winstep wrote:
Vlad wrote:
....Why not make some profile, based on average usage statistics/request that you have? Meaning, you already have a profile: the default instalation setup.... more profiles tailored towards different categories of users.
As you said, I already have a profile, which is the default settings. I try to make defaults as general purpose as possible.
What you are suggesting doesn't really work, unfortunately: first, it would be a nightmare having to deal with two very different settings panels (one for beginners, another for advanced users), it would basically double my work.
Secondly, and most importantly, I'll let you in on a secret that explains why this would be a gigantic waste of time: EVERYONE thinks of themselves as an advanced user, even if they are really not.
Yes, thinking about it, probably more than double your work.
Second point, yes indeed! They always do. And often as not they're complete id**** and end up in a right mess! So, true, it would be pretty pointless in that respect.
winstep wrote:
.... All feedback is more than welcome, even if I don't agree with it. I live, eat and sleep Winstep, so a perspective coming from a fresh pair of eyes is always worth its weight in gold.
Seconded. If only we could have more of it from more people!
winstep wrote:
nexter wrote:
Thee first time Winstep Xtreme (or a single component) is run, have an intermediate window pop up with options
And I'll let you in on another little secret, Ric (for users, because any developer worth its salt already knows this by heart): NOBODY actually reads or pays any attention to initial dialogs, they just press OK to get on with it. They want to start the application, and that dialog is in their way, so they get rid of it ASAP.
Besides, there is another reason why this is so: you can put a lot of options in front of the user, but they won't make any sense to him (i.e.; he won't really know what to choose, what is best or worse for him) UNTIL he has built a mental model of how the application works and what it does.
And that he can only do over time by actually USING the application. See?
1), alas, you're absolutely right there as concerns the majority of ordinary users.
2) yes, there is a lot of truth in that Jorge, and 3) true, agreed.
winstep wrote:
nexter wrote:
Also, previews of a theme (as e.g. shown as thumbs in a 'Themes' menu, or in the 'Themes' tab in prefs, should show a full screen grab of the theme creator's default config (already included in the theme archive, of course).
Theme previews are 'live' in the Themes tab in Preferences, which also automatically creates 'full screen' preview thumbnails of the theme to be used in the Themes tab, etc...
Yes, I know, but what I mean is a preview of the theme as the theme creator intended it. (Along with a theme creator's default config, based on a universal, pre-defined standard that theme builders would have to adhere to.) Oh, and I have a full preview of my own themes in my themes folders and it is this that gets shown in the thumbs in e.g. a 'Themes' menu, though of course not in the themes tab.
winstep wrote:
nexter wrote:
Also, positions for all items should be saved with a theme, with relative coordinates, i.e., e.g., 'Dock 1 = n pixels from right edge, n pixels from top, etc., so that it is resolution-independent.)
Winstep already 'remembers' previous desktop module positions as you switch between different themes/screen resolutions. Docks and the Shelf are normally docked, so they don't need that.
Usually, perhaps, but not always. Most of my themes have a free floating shelf, some also floating dock/s for example.
And when you switch to a theme you haven't used before, everything there can end up in a right jumble, with a lot of mods on top of each other and/or on top docks, shelf or startbar.
winstep wrote:
What you seem to be implying is tying a theme with the objects/screen positions, and that will not work with an application like Winstep Xtreme where the user decides what is enabled and what is not.
No, what I mean is that this should only apply the fist time a user loads a theme, or when he has not done any placing of items himself yet. Sure the user should decide what he wants to use and what not to use, but he should have the possibility, at least initially, of seeing what a particular theme has to offer and then he can remove/add whatever he wants or move things around, etc. To begin with, new users especially would not have a clue what is or is not available etc., and this would save a lot of the initial confusion users tend to experience. (Of course, we would not want theme builders to try and play silly buggers, hence my suggestion of agreed pre-defined universal standards, enforced by some sort of license key like device which could be blocked if they mess around.)
winstep wrote:
Remember HVD/NextView where the theme was tied to content? First doing it that way got rid of previous user-content/layout/organization every time the user switched to a new theme, second, the theme only really worked visually if set up exactly as the skinner envisioned it (which is why it was forced that way on the esuser).
Here content is 100% decided by the user, NEVER by the skinner. Furthermore, the last thing I want is skinners making square modules so they can all 'fit together' like pieces of a puzzle. I want Winstep themes to be and remain as much free form as possible.
LOL! Yes, of course I remember HVD - such a mess! Ghastly that was. (And shaky - literally, in that the whole thing could suddenly shift and jump about and all sorts, and even completely collapse. And not only in the betas.)
And yes, of course I ageww with you 100% that the user should be able to choose content, and also regarding free form. No ifs, no buts about all of that.
That said, initially the user (and I mean mostly the new user) should be able to see what is available and how it looks best, and then he can decide to choose and change to his heart's content. You see where I'm coming from? The new user is confused and baffled and would not know what is there and where it can be found, and what the app is capable of. Let's make it simple for him so he can decide, after trying the theme's defaults, what to keep and where and what to discard.
Certainly, in general one really would not want 'cubes' or similar of square mods, if the user wanted this he could always move things around to suit himself. For example, personally I sometimes do mods, esp. (analogue) clocks, to look as if they are actually inside the background, as long as there is a wallpaper of a suitable colour. (You'll see some of that sometime soon-ish.
) Sometimes they don't even need that as they might be completely or almost completely transparent. It's quite fun, especially on a large hi-res screen. (That is another point actually - skinners perhaps should, wherever possible, do a hi-res version as well as a standard one. Things can look awfully small, even tiny and unusable, on a hi res.) Also, we see too many themes that are formulaic, all following a similar or even identical formula, and everything (or almost everything) is starting to look very samey.
That reminds me, I trawled Winstep themes on Wincustomize, and really, it looks bad. Within a few pages of 9 themes each you get back to 2009/2008 - about ten years! There used to be more themes in a single year back in the old days. I'll grant you, some of that has to be due to the difficulty of creating an original theme in the absence of a theme builder, etc. Also, themes were simpler then, fewer mods, no Nexus....