Editor de-confusion
qub...@googlemail.com
very confused where to place what exactly and gave up. This is much
easier.
What now is the problem: it's not clear what to do. A text "right-
click to add stuff" would be the first help.
A link to the wiki would be of help as well. When I use "open website"
now, I get
what : Failed to execute child process "epiphany" (No such file or
directory)
I don't have that browser installed.
I was told on #linux that
02:49 < unop> xdg-open "$url" # would attempt to use the user's
preferred browser
will help you.
Anyways, here's my first attempt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrcw9Sk6rOw
check description for editor view. It's weird that the karts start in
a position not directly above the track :)
James Legg
> I think it was very wise to make the editor auto-load the sets. I was
> very confused where to place what exactly and gave up. This is much
> easier.
>
> What now is the problem: it's not clear what to do. A text "right-
> click to add stuff" would be the first help.
This is a problem. However, I don't want to leave a message like this on
the screen. Once you know it, the message would become visual noise.
I could make a explanation message box appear at the start, with a check
box to stop it appearing again. This should also be accessible from the
help menu.
> A link to the wiki would be of help as well. When I use "open website"
> now, I get
> what : Failed to execute child process "epiphany" (No such file or
> directory)
That option was meant to open the Editor page on the wiki.
> I don't have that browser installed.
> I was told on #linux that
> 02:49 < unop> xdg-open "$url" # would attempt to use the user's
> preferred browser
> will help you.
I was using Gio to load the default browser. As it didn't work on your
system, I switched it to xdg-open.
-James
qub...@googlemail.com
point in different directions.
On 8 Feb, 23:49, James Legg <lankyle...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 2010-02-07 at 20:09 -0800, qubo...@gmail.com wrote:
> > I think it was very wise to make the editor auto-load the sets. I was
> > very confused where to place what exactly and gave up. This is much
> > easier.
>
> > What now is the problem: it's not clear what to do. A text "right-
> > click to add stuff" would be the first help.
>
> This is a problem. However, I don't want to leave a message like this on
> the screen. Once you know it, the message would become visual noise.
>
> I could make a explanation message box appear at the start, with a check
> box to stop it appearing again. This should also be accessible from the
> help menu.
>
I advise against pop-ups, even though they are the status quo.
Instead you could make that text disappear via a checkbox in the menu.
Also, it took me a while to figure out I have to Rclick, but it also
took me a while I have to Rclick the centers of objects to open a
contextual menu. Then it was relatively easy to figure out how to move
stuff, but I only found out by mistake that I need to press-hold these
end rectangles to connect the with other rectangles. Just to give you
an impression of my learning path.. actually, let me illustrate! :D
http://img713.yfrog.com/i/learn.png/
James Legg
> I forgot to mention: in the video you can see that the speedup things
> point in different directions.
If you right click on the line down the middle of an edge, there is an
option to reverse the direction of it. The booster faces the same
direction as the edge it is on, so it will point the other direction if
you do this. In some themes the direction of the track is important.
To get things the right way around in the first place:
* Move the green dot to face forwards on the vertices.
* Make edges by dragging from the pink dot at the start to the
pink dot at the end. The cars should travel in the direction you
dragged.
The booster controls are not complete yet, you cannot move them over the
track once they are added, and you can only delete them by deleting the
edge they are on.
> On 8 Feb, 23:49, James Legg <lankyle...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Sun, 2010-02-07 at 20:09 -0800, qubo...@gmail.com wrote:
> > > I think it was very wise to make the editor auto-load the sets. I was
> > > very confused where to place what exactly and gave up. This is much
> > > easier.
> >
> > > What now is the problem: it's not clear what to do. A text "right-
> > > click to add stuff" would be the first help.
> >
> > This is a problem. However, I don't want to leave a message like this on
> > the screen. Once you know it, the message would become visual noise.
> >
> > I could make a explanation message box appear at the start, with a check
> > box to stop it appearing again. This should also be accessible from the
> > help menu.
> >
>
> I advise against pop-ups, even though they are the status quo.
>
> Instead you could make that text disappear via a checkbox in the menu.
>
> Also, it took me a while to figure out I have to Rclick, but it also
> took me a while I have to Rclick the centers of objects to open a
> contextual menu. Then it was relatively easy to figure out how to move
> stuff, but I only found out by mistake that I need to press-hold these
> end rectangles to connect the with other rectangles. Just to give you
> an impression of my learning path.. actually, let me illustrate! :D
> http://img713.yfrog.com/i/learn.png/
I think I could use the status bar to indicate what the various control
points do as you move the mouse over them. The control points could also
get lighter when the mouse is over them. This would save some time
learning the interface as you can see what would react to clicks by
poking things with the pointer.
