Using Links for Common Tasks

You can automate commonly repeated actions, such as a complex search, or opening a specific Workspace with a specific search, using Accordance URL links.

By creating these Accordance links, you can not only automate complex search or open tasks, but share that information with other people who work with Accordance Bible Software. That sharing can be in your blog, by email, or via social media such as Twitter or Facebook.

There are two types of Accordance links. Your preferred Accordance link style is set in the Export area of the Accordance Preferences.

https://accordancebible/: These are weblinks. They go to the Accordance website, which then redirects to the Accordance application. Because of the https prefix, they are much more supported in other applications than accord:// links. For example, our forums allow "https" links but not "accord" links. Also, since it links to the Accordance website, the https link has a nice failover in case the individual using the link doesn't own Accordance.

accord://: These are direct links to Accordance. No internet is required, and it's faster and more direct than the https://accordancebible/ option, since it doesn't link to the Accordance website first. However, not all programs or websites support it. Generally, accord:// links are better if used only for personal use (such as pasting into a note on your own device), while https://accordancebible/ links are better for sending to anyone else.

Note

The person clicking on an Accordance-specific link (URL) must have Accordance Bible Software installed on their computer. In addition, if the link refers to a specific moduleClosed Any Bible text, or other single tool that can be read in Accordance, including reference texts and articles; may also be referred to as content or resource, it must also be installed.

Put simply, you can create links directly to Accordance.

  1. Select the Export area of the Accordance Preferences.
  2. From the External URL Style menu, select one of the following:
  3. https://accordancebible/: These are weblinks. They go to the Accordance website, which then redirects to the Accordance application. Because of the https prefix, they are much more supported in other applications than accord:// links. For example, our forums allow "https" links but not "accord" links. Also, since it links to the Accordance website, the https link has a nice failover in case the individual using the link doesn't own Accordance.
  4. accord://: These are direct links to Accordance. No internet is required, and it's faster and more direct than the https://accordancebible/ option, since it doesn't link to the Accordance website first. However, not all programs or websites support it. Generally, accord:// links are better if used only for personal use (such as pasting into a note on your own device), while https://accordancebible/ links are better for sending to anyone else.
  1. Perform the desired search in any Accordance resourceClosed Any Bible text, or other single tool that can be read in Accordance, including reference texts and articles; may also be referred to as content or module.
  2. Do one of the following:
  3. Right-click in the Search Entry box and choose Copy as Search URL.

  4. Right-click anywhere in a Text or Tool and choose Copy As>Location URL.

    The link is copied in the format of an Accordance-specific URL.

  5. Paste the link in the desired location (a User Tool, blog post, email, web page, etc.).

Below is an explanation of the parts of an Accordance-specific link (URL).

  • Purple items: Must appear in the URL
  • Items in [square brackets]: Variables
  • Orange items: Optional part of the URL, depending on the desired action.

https://accordance.bible/link/[action]/[item];[field]?[query]#[location]

 

Part of URL Meaning Mandatory or Optional Details
https://accordance.bible/link/ URL prefix identifying Accordance Bible Software Mandatory

Each URL must have on of the following prefixes:

https://accordance.bible.link/

accord://
[action] This item defines the action to be performed Mandatory

Possible actions are:

  • read
    Use this item to reference verses in Text modulesClosed Any Bible text, or other single tool that can be read in Accordance, including reference texts and articles; may also be referred to as content or resource, modules with verse references, or to open a specific module and begin reading it
  • search
    Use this item to perform a search.
  • research
    Use this item to perform a search in a Research tab
  • open
    Use this item to open or search a saved Workspace located on your computer
  • study and topic
    Use these items with topic in the [item] location, to do a topic search. Example: accord://study/topic?Marriage will open your default Bible with a lit of all verses on the topic of marriage.
  • tutor
    Use this item to open a Tutorial. Example: accord://tutor/Opening_Books will open the "Opening Books" Tutorial.
  • locate
    Use this item to open a location in the Accordance Atlas. Example: accord://locate?Sea_of_Galilee will open the Accordance Atlas and display the Sea of Galilee.
  • daily
    Use this item to open your default Daily reading for the current day, or a specific day, respectively. Month abbreviations are not supported, you must use the full name. Example: accord://read/daily will open the Daily reading for the current day.
/ Separator indicating the end of the action and the beginning of the rest of your command Mandatory The forward slash must be placed after the [action] item.
[item]

Defines the module or name of your favorite Workspace

May also define only the verses to be opened

 Optional

If not used (defined), the default Text is used to display the verses or search query

 

Adding items such as 'read' or 'topic' in this place provide you with the daily reading or a topic search, respectively
; Indicates that the next item in the URL is a [field] Optional

If used, the next part of the URL is a [field]

If not used, you can continue with the indicator for the search query (?)
[field] Defines which field is used in the search query Optional The available search fields vary, depending on the Tool
? Begins the search query Optional

This must be used to define the beginning of a search query; if it is not used, the indicated module or Workspace opens, but no search is performed

If [field] is not used, Accordance cycles through the words/verses and tool fields until a valid hit is returned
[query] Defines the search query Optional

If using Hebrew or Greek characters, they must be typed with a Unicode font
#[location] Used to scroll to a specific location Optional

If desired, add this to the end of the URL. Enter the specific location in the square brackets.

