.
• It doesn’t seem that it’s related to time limits on the original permissions, as expired permissions would affect both versions equally.
• It doesn’t seem that it’s related to the resource being hosted in the DBL, or we would be permitted to install local copies of the resource from downloaded zip files, just like in PT7.
• It doesn’t seem that it’s related to the change in user registration paradigm, because qualification for accessing the resources has become only more granular, with the ability for resources to be shared more selectively.
• It doesn’t seem that PT8 somehow exposes more of the resource to the user than was previously accessible.

The only difference I’m left with is not really a difference between PT7 and PT8, but a difference over time: With the dramatic expansion in the Bible Translation movement, we now have many more Paratext users than we had when permissions were granted. If permissions were granted for a limited number of users that we now expect to exceed, we have to renegotiate that, and the version difference gives us a mechanism to control that?

Or perhaps it’s not so much a matter of a legal barrier to continuing to use the original permissions as it is an opportunity to honor the rights-holders by inviting them to update their permission in the light of the growth of the BT movement, giving them an opportunity to be on-board this partnership instead of dragged in by their earlier commitment. They deserve the opportunity to choose again to be part of God’s history for these language communities. What credit is there in responding in love to advance the Kingdom when it’s forced out of you? We want them to have a genuine choice in that, right? And so honor them, we will, even if it’s not required by law but by love. (Is that it?)

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anon451647:

Imagine a publisher that approved a resource for P6 when they thot a few hundred people might see it. Now imagine the same publisher trying to decide whether they are willing to make their resource available to 10,000 Paratext P8 users.

anon150053:

The only difference I'm left with is not really a difference between PT7 and PT8, but a difference over time: With the dramatic expansion in the Bible Translation movement, we now have many more Paratext users than we had when permissions were granted. If permissions were granted for a limited number of users that we now expect to exceed, we have to renegotiate that, and the version difference gives us a mechanism to control that?

When the original license agreement was done, Paratext didn't have many users. Suddenly, we have over 10,000 users (and that number keeps growing). Imagine if you're a company that makes it's money based on the sale of those resources - there's a big difference between letting a few hundred people use your resource for free versus more than 10,000 people using it for free. Thus we feel it's time to update the license agreements.

In addition to that, Paratext 8 is freely available to anyone to download and now includes different permission sets (mostly based on the user's organization). This means that we need to know to what extent the license-holders want to release their resources so that the permissions can be set for the resources correctly. Unfortunately, releasing the resource files before we have this information is difficult because PT8 users can still pass the resources around offline (See the FAQ) so the permission data must be included inside the files before it's released to everyone.

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anon451647:

Imagine a publisher that approved a resource for P6 when they thot a few hundred people might see it. Now imagine the same publisher trying to decide whether they are willing to make their resource available to 10,000 Paratext P8 users.

anon150053:

The only difference I’m left with is not really a difference between PT7 and PT8, but a difference over time: With the dramatic expansion in the Bible Translation movement, we now have many more Paratext users than we had when permissions were granted. If permissions were granted for a limited number of users that we now expect to exceed, we have to renegotiate that, and the version difference gives us a mechanism to control that?

When the original license agreement was done, Paratext didn’t have many users. Suddenly, we have over 10,000 users (and that number keeps growing). Imagine if you’re a company that makes it’s money based on the sale of those resources - there’s a big difference between letting a few hundred people use your resource for free versus more than 10,000 people using it for free. Thus we feel it’s time to update the license agreements.

In addition to that, Paratext 8 is freely available to anyone to download and now includes different permission sets (mostly based on the user’s organization). This means that we need to know to what extent the license-holders want to release their resources so that the permissions can be set for the resources correctly. Unfortunately, releasing the resource files before we have this information is difficult because PT8 users can still pass the resources around offline (See the FAQ) so the permission data must be included inside the files before it’s released to everyone.

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For Hanga of Ghana we are using three Ghanaian-language resources to help us when the English resources are insufficient. Two of these are related languages and the other is a local LWC. I have no idea which, if any, of these three is in DBL. Is there any other way that we will be able to convert these across as resources for Paratext 8?

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It is possible to see what is in the DBL by going to this site: http://thedigitalbiblelibrary.org/whats-inside/. How up-to-date it is I anon421222’t know.

