PowerWorship song lyrics review

[techidave]

Basic Info

App Name	PowerWorship
App URL	http://www.powerworship.com/
App Version Reviewed	3.0.0.82
Test System Specs	Gateway 450ROG Laptop running XP Pro SP3, Petinum M 1.4, 768 MB RAM
Supported OSes	Win 95,98,NT,2000,XP,Vista,7
Support Methods	Forum
Upgrade Policy	Free
Trial Version Available?	No
Pricing Scheme	None
Author Donation Link	http://www.powerworship.com/donate.html[/url]
Reviewer Donation Link	Review done by Techidave.  Please donate to author.[/url]
Screencast Video URL	If there is a demo or screencast of the app somewhere, post the url here. If there is a DC Screencast, post the link here.
Relationship btwn. Reviewer and Product	REVIEWER: Techidave.  I have been using the program for about 3 years now.  I am only trying to make the program better so I started posting to the forum and have offered my help in testing, offering suggestions for improvements.  I have no inside track on how the software works or anything like that.  Nor do I receive any kind of payment for my services.

Intro:

When our small church got a projector from some memorial money, we decided to project the lyrics to the songs as well as sermon notes.  This led me on a hunt to find something really simple so that just about anyone could run it without a lot of training on the software.  I then scoured the web looking at a lot of different programs by trying out either the demos or sometimes the full product.  I no longer have a list of those programs as the hard drive crashed and they are not gone for ever.  I do remember that one was SongShowPlus but it was too expensive for our little church.


SCREENSHOT OF APP INTERFACE HERE
[attach=#1][/attach] main window

[attach=#2][/attach]  edit window is the same as the "new" window

[attach=#3][/attach]  build song list

[attach=#4][/attach]  settings window

Who is this app designed for:

The app was primarily written to be used in churches and other types of meeting where lyrics to songs might be projected. 

The Good


The install was easy and there are not too many settings too configure after the install.  The user interface is non cluttered and easy to use.  One of the settings that it does have will remember the CCLI license number and it is attached to the last slide of each song.

Another good thing is it is compatible with every version of Windows plus all versions of Microsoft Office.  There is also a verson for Open Office but I have not tried it.


The needs improvement section


Right off, I cannot not think of any but there probably is.  I don't think there can be real time editing of the song list to allow for additional songs to be added at the last minute. 

Not really an improvement request but since most lyrics are copyrighted the program only comes with 20 sample songs.  Plus the fact that all hymnbooks are created equal. 


Why I think you should use this product


I believe PowerWorship is a useful product in that anyone can learn it in a few minutes.  Plus it is free!  I like the fact that it stores the songs as .txt and allows you to create your song list and then create a slide show from that. 


How does it compare to similar apps

In my opinion it is very easy.  Alot of the apps like SongShowPlus are difficult to use in my opinion.  Since it has been a couple of years that I looked at that, I cannot remember all the details.

I did try most of the apps listed on this site

Conclusions

For me, PowerWorship solved a lot of problems I was facing.  I needed something easy to use so that anyone could use it without a bunch of training.  Most users in our church have some familiarity with PowerPoint so that was a plus in my eyes.

The author is very willing to implement new feature requests.  When someone has difficulties using a newer version of Windows and/or Office, he quickly gets the problem solved.


Links to other reviews of this application

I didn't find any good reviews but a small one here

[Perry Mowbray]

Thanks! 

It's good to see that we have a song group there: I always wondered what happened in the social get-togethers 

I'd be interested to see how the slides turn out?

[wr975]

Just FWIW, we're using SongBeamer. It's not listed at ebibleteacher.com.
I don't think it's better than SongShowPlus, but offers many similar features and is much cheaper. It can display songs, pictures, videos, DVDs, powerpoint (also 2007) using Powerpoint viewer, any XPS document and scripture verses (search, select verses and it generates the slides.)

[techidave]

Perry, the slides turn out just like they are typed into the song builder.  A # sign desginates a new slide.  I will see if I can add a slide later on.

wr975, I remember trying SongBeamer but don't know why I didn't like it.  I add scriptures and sermon notes to my song list by entering them into a new ppt and then importing those into my songs at the appropiate spot like before the last song.  This way I can change the format of the slides easier (IMHO).

PowerWorship to my knowledge cannot do videos or anything like that but I don't think it is designed to be an all in one like the commercial programs.

[techidave]

not sure where the slide show should go but here is a 2 slide song.  The only thing I changed from the default was the background, font size and font color.   As you can see it puts the song title and author on the first slide and on the last slide is the copyright info and CCLI license number (intentionally left off).

I don't know if uploading the slides as a zip file was the best way to do this or not but here you go.  If there is a better way please let me know.