Texts: The # defines the specific location within the requested tab. For example, accord://search/HCSBS?Moses#Acts_6:14 will search for all instances of Moses, but scroll to Acts 6:14.

Tools: The # specifies the paragraph number you want to scroll to in a Tool.
(The page/paragraph number indicator is displayed next to the Table of Contents button. If the Tool has page numbers, “Page _ of _” is displayed by default. You can click on that text to display the paragraph number instead.)

 

Notes

Blank spaces cannot be used in a URL. A blank space is represented by typing one of the following:

  • Use an underscore instead of a space; for example: Strongs_Commentary
  • Use the characters %20 for a space; for example: Strongs%20Commentary

Following are a few Accordance-specific URLs with an accompanying explanation of how they will work on your computer.

Note

The following examples use the https://accordance.bible/link URL scheme. To use the accord:// scheme, replace https://accordance.bible/link with accord:// in the examples below.

https://accordance.bible/link/study/topic?Marriage
Opens your default Bible with a list of all verses about the topic "Marriage." This link is identical to pressing <SHIFT> and clicking on the word "Marriage" when the word is displayed as a topic in the Info pane. It is also identical to doing a search [TOPIC Marriage].

https://accordance.bible/link/study/topic;Article?Amos_(Person)
Searches for the topic article, to get its definition or explanation, rather than a list of verses. The results of this search are identical to those when you click the word 'Amos' when displayed as a topic in the Info pane.

https://accordance.bible/link/read/daily or https://accordance.bible/link/read/daily?July_4
Opens your default Daily reading for the current day, or a specific day, respectively. Month abbreviations are not supported, you must use the full name.

https://accordance.bible/link/read/ESVS?Mark_1:1
Opens the English Standard Version with Strong's references to Mark 1:1

https://accordance.bible/link/read/NLT-SE
Opens the New Living Translation Second Edition

https://accordance.bible/link/read/Gen_1:1-4
Opens Genesis 1:1-4 in your default Text module

https://accordance.bible/link/read/Anchor-NT
Opens the Anchor-Yale New Testament Bible Commentary

https://accordance.bible/link/search/ESVS?Moses
Searches the ESVS for all occurrences of the word "Moses" and displays the search results

https://accordance.bible/link/search/HCSBS;Words?John
Opens the Holman Christian Standard Bible with Key Numbers and searches the "Words" field for all instances of the word "John"

https://accordance.bible/link/search/Comfort_Text_Commentary;Manuscripts?Clement
Opens the Comfort New Testament Text and Translation Commentary, and searches in the "Manuscripts" field for the manuscript "Clement"

https://accordance.bible/link/open/English%20Study
Opens the Workspace entitled English Study

https://accordance.bible/link/open/English%20Study?Adam or https://accordance.bible/link/open/English_Study?Adam
Opens the Workspace entitled English Study and searches for the word "Adam"

https://accordance.bible/link/search/HCSBS;Words?John#Acts_3
Runs a search for the word "John." Rather than displaying the first hit in the text, the display scrolls down to the hits beginning at Acts Chapter 3.

https://accordance.bible/link/research/agapaw;Greek
Opens the Research tab and searches the "Greek" field in both Text and Tool modules

https://accordance.bible/link/research/[Dictionaries];English?Alexander_the_Great
Opens the Research tab and searches all Dictionaries for "Alexander the Great"

https://accordance.bible/link/research/[All_Texts];Verses?John_1:1
Opens the Research tab and searches all Texts for John 1:1

https://accordance.bible/link/research/[All_Tools];English?Darius_III_<WITHIN_5_Words>_Alexander
Opens the Research tab and searches all Tools for "Darius III" when found within five words of "Alexander"

https://accordance.bible/link/locate/timeline?Ahab
Opens the Timeline tab and displays the time span of the reign of King Ahab

https://accordance.bible/link/locate?Colossae
Opens the Atlas tab and displays the location of the city of Colossae on the default map background

https://accordance.bible/link/locate/Light_Browns?Megiddo
Opens the Atlas tab and displays and displays the location of the city of Megiddo on the Light Browns map background

https://accordance.bible/link/locate?Sea_of_Galilee
Opens the Atlas tab and displays the location of the region "Sea of Galilee" on the default map background

https://accordance.bible/link/study/syntaxClosed The analysis of the function of each word in a clause or phrase?MT-AFD.syntax#Psa._10:3
Opens the Andersen-Forbes Syntax database and scrolls to Psalms 10:3

https://accordance.bible/link/tutor/Opening_Books
Opens the "Opening Books" Tutorial

Note

Accordance also recognizes and supports the accord:// syntax on Mac, Windows, and iOS. However, this is a unique scheme to Accordance. If you try to send this link to anyone else, their system will simply say "Bad format" or "Unknown link." , we set up the system at accordance.bible/link/. If a non-Accordance user clicks the link, it is now a far more helpful page that provides a preview of the link, along with more information about Accordance. This link is also better supported in a variety of software, such as MS Word or even these forums, which refuse to recognize the "accord://" scheme.

The only downside is, if on a desktop computer and clicking on the link from outside of Accordance, it requires internet and two clicks. This is unfortunately out of our control - Apple set up a scheme to handle the links better on iOS, but never supplied the same technology to Mac. Similar restrictions are present on Windows.