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If there are over 10,000 Paratext 7 users now, as far as I understand it, all of these will be able to continue to view the resources they already have in Paratext 7 for as long as they want. It is no problem to run both Paratext 7 and Paratext 8 side by side at the same time and with synchronized scrolling, viewing the resources in Paratext 7 that you anon421222’t have in 8. It is just a little more cumbersome than having everything in 8.

If the license holders of the resources are worried that Paratext 8 will bring about that many new Paratext users, why not consider making the Paratext 7 resources available in Paratext 8 to those who already have a Paratext 7 registration? This would make life a bit easier for them, and there would not be more people using these resources than there are right now.

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The three Ghanaian language resources (Mampruli, Dagbani & Gonja) that the Hanga Revised Bible (Revised NT & some OT selections) needs are not in DBL and I have no authority or ability to put them there. We are happily using those resources in PT7 and I would prefer to have them directly available in PT8.
One suggestion you made is that we switch to PT8 and have a separate (half-screen) instance of PT7 displaying just a ‘Text collection’ window that would automatically keep in step with PT8. Can we be completely sure that the instance of PT7 would keep in step with PT8?
Unfortunately, immediately we would start editing in PT8, the PT7 ‘Text collection’ would disappear.

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Your also suggest that we can import these project resources from a zip file. Would it work to use the same zip files we originally used to get these three resource languages into PT7?

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Yes, that should work just fine.

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I have not yet seen any synchronization problems when PT8 and PT7 side by side, as long as Tools > Scroll Scripture with any compatible applications is checked in both and as long both are using the same scroll group.

I anon421222’t quite understand what you mean by the ‘Text collection’ disappearing when starting to edit in PT8.

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If PT7 is just a Text collection of 3 Ghanaian languages, it would be a separate (half-screen) window from PT8, the latter being where the editing is done. Directly one clicks on the (full-screen) PT8 to edit the translation the PT7 Ghanaian languages would not be in focus, so would disappear.
Anyway, that should not be a problem, since I will attempt to import from the zip files.

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The answer to this would be to set your PT8 and PT7 to be windows that are side by side so that when you click on PT8 you can still see the PT7 window. If you have just a text collection window open in PT7 you could make that window a little smaller and make the PT8 window a little bigger so that they work together. Obviously you must also make sure that scrolling is turned on for both windows (under Tools).

Answer 2

The disadvantage of this, is that there are many resources available in Paratext 7, that are not yet available in Paratext 8. One effect of this, at least speaking personally, is that this will make people think twice about switching to Paratext 8 too early, before the resources that they are used to using in Paratext 7 and need to use, are available in the requisite Paratext 8 format.

Comments

It is possible to make an uneditable standard translation zip file from a Paratext 7 resource that then may be installed in Paratext 8 using File > Restore Project From File... to be used as a resource. But that is probably not a legal way of getting resources in Paratext 8.

Answer 3

This is exactly correct. I’m not about to compromise my ability to get to resources by upgrading to ParaTExt 8 anytime soon. I have an MTT who absolutely loathes opening up any other program (like Logos), and insists on working only in the ParaTExt envirnoment while drafting. We also have several resources that we have picked up here and there, like Translation for Translators (Deibler) that are available is USFM format on the web. There’s got to be a simple way to load some resources locally, and without worrying about “legalities”. (I’ll gladly put Ellis’ copyright info in the project description.)

Comments

Disregarding any legality issues, it is possible to get any Paratext 7 resource into Paratext 8 using this method:
1. Make a new project in Paratext 7, uncheck View > By Chapter and select View > Unformatted both for that new project and for the resource.
2. Make a new, blank book in the new project, copy that book from the resource using Ctrl+A and Ctrl+C, and paste it into the new project using Ctrl+V. Repeat this for all the books in the resource.
3. Save the new project as a zip file using File > Backup Project > To File...
4. Restore the zip file in Paratext 8 using File > Restore Project From File...
5. To avoid any unintentional editing of the new Paratext 8 "resource", go to Project > Project Properties and Settings... and uncheck the Editing Enabled box under the Advanced tab.

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I do not think it is a good idea to act in an illegal way.

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I anon421222't suggest getting Paratext 8 resources illegally using this method, but for many translators who have permission to use local Paratext 7 resources, this method will enable them to get these resources into Paratext 8. I also believe that Deibler's Translation for Translators may be freely used by SIL translators and that it therefore may be converted to the Paratext 8 format in this way.

