Some feedback on 2.0
Patrick
looking great! Some initial feedback follows.
Most of the points are pretty minor, but that's because the new
features already seem very clean and well thought-out.
SETTINGS
I suggest renaming "Activate Plugins" as "Manage Plugins."
* You can also deactivate plugins, so calling it "activate" may
confuse users.
The plugins window scrolls horizontally by default, making it
difficult to read the descriptions. Is there any way to get them to
word-wrap?
CARDS
If you rename "Manage Plugins," I think it would make sense to rename
"(De)activate cards" as "Manage cards" as well.
SHORTCUT ICONS
I like being able to move the shortcut icons bar around the screen,
but there seems to be no way to hide it like I could in Mnemosyne
1.0. I think nearly every Windows program that allows you to
reposition such bars also allows you to hide them and lock them into
place so that they cannot be moved.
Suggestion: add ability to hide the bar and also lock it in place
CARD TYPES
I suggest renaming as follows:
Front-to-back only-> One-sided
* "Front-to-back only" is very long and is hard to read in the "browse
cards" window, especially because there is no horizontal scrolling in
that window.
Front-to-back and back-to-front-> Two-sided
Vocabulary-> Foreign Language
* This card type seems poorly suited to learning additional vocabulary
in one's native language.
GRADE BUTTONS
I like the change of 0/1 to "Yet to learn," but I think it should be
called "Unmemorized" or "Not yet memorised," just as the bottom right
tracker reads Scheduled/Not memorised/etc. Admittedly this is a small
point.
CARD APPEARANCE
Instead of Set font/Set colour, what about Select font/Select colour?
This would match the Windows interface, as the dialog box that pops up
is titled "Select."
Also, "Defaults" may confuse users. If "Reset to defaults" is too
long, what about just "Reset"?
ADD CLONE WINDOW
Because of my poor eyesight I am running Windows 7 at 150% DPI. In
general, the program seems to behave fine, but the "Add clone" window
under "Clone card type" is squished and very difficult to read.
STATISTICS
When I open the "Statistics" window, even though I'm using a large
screen, the window opens so small that not all the tabs are shown, and
I have to click an arrow or resize the window to see the rightmost
tabs. Is it possible to open the window larger on bigger screens? (I
have no idea how QT handles this.)
Also, more annoyingly, if I resize the window and then click one of
the tabs, the window snaps back to the size it was when I opened it,
and I must resize it again.
BEST NEW SURPRISE
I love that pressing the space bar will not activate "Learn ahead of
schedule." I don't know how many times I got carried away pressing
keys and accidentally ended up doing future reviews.
QUESTIONS FOR THE DOCUMENTATION (I will add your responses.)
I see no option to control the number/interval of backups in the
interface. What does Mnemosyne do by default?
What are "acquisition reps" and "retention reps" (listed under "Browse
cards")?
Cheers,
Patrick
Peter Bienstman
> I finally had the chance to start testing 2.0 on Windows 7. It's
> looking great! Some initial feedback follows.
> SETTINGS
> I suggest renaming "Activate Plugins" as "Manage Plugins."
Agreed, good point!
> The plugins window scrolls horizontally by default, making it
> difficult to read the descriptions.
As I said earlier, it's a lousy dialog. The more I think about it, the more I
find it needs to be changed before 2.0 rather than after it.
> If you rename "Manage Plugins," I think it would make sense to rename
> "(De)activate cards" as "Manage cards" as well.
Manage is a bit too broad here, I feel, because in the card browser, there is
also a lot of card managing that can happen: adding tags, ...
But "(De)activate cards" perhaps does indeed sound a bit geeky. Other options
could be "Turn cards on/off" or even "Hide cards". Thoughts?
> I like being able to move the shortcut icons bar around the screen,
> but there seems to be no way to hide it like I could in Mnemosyne
> 1.0.
For such a simple toolbar as Mnemosyne has, wouldn't this be a bit feature
creep? Mind you, it could go in a plugin, though, post 2.0, as you're already
the second one to request it.
> I suggest renaming as follows:
> Front-to-back only-> One-sided
> * "Front-to-back only" is very long
I know we talk a lot about 1, 2 and 3-sided cards here on the list, but I
don't think it makes any sense to a novice user. Consider e.g. a "one-sided
card": it has two sides: front and back :-)
> and is hard to read in the "browse
> cards" window, especially because there is no horizontal scrolling in
> that window.
There is the option to move the vertical splitter (and also the horizontal
splitter between the card type list and the tag list). However, I just noticed
that there is no visual indication on XP that there is such a thing as a
moveable splitter. I'll see if this is something I can change or not.
