Hello MAU! On Saturday, May 28, 2005, 10:19 AM, you wrote:
> We all know that the major change and addition to the last beta series > and release was a new User Interface and customisation. And we are still dealing with these in this series of post-releases, as we should be. I hope some of these on-going needs will continue to be discussed here and addressed by the developers, in addition to the two general issues--IMAP and submission forms--that Stefan Tanurkov said would be the focus for changes in the next beta series. > As a continuation to my "Some thoughts on Customisation" message > <mid:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> sent to this list on April > 11th, and as the "expansion" promised when replying to George M. > Menegakis' "Is the 'Customiser' design final?" thread started in > <mid:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> yesterday, I would like to > add a few comments, in no specific order: > From my point of view, customisation is achieved in different ways and > not just with Customiser. Well said! > Floating and "draggable" menus and toolbars is one way and that seems to > work. So, that's Way Number 1. > Themes is another one. In my opinion, there are too many themes > available and, on the contrary, only one set of icons is offered as > default and no easy or evident way is offered to use alternative icons. > I think the TB should include a few alternative sets and a very easy way > to select/change them from "inside TB". Also, selecting different sizes > for toolbar and menu icons should easily be possible, also "from inside > TB". Way number 2: Customisable icons. I vote for that!! > Would you consider that you are customising your TB when you are > selecting font types for folder tree, message list, editor, etc.? I do, > and I think that _all_ possible font selections should clearly be offered > in a single place. Agreed! Including colors of fonts and backgrounds and bolding. This is more than just aesthetics with me--good contrast and reasonable size are important for my old eyes to be able to see and read. So! Way Number 3: Font choices available in one single place. > Assigning our preferred keyboard shortcuts is certainly part of > customisation. This is, in general, possible in Customise but there are > still a few limitations: > - No conflicts are checked for and reported. This was possible with > Shortcuts editor in previous versions. > - Some single characters like Space and Enter cannot be assigned. > - AFAIK, there is no way to search for a shortcut (someone mentioned > F4 today) and see to what function it is assigned. The new way of editing (customising) shortcuts seems to have been a response to the Bug Track note asking to get all the shortcut editors in one place. But limitations and and disappearance of functions people previously had make it clear this ought still to be a work-in-progress. Way number 4: a more manageable and easier to understand capability for customising shortcuts. > It is possible and easy to remove entries (options) from menus and > toolbars. I have done this with most context menus to 'reduce' them to > the options I use most frequently. However, there is no easy way to > change the order of entries in menus and toolbars. Way number 5 and way number 1: menus and toolbars and managing their customisation. With 5 and 1, plus the lacks mentioned below, I count seven on-going needs for optimum easy management of menus and toolbars. 10 Big Lacks in UI and Customisation. I agree with your comments on all of them. > This list of Available options in the left window of Customise is > anything but intuitive. Some names seem quite weird and options are many > times difficult to find and/or understand what they mean and do. I think > the list of Available Items, similarly to Current Items, should be named > to reflect the name of the menus the user sees (Message, Specials, > Folder, Account, etc., etc.) and each of these menus include the > corresponding expandable submenus. I think this would be much more > intuitive for most users. Fully agree. Additionally, written documentation of "Customise" in Help is needed. And if I understood Dennis correctly, this is not yet provided for in the professionally contracted Revised Help file, which is standardised on v. 3.0.1.33. That is clear in the work-in-progress PDF that Dennis offered to us about a month ago. I downloaded it and read it in Adobe Reader and thought it is a great improvement. But it won't be up to date unless documentation for "Customise" and the other user interface changes in 3.5 and post-3.5 is included. I doubt if this can be done, unless one of the developers first writes a documentation draft. (Maybe Valerye Bostan, who was given the credit for "Customise"?) > Menu entries can be assigned to toolbars, but there is (currently) no > way to assign an icon to it. > Proper context should be checked for to allow, or not, some menu or > toolbar assignments. For example, what's the benefit of allowing to > assign "New Filter" to the main toolbar if it will do nothing unless > Sorting Office is open? And if S.O. must be open, what's the use of > having this option in main toolbar? > That's about all I can think of or remember at the moment, will add more > if I do remember later. Anyway, this is enough for me to say that > 'Customiser' design is far from being finalised. I'm wholly convinced! I hope the developers, as they read your message, will be convinced, also. :) -- Best regards, Mary The Bat 3.5.21 on Windows XP 5.1 2600 Service Pack 2 ________________________________________________________ Current beta is 3.5.21 | 'Using TBBETA' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html IMPORTANT: To register as a Beta tester, use this link first - http://www.ritlabs.com/en/partners/testers/