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In many countries--I know this is true of the USA--the copyright is not simply on the content of the text, but also on the format. Thus even if you own a print version of a book, you anon421222't have the right to use the same resource on your computer. And if you own an epub version of a book, you're not allowed to change the format so that it will run on a non-epub compliant program on your phone. And if a resource is licensed for use in Paratext 7, you're not allowed to use it in Paratext 8.

Having said all that, I've done exactly the steps you've described above (at least 1 & 2) and they do work.

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I just checked and Diebler’s T4T is available in Paratext 8. Colleagues and Partner organizations can share project just as before.

Answer 4

I'm not sure if changing the format of an epub book to be able to run in a non-epub program may be compared to using a Paratext 7 resource in Paratext 8. Anyway, if a publisher has given you permission to use a resource in Paratext (without specifying any version), I anon421222't see why that permission should only be restricted to Paratext 7.

Answer 5

How about making Paratext availability to bible societies contingent on them making their resources available to PT users that are registered through fellow bible societies? While this wouldn’t do anything to speed up getting resources from publishers who are not using PT, it might help with bible societies that are both actively translating and holding copyright for local language resources.

My team is chomping at the bit to begin using this beautiful thing that is PT8 but we’re stalled by the unavailability of certain critical local resources. We are loath to circumvent proper procedure, particularly if it might cause relational or future access issues for our local colleagues.

Answer 6

In the Paratext 8 training workshop that we just held, lack of expected resources was far and away the greatest obstacle to PT8 being considered “ready for release”, much more than any program feature. The suggestion of accessing resources in PT7 went over like a lead balloon.

When I asked the participants to list their highest-priority resources, these included TNN, TND, T4T, and NET, (along with various regional language translations).

I’m wondering if I could get a status update on those four particular resources:

My understanding was that TNN and TND were SIL resources (which I would have expected could have been given permission quickly):
TNN - SIL Translators Notes Series - Notes
TND - SIL Translators Notes Series - Display
What can we expect for availability on these?

Translation for Translators (T4T), by SIL translation consultant Ellis Deibler, is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license (see this) with explicit permission “redistribute this Bible translation in any format” provided proper attribution is made. A USFM zip file is provided specifically for the purpose of import into Paratext. Obviously, it would be better if this was discoverable through the normal Paratext resource interface. What needs to happen in order to bring that about?

Finally, what can we expect with the NET? My understanding of the copyright is that we can distribute the verse text in any electronic format provided proper attribution is made. So can we get at least the verse text now? Also it seems that they also allow distribution of the notes, subject to granting of permission. What’s the status on getting such permission?

On a related note, where can I find out details on the procedure for getting resources that we have permissions on available via DBL?

Thanks so much!

Comments

I got the following links from the SIL DBL curator:

For requesting WBT/SIL/TSC owned DBL texts to become available as Paratext 8 resources:
https://docs.google.com/a/sil.org/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScV6cmJvWpTG1X0N-srSBPwapG0tmKBYWHZAPdy1Rm3K6Rz2Q/viewform

For requesting other DBL texts to be made available as Paratext 8 resources:
https://docs.google.com/a/sil.org/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdcyW8cmxgr_SG6dKb6I2C5CmRTt7iI-LE1h5M6M95I25DWig/viewform

Answer 7

For resources of local interest, maybe the logical question is how to submit those to the DBL and make them available to PT8 users?

Comments

Here is an online form that may be filled in if you want to submit a resource to the DBL:
https://docs.google.com/a/sil.org/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfLaOHQaKaY4TmBiKkGqtHyLI9UlDgiNSiEqCeEb2aC_f-rOg/viewform

But several resources that a very useful to translators, like back translations of related translations, may not be submitted to the DBL. So how can we make those resources available in Paratext 8 if it is not acceptable to transfer them from Paratext 7?

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Will PT8 really not be able to open colleagues’ back translations? This would be a significant loss of ‘utility’ from PT7… I frequently refer to BTs in related languages to see how they handled ‘sticky bits’.

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Like before, Paratext 8 will allow a colleague to make a Paratext zip file of a BT (using File > Backup Project To File…), which you may then import into your Paratext 8 using File > Restore Project From File…, but if an entity wants to distribute a BT as a resource text to all its translators, there is no easy way to do this in Paratext 8. Paratext 7 has the Create Resource Text option (under Tools > Advanced), but there is nothing similar in Paratext 8.