> Vocabulary-> Foreign Language
> * This card type seems poorly suited to learning additional vocabulary
> in one's native language.
True, but then again 'Foreign Language' isn't exactly right either, as the
card type is poorly suited to e.g. grammar. 'Foreign Vocabulary' would
probably be the most accurate, but I wonder if the extra length is worth it.
> I like the change of 0/1 to "Yet to learn," but I think it should be
> called "Unmemorized" or "Not yet memorised," just as the bottom right
> tracker reads Scheduled/Not memorised/etc.
There is a subtle difference: 'Yet to learn' are those cards that have not yet
been introduced to the study process before.
Not memorised = yet to learn (grade -1) + failed cards (grades 0 and 1)
> Instead of Set font/Set colour, what about Select font/Select colour?
Good point!
> Also, "Defaults" may confuse users. If "Reset to defaults" is too
> long, what about just "Reset"?
I'm not sure is that's confusing. On my KDE desktop, all applications use
'Defaults'.
> Because of my poor eyesight I am running Windows 7 at 150% DPI. In
> general, the program seems to behave fine, but the "Add clone" window
> under "Clone card type" is squished and very difficult to read.
It does not even look all that good on XP at 100% either, actually. I'll see
if there is anything I can do about it, or if it's a Qt issue.
> When I open the "Statistics" window, even though I'm using a large
> screen, the window opens so small that not all the tabs are shown, and
> I have to click an arrow or resize the window to see the rightmost
> tabs. Is it possible to open the window larger on bigger screens? (I
> have no idea how QT handles this.)
>
> Also, more annoyingly, if I resize the window and then click one of
> the tabs, the window snaps back to the size it was when I opened it,
> and I must resize it again.
Not good at all, but I can't reproduce it on XP. If you resize, move to the
'current card' tab, close statistics and reopen, do you get the same issus? Do
you have similar issues with the configuration screen? Do other people also see
this?
> I see no option to control the number/interval of backups in the
> interface. What does Mnemosyne do by default?
It's not exposed to the UI, but in config.py. Default is 10.
> What are "acquisition reps" and "retention reps" (listed under "Browse
> cards")?
Acquisition reps happen when you are committing a card to memory (previous
grades 0 and 1). Retention reps are when you maintain previously memorised
cards (previous grades 2-5).
Keep the feedback coming, also the tiny details, they really help with
achieving a polished piece of software!
Thanks!
Peter
Peter Bienstman
> > I suggest renaming "Activate Plugins" as "Manage Plugins."
>
> Agreed, good point!
I'm actually having second thoughts now, because some plugins have
configuration panels, and you could argue that changing the configuration of a
plugin is also managing the plugin...
'Turn plugins on/off' could be an option...
Peter
Scott Youngman
the UI as clean and simple as possible. A plugin would be fine.
Roel De Coninck
> When I open the "Statistics" window, even though I'm using a large
> screen, the window opens so small that not all the tabs are shown, and
> I have to click an arrow or resize the window to see the rightmost
> tabs. Is it possible to open the window larger on bigger screens? (I
> have no idea how QT handles this.)
>
> Also, more annoyingly, if I resize the window and then click one of
> the tabs, the window snaps back to the size it was when I opened it,
> and I must resize it again.Not good at all, but I can't reproduce it on XP. If you resize, move to the
'current card' tab, close statistics and reopen, do you get the same issus? Do
you have similar issues with the configuration screen? Do other people also see
this?
Wim Woittiez
Peter Bienstman
> Hi all,
>
> It sounds to me like we'd achieve maximum clarity by writing "Manage
> plugins" - it is clear enough that this means from the perspective of
> Mnemosyne itself. And "(De)activate cards" states exactly what it does!
To my mind, managing plugins can mean two things:
* (de)activating plugins, as done in the 'Activate plugins' dialog
* configuring the plugins, as done the 'Configure Mnemosyne' dialog
So now I'm leaning towards calling the menus:
'(De)activate cards' and '(De)activate' plugins.
I'm no longer fond of the other suggestions I made yesterday, like 'hide
cards', 'turn cards on/off', because in the lower right hand of the status bar,
there is the 'active' cards counter, and calling the menu option '(de)activate
cards' makes it very clear that that menu option influences the 'active'
counter.
> Furthermore, I would avoid the word "not" as in "not memorised". So, OK,
> it's not memorised... so what IS it?
> - To be learned in the future
> - In your hand
> - Forgotten
All of the three above.
I'm happy to consider other suggestions, but bear in mind that it needs to fit
in the statusbar!
Peter