A Bookmark Function for Sutta Central...?

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I would like to extend my deep and sincere gratitude to all contributors of this portal for making these texts available online.

I am not sure if the same suggestion has been made before, but since I do not find it in the list of topics, I decided to add it as a new topic. (My apologies if the proposal has been treated/answered already somewhere else)

As a daily reader, I thought it would be of great use to add a bookmark function on SC, so that one can easily resume reading where he/she left off. Only if it is not a big technical burden, of course…

Another feature which could be of great help is the dictionary/glossary of pali terms, those that are most frequently used or essential to the teachings of Buddha. Can readers expect an integrated SC which will incorporate resources in this area…?

Kind regards,

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Thank you for your suggestions. We are very happy that you enjoy the site.

Sounds like a good suggestion to me! But that’s up to Bhante @sujato

There is a dictionary in SC. If you go to the search function at the top right and key in any pali word, it will come up with a list of all suttas that this word appears in as well as the dictionary entries for that word.
For instance, if you type in the word sati in the search box, it will give you:

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As a shortcut, you can also add /define/word behind the url. When it exists, it will give you the word and if not, it can give you a list of similar words that exist in the dictionary.

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Hope this helps.

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Hmm, I’m not sure how that would work. Do you know of any examples on other websites?

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I think it would only work with a login for the site that remembers each user’s settings and I can recall we once talked about that. Or maybe a js function similar to the one that now remembers settings like Textual Information, keep Sidebar or Header extended, keep lookup-tools, etc.

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Thank you for your kind reply. Yes, the dictionary/search function is indeed very useful.

As I am not yet trained in Pali, however, I am reading the texts first in English, and where meanings are not so clear, try to identify the equivalent words in Pali - and this does not seem to work so well with the existing search/dictionary function.

Just to give you an example, I was reading this morning the following text in Anguttara Nikaya:

With conviction as his foundation post, the disciple of the noble ones abandons what is unskillful, develops what is skillful, abandons what is blameworthy, develops what is blameless, and looks after himself with purity

I was very intent on finding out the precise meaning of ‘conviction’ (which appears quite often throughout various suttas), and tried to find the equivalent in Pali, so that I may consult its etymology, various disciples’ interpretations, etc. for my study and own reflections. But when I typed ‘conviction’ to find the equivalent in Pali, the results did not give me the exact answer…

For example, would conviction mean an already established knowledge and recognition mixed with an energetic resolve, or a hope/faith that is faintly established in knowledge but sure to bring about fruitful results, or a simple decision to pursue moral codes… etc…

It is probably required that I consult a teacher, but prior to seeking visits, I wanted to be thorough in my own reflections. And before resorting to various books and interpretations, I wanted first to find the original words in Pali, and where possible, come to investigate its depths of meaning.

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Good idea. A “favorites” collection would be nice too, with a way to see how many others have favorited a sutta. Then we could know which are the most popular and helpful suttas. Unnecessary, but would be interesting.

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Well, we are working on various things that will help with this, so stayed tuned over the next year or two. But there are limits to what we can do. Meanwhile, for any specific questions, that’s what this forum is for.

As for your initial question regarding “bookmarks”, I realized that this violates my first commandment of website design:

Thou shalt not duplicate browser functionality in the website.

If you’re reading a sutta and want to start with the next sutta when you start reading again, then when you want to start reading, go Ctrl + h. This opens your browser History. Type suttac. This will bring up the pages you have read in SuttaCentral. Click the top one.

If you’re reading a long sutta, say the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, and want to keep your place, first go to the sidebar and activate Controls → Textual Information. This will bring up numbers in the right margin of the sutta, corresponding to paragraphs or sections. Click one of them. (This will create a URL at that place). Close the page. Next time you want to continue reading, just look in History as above, the bookmarked paragraph will be there.

Having said which, in most cases the solution is much simpler: don’t close the tab.

Interesting idea, we will keep it on the backburner.

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Thank you for kindly taking time to share with us the tips. I also happily look forward to the coming developments.

Gratefully,

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