03-18-2018, 06:20 PM -
hi,
I was hoping to revive the possibility of a settings GUI that would be easier to navigate and understand. I find the settings very confusing and it has taken me a lot of time (maybe 12 hours over 60 days) to feel only somewhat in control of them. Mostly, i think, there are too many pathways to remember, and not enough global perspective in terms of where i am within a global or sub-global hierarchy of settings, even within a single toolbar. (I love your program and have only used it for couple months, so maybe my comments relate more to my learning curve than your settings GUI design.).
This screenshot illustrates part of my confusion: [[img]![[Image: TLB_settings_GUI_3_GUI_screens_with_no_c...n_amon.jpg]](https://s18.postimg.org/508adj8h1/TLB_settings_GUI_3_GUI_screens_with_no_clear_interrelation_amon.jpg)
[/img] 3 GUI screens with no clear interrelation among them, at least for me.]
Your GUI for Customize Buttons [img]![[Image: TLB_settings_GUI_Customize_Buttons_GUI.jpg]](https://s18.postimg.org/k69qqse9x/TLB_settings_GUI_Customize_Buttons_GUI.jpg)
[/img] gives me more perspective on what I'm changing within a context of other options that I could also quickly access. Maybe there could be more settings screens with a similar design?
my current suggestions/requests:
1) Maybe the easiest way to help us create our own global perspective would be to assign a number to every single setting, and have a box in every settings window titlebar (eg: TOOLBAR 3, Settings 21-29, Go To Setting [xx] ) where we can type in the settings number to jump to that setting or to the screen which includes that settings number.
2) The above idea could still work with the existing convenience of small settings dialogues triggered via context menu, by adding to these small dialogues a similar titlebar format with a "Setting #xx" and/or always including a link such as "Open Settings TREE for TOOLBAR 3" or "Open this setting in the Settings Tree".)
3) Have one settings interface per toolbar such that any context menu shortcut to a setting would either: bring up that subsetting within that toolbar's clearly labelled/titlebared settings interface; or would bring up just that subsetting but with a Titlebar and Settings Number.
4) All settings menus pertaining to a particular toolbar could use a toolbar-specific color scheme. This would help generally and especially if the reality is that I/we all need to conceptualize that our own custom toolbar(s) are themselves the structure of their own settings and subsettings.
The settings GUI structure was also discussed here in this forum in 2003, with general approval of this example: [img]![[Image: Pu_TTy_settings_GUI.jpg]](https://s18.postimg.org/qhey7e2ph/Pu_TTy_settings_GUI.jpg)
[/img].
I was hoping to revive the possibility of a settings GUI that would be easier to navigate and understand. I find the settings very confusing and it has taken me a lot of time (maybe 12 hours over 60 days) to feel only somewhat in control of them. Mostly, i think, there are too many pathways to remember, and not enough global perspective in terms of where i am within a global or sub-global hierarchy of settings, even within a single toolbar. (I love your program and have only used it for couple months, so maybe my comments relate more to my learning curve than your settings GUI design.).
This screenshot illustrates part of my confusion: [[img]
[/img] 3 GUI screens with no clear interrelation among them, at least for me.]Your GUI for Customize Buttons [img]
[/img] gives me more perspective on what I'm changing within a context of other options that I could also quickly access. Maybe there could be more settings screens with a similar design?my current suggestions/requests:
1) Maybe the easiest way to help us create our own global perspective would be to assign a number to every single setting, and have a box in every settings window titlebar (eg: TOOLBAR 3, Settings 21-29, Go To Setting [xx] ) where we can type in the settings number to jump to that setting or to the screen which includes that settings number.
2) The above idea could still work with the existing convenience of small settings dialogues triggered via context menu, by adding to these small dialogues a similar titlebar format with a "Setting #xx" and/or always including a link such as "Open Settings TREE for TOOLBAR 3" or "Open this setting in the Settings Tree".)
3) Have one settings interface per toolbar such that any context menu shortcut to a setting would either: bring up that subsetting within that toolbar's clearly labelled/titlebared settings interface; or would bring up just that subsetting but with a Titlebar and Settings Number.
4) All settings menus pertaining to a particular toolbar could use a toolbar-specific color scheme. This would help generally and especially if the reality is that I/we all need to conceptualize that our own custom toolbar(s) are themselves the structure of their own settings and subsettings.
The settings GUI structure was also discussed here in this forum in 2003, with general approval of this example: [img]
[/img].