I should use the objects themselves to test against clicks and drags
instead of just a yellow dot or narrow line. This would be quicker in
general as the mouse targets are bigger.
Would putting arrow heads at the end of the red and green lines help? If
it looks like it is pointing somewhere, it would be more obvious you
should use it to make things point in another direction.
Also, instead of just "Right click to add stuff" I could write a mini
tutorial as a list of tips that show at the top of the window. If a
single tip was shown at once it wouldn't take too much space. The user
could then follow the instructions one at a time without switching
windows. Would something like the attached mockup help?
-James
qub...@googlemail.com
The files 'attached' I will upload if it's possible to this group.
otherwise repost them somewhere and link in this thread.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Iwan Gabovitch <qub...@googlemail.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 3:41 AM
Subject: Re: [racer-dev] Re: Editor de-confusion
To: race...@googlegroups.com
On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 1:34 AM, James Legg <lanky...@gmail.com>
wrote:
It would be an ok solution, the drawbacks would be that users might
not see the tooltips and that distance to what the user usually looks
at (the map objects) is rather big. I realized that inkscape 047 has a
somewhat nice tooltip function that could be used as well. It appears
when you use a grid instantly and disappears after 1-2 seconds of not
moving the mouse. I think the tooltips could be used when hovering
control points.
See http://img692.yfrog.com/i/201002110243591920x1200.png/ and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMtUdeo2_Kc
Of course if it's too much of a bother, Normal tooltips would do it!
I should use the objects themselves to test against clicks and
drags
instead of just a yellow dot or narrow line. This would be quicker
in
general as the mouse targets are bigger.
Yes that would be nicer, or just having nicer control points (when the
mouse is close to the at least? Or just bigger areas for clicking, but
the obvious resulting problem would be control point click area
overlapping.
Would putting arrow heads at the end of the red and green lines
help? If
it looks like it is pointing somewhere, it would be more obvious
you
should use it to make things point in another direction.
The green lines are for rotation and the red (pink?) lines are for
connection while an arrow would indicate stretching and would fit
better for the blue lines. I think something like the attached image
would fit better, the two different connectors would allow to indicate
direction too (although one of them looks a bit too much like an
arrow..
copyright: This image of simple geometry is ineligible for copyright
and therefore in the public domain, because it consists entirely of
information that is common property and contains no original
authorship.
as seen on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rectangle_.png :)
Also, instead of just "Right click to add stuff" I could write a
mini
tutorial as a list of tips that show at the top of the window. If
a
single tip was shown at once it wouldn't take too much space. The
user
could then follow the instructions one at a time without switching
windows. Would something like the attached mockup help?
I think that's a cool idea! The best thing about it is that the user
can still try to find his own way without having to close an annoying
"let's read text before being able to actually do anything" popup, and
that he won't have to search the menus for how to access help. I would
add "1/20" (number of tutorial) to the start of the tutorial toolbar
and would like to suggest "Right-click to add or modify segments, left-
click & drag to manipulate control points" as a first 'lecture'. I
think it conveys a maximum of information that will allow the user to
find out details on his own.
-James
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I have another suggestion: zooming in to the position of the cursor,
using mousewheel. Low priority IMHO :)
Iwan Gabovitch
See http://img692.yfrog.com/i/201002110243591920x1200.png/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMtUdeo2_Kc
Of course if it's too much of a bother, Normal tooltips would do it!
I should use the objects themselves to test against clicks and drags
instead of just a yellow dot or narrow line. This would be quicker in
general as the mouse targets are bigger.
Would putting arrow heads at the end of the red and green lines help? If
it looks like it is pointing somewhere, it would be more obvious you
should use it to make things point in another direction.
copyright: This image of simple geometry is ineligible for copyright and therefore in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship.
as seen on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rectangle_.png :)
Also, instead of just "Right click to add stuff" I could write a mini
tutorial as a list of tips that show at the top of the window. If a
single tip was shown at once it wouldn't take too much space. The user
could then follow the instructions one at a time without switching
windows. Would something like the attached mockup help?
I think that's a cool idea! The best thing about it is that the user can still try to find his own way without having to close an annoying "let's read text before being able to actually do anything" popup, and that he won't have to search the menus for how to access help. I would add "1/20" (number of tutorial) to the start of the tutorial toolbar and would like to suggest "Right-click to add or modify segments, left-click & drag to manipulate control points" as a first 'lecture'. I think it conveys a maximum of information that will allow the user to find out details on his own.
