Website simplified

New Pages

The new start page https://bible2.net/ shows The Word in many languages and Bible editions, optionally with some verses of context from the Bible.

The new info page https://bible2.net/en/info shows info texts, download sections, latest news and info about us. It is available in English and German language.

The new page "Download The Word" https://bible2.net/en/downloadtheword provides eBook and .twd XML files.

Redirection from the Addresses of Old Pages

For old addresses (URLs), the site redirects to the respective new page, including your selection settings in the page "Study The Word" (stored in your browser in a cookie).

Example:

for the address "/en/theword", with the setting "main Bible to show on top" = "Free Bible Version",
the site redirects to the start page with the address "en/FreeBibleVersion".

But the settings (cookies) expire after one year, at latest!

Therefore, if you're using a browser bookmark for one of the old addresses, please update your browser bookmark to store the new address (or set a new bookmark).

Read on if you're interested in the details.

Changes in Detail

Pages

Former Page	Contents	New Page for the Contents
Start `/`	Main The Word with Bible context	Still in the start page
	Direct links to Android and iPhone apps	Info page `/en/info`
	Links to dialect pages	Info page `/en/info`
	Info texts about The Word etc.	Info page `/en/info`
"Study the Word" `/theword`	Main The Word and other Bible editions and Bible contexts	Directly in the start page.
	Selecting Bible editions from a list of names	Selecting from Bible name and The Word
	Initial page included The Word from all Bible editions (even ones not shown)	Initial page with main Bible edition only - smaller initial load
"Download" `/download`	Overview list of applications and online services	Info page `/en/info`
Select language `/langselect`	List of languages	Selection list for language and Bible edition directly in the start page
Download for e-books	List of `.epub` and `.azw3` files	New page "Download The Word" `/en/downloadtheword`
"All News" `/en/blog`	Overview of all news articles	(same page). Links in blog posts updated.

Hyperlinks

Location	Former Link	New Place for the Link
Top menu	"Study The Word"	obsolete, The Word is in the start page
	"Download"	obsolete, contents is in the info page
	"Bible in Dialects"	"Dialects" section in the info page
Footer menu	Links "Start Page in other Languages"	Selection list directly in the start page
	"Study The Word"	obsolete, The Word is in the start page
	"Download"	obsolete, contents is in the info page
	"Bible in Dialects"	"Dialects" section in the info page
	"Available Bible Editions"	New page "Download The Word" `/en/downloadtheword`
	"Associate Bible Verses"	(obsolete)
	"Login"	link top right (as before)
	".twd format"	Section in the "Download" page (as before)
	".twd API"	Section in the "Download" page (as before)
	"News"	"News" section in the info page
	"About us"	"About Us" section in the info page
	"YouTube"	(as before)
	"Facebook"	(as before)
	"Contact"	(as before)
	"Copyright"	(as before)
	"Privacy Policy"	(as before)

Why the Rework of the Old Site

Confusing language handling

The old site provided a selection list for 29 languages, dialects and scripts, like en, swg and uz-Latn.
Primarily, the selected language was used for the start page, to show the The Word in the appropriate language.
- But most of the additional info text in the start page was available in English and German language only.
Additionaly, the old site used the selected language code as a prefix for the other pages, like en/theword.
- But actually, also most of the contents in other pages was available in English and German language only,
- therefore the URLs for a page in another language showed English contents.
Duplicate English contents was irritating for users and search engines.
On an initial site visit, it derived the language from your browser language setting.
The language pages like /en showed The Word with the default Bible for English (from the site implementation).
- There was no direct URL to show another English Bible like the "Free Bible Version".

The new start page...

shows The Word in the selected language and Bible edition,
the other pages (e.g. the info page) are in English and German, at most.
In the English or German "info" page, when you click the link to the start page,
- it takes you the the start page with the language and Bible edition you previously selected (stored in a cookie).
On an initial site visit to the URL https://bible2.net, the start page still derives the language from your browser language setting.
The page /en still shows the default Bible "English Standard Version" for English.
- The URL /en/FreeBibleVersion shows another English Bible.
- Via the selection list in the start page, you can easily navigate to this URL.
- The page /en specifies the URL /en/EnglishStandardVersion as its "canonical" page, to avoid search engine irritation.

Complicated page construction

English content fragments were stored in a database, to allow web-based translation.
In the web pages for other languages, each English fragment was individually marked as English text island.
This dynamic page construction was complicated.
Actually the web-based translation was not needed.

Most of the new pages are pre-constructed static pages:

they are easier to handle,
and the webserver serves them quicker.

Multiple places showed The Word

the start page
- language of The Word controlled by the "Select language" page
the page "Study The Word"
- language and Bible used for The Word controlled by a list at the page bottom
the full-screen page (with colored background)
- available when you clicked the "full-screen" symbol ⛶ top-right on The Word

The new site shows The Word...

in one place on the start page,
with a link to the still separate "full-screen" page.

Multiple places showed the list of available Bible editions

the "Select language" page
the "Study The Word" page for the main and for additional Bible editions
the page "Available Bible editions" (for .twd files)
the page "eBook for The Word"

The new site shows...

a selection list in the start page, and
one combined page "Download The Word" for .twd and eBook files.

Technical Details

semantic HTML (article, section, details)
no heavy-weight CSS and Javascript libraries
static HTML

SDG

2026-08-22 • HSteeb