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V9.0.4.1 Feedback

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ajs
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V9.0.4.1 Feedback

Post by ajs »

Hi, thanks for your detailed feedback.
1. It is too monochrome, the icons need some colour to help differentiate them.
For the colours, we're looking at that. Initially we'll update the OK, Cancel etc. buttons and then move onto the icons.
I am not sure why some options are included in Global Settings where others are separate items. It’s all a bit confusing and difficult to navigate.
I really don't see how this is different from V8. In V8 they were in the Preferences and Global Settings, just as they are in V9. I do agree that many of those Preferences should be in the Global Settings or somewhere else. This is a hangover from older versions where options that didn't quite fit were dumped into Preferences.
I have always set the icon bar (new, modify, delete etc.) to be at the top, however when you select a menu item the associated ribbon is displayed under the icon bar which feels a bit disconnected.
We'll take a look at this. Personally, I've always kept it at the bottom.
When the ribbon is displayed it covers the first few profiles so you potentially can’t see which profile is being operated on.
Just as a main menu does, which is why we chose to go over the profiles. If we don't then we'll get complaints that the profiles move down (which they do automatically if you enter filter text for example). As you've already chosen your profile(s) before the menu item I don't think it's an issue.
When using the ‘Windows’ style the help and search options are missing from the modify dialog. There appears to be various minor differences between styles which is confusing when you switch styles.
Why would anyone keep switching styles? Surely you'd pick one and stick with it. The "Windows" style isn't a style. It removes styling (and the menu, search, help, etc. from the caption bar, for example), which is why it's different from the Windows 10 style.
In the modify dialog simple tab sometimes text from one item in the description overwrites the next item.
I don't see that. Can you post a screenshot?
The options button on the modify dialog that includes items such as Save as defaults appears to have moved to somewhere I can’t find or is missing.
They're in the burger menu (top-left).

Thanks!
ajs
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Re: V9.0.4.1 Feedback

Post by ajs »

You appear to have edited my original post as opposed to replying so for completeness the following is the original post.

————

Following on from my earlier post viewtopic.php?f=15&t=13902#p51797, I have now had an opportunity to try out the new V9 UI and this is my feedback.

1.It is too monochrome, the icons need some colour to help differentiate them. For example the new and delete icons on the main screen are virtually identical, making the ‘+’ on the new icon green and the ‘x’ on the delete icon red would help distinguish them. Personally I find the lack of colour makes navigating the interface much more difficult, a bit of colour in the icons makes them easier to differentiate which in turn makes it easier to locate the option you are looking for.

2.Some of the new icons are an improvement over the V8 ones, using the run icon is now consistent with other applications, however the Sync icon makes no sense whatsoever to me, the existing double headed arrow is far clearer. Also although the mirror icon is recognisable as a mirror I not sure if that is meaningful in this context, and as I have already said they all would benefit if they had a bit of colour.

3.The use of the three bar icon seems inconsistent with its normal usage and also inconsistent with the rest of the main screen, why should this behave differently to the other items on the menu bar. The Preferences option on this menu also behaves differently from the other items.

4.I am not sure why some options are included in Global Settings where others are separate items. It’s all a bit confusing and difficult to navigate.

5.I have always set the icon bar (new, modify, delete etc.) to be at the top, however when you select a menu item the associated ribbon is displayed under the icon bar which feels a bit disconnected.

6.When the ribbon is displayed it covers the first few profiles so you potentially can’t see which profile is being operated on.

7.The ribbon interface isn’t like the ribbon interface as implemented by windows, office and other third parties, it is basically a horizontal drop down menu, personally I think that unless you are going to implement a ribbon interface in a more conventional way then it would be much better to stick with drop down menus.

8.When using the ‘Windows’ style the help and search options are missing from the modify dialog. There appears to be various minor differences between styles which is confusing when you switch styles.

9.The background of the dark mode is all black whereas in the light styles it is gray and white depending on the form elements which improves the structure of the interface.

10.In the modify dialog simple tab sometimes text from one item in the description overwrites the next item.

11.The change in the modify dialog from sub tree items to tabs takes a bit of getting use to but I think that it is probably the right move. It would be clearer if the ‘Decisions – Files’ and ‘Programs – Before’ options where just ‘Decisions’ and ‘Programs’.

12.I am not sure why VHD and Media Transfer Protocol options are included as Easy options whereas items such as Logging and Versioning are Expert options. There seems to little logic as to what is an easy or expert option. This was be an issue with V8 and I believe improving the navigation of the mass of options is an area that would benefit from some work.

13.Although it was the same in V8 the naming of the Simple tab is a bit misleading, something like Overview would be better and less likely to be confused with Easy. The V9 interface seems to make this more noticeable

14.The options button on the modify dialog that includes items such as Save as defaults appears to have moved to somewhere I can’t find or is missing.

This is not a complete list by any means, I appreciate the work that has been put into this and that creating a UI is far from easy, having been a software engineer for many years I am very glad that the only UI the stuff I worked on required was a CLI. However I have seen on many occasions software, no matter how good it was at doing what it was designed for, being dismissed out of hand because of their UI.

Andrew.
ajs
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Re: V9.0.4.1 Feedback

Post by ajs »

My first attempt at this reply was lost when trying to save it as a draft :( , also is there anyway to avoid having to verify you are not a robot every time you preview a post to check its formatting, it is a real pain.
I am not sure why some options are included in Global Settings where others are separate items. It’s all a bit confusing and difficult to navigate.
I really don't see how this is different from V8. In V8 they were in the Preferences and Global Settings, just as they are in V9. I do agree that many of those Preferences should be in the Global Settings or somewhere else. This is a hangover from older versions where options that didn't quite fit were dumped into Preferences.
I am not sure this is the same as V8, it took awhile for me to find the double click settings which I found in global settings (I first looked in preferences) whereas in V8 it was a item on the preferences down drop menu along with items such as Windows Shell Extension which remains as a separate item on the burger down drop.

Having to relearn the V9 UI does highlight some of the oddities from V8 and previous releases which would have previously been taken for granted.
When using the ‘Windows’ style the help and search options are missing from the modify dialog. There appears to be various minor differences between styles which is confusing when you switch styles.
Why would anyone keep switching styles? Surely you'd pick one and stick with it. The "Windows" style isn't a style. It removes styling (and the menu, search, help, etc. from the caption bar, for example), which is why it's different from the Windows 10 style.
Well if the Windows style/non-style does not implement all the functionality then you have to switch styles to access these features. I am just pointing out the confusion this causes.
In the modify dialog simple tab sometimes text from one item in the description overwrites the next item.
I don't see that. Can you post a screenshot?
Image
The options button on the modify dialog that includes items such as Save as defaults appears to have moved to somewhere I can’t find or is missing.
They're in the burger menu (top-left).
But the burger menu is not present in the Windows non-style.

Andrew
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ajs
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Re: V9.0.4.1 Feedback

Post by ajs »

Most of the new icons make sense as I have previously stated, however the one that totally baffles me is the Sync icon, why does a picture of a head represent sync, it actually reminds me of the sort of picture you get on a box of headache tablets :)
Hi, originally (and for a very long time) sync was called Intelligent Synchronization, but we were told (via a legal notice) to stop using that term and so changed it to Intelligent Sync (I think it was last year), hence the sync icon in the head. Makes perfect sense to me :)
ajs
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Re: V9.0.4.1 Feedback

Post by ajs »

Again you have edited my post instead of replying :(, so again this is a copy of my post.

———

I appreciate the changes you have made in V9.0.5.0 release which I believe are a step in the right direction.

To the average user the button bar (new, modify etc.) looks like a ribbon even if it isn’t internally, with V9.0.5.0 when it is set at the top it almost behaves as a ribbon, or gives the illusion, in that the ribbons cover it completely, so why not just make it a ribbon and call it something like Basic. I think that this would make a much more consistent and user friendly interface, it would also have the advantage that you could fix the size of this and the profile list therefore avoiding any parts of the UI jumping around and drop downs covering parts of the profile list.

Most of the new icons make sense as I have previously stated, however the one that totally baffles me is the Sync icon, why does a picture of a head represent sync, it actually reminds me of the sort of picture you get on a box of headache tablets . I would be intrigued to know the thinking behind this icon, may be I am missing something but it confuses me. The double headed arrow that V8 used makes a lot more sense to me.

Andrew.
ajs
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Re: V9.0.4.1 Feedback

Post by ajs »

Since posting my last post I had a problem with the ribbon drop downs reverting to the V9.0.4.1 behaviour of being under the button panels. I not quite sure how this happened, but I had hidden the button panel then I did something to make it reappear even though the context menu, and preferences, still thought it was hidden. The context menu also thought the button panel was at the bottom even though it was at the top. The only way I could restore the V9.0.5.0 behaviour was to exit and restart SyncBack. I will try to see if I can find an exact sequence of operations to reproduce this problem. Of course if the button panel was a ribbon as per my previous post this issue could not happen 😀.

Andrew.
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