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Messages - trlkly [ switch to compact view ]

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1
T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)
« on: November 14, 2014, 06:48 AM »
As for MISC, we just think differently on what goes into miscellaneous; to me it's things that are not needed that go there :-)

I don't disagree. I just never paid attention to the folder structure before. The word MISC does imply "extra." Considering its contents, I might suggest using "libs" as the name.

2
T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)
« on: October 27, 2014, 10:20 PM »
And of course I did receive your mails.. though I've got reasons not to answer them (apart from the fact that I named my point already, but still, nothing is fix)

Well, I was just expecting you to say something like "I'll look into that" or "Sorry, that won't work," as that's what you've done before. Plus, since I couldn't see it in my outbox, I thought maybe I didn't actually send it. I've done that before.

I just thought it might help with the problem you mentioned of the text being blurrier than you'd like. I thought maybe you could run a normal bitmap sharpening filter over it before rendering. It might be a bit slower, but you only have to update once a second anyways.

3
T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)
« on: October 23, 2014, 05:15 PM »
WhiteTigX, the third to last PM I sent you (about a method of sharpening the text) didn't get a reply, though the second to last one did. My outbox wasn't sent directly, so I'm not sure if you got it?

Also, how do you say your username? I say White Tiggex, like Tigger but with ex at the end. But I could also see it being like tiger, hence White Tie-gex.

4
T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)
« on: June 19, 2014, 10:52 PM »
well... I don't really think those buttons are needed... you didn't change other stuff besides that.. "non-existing" menu items could include a dummy text.. such as "double-click to add new" or something... Or a context menu on right click...

Quick-N-Dirty compromise might just be to change the group box text from "Add Menu Item" to Add Menu Item (Double Click to Add or Edit).

Honestly as far as ListView controls go double clicking to trigger the default action has always been a rather common behavior in any application I've ever encountered. *Shrug* So after having been there for 10 years it now has 1 complaint ...:-\... It's up to you man. :)

Double click to use the default action. That means there's always another, more easily discovered way to do it. And Add/Edit/Delete buttons extremely standard, to the point that I haven't encounter an editable list that doesn't have them (even if they are in the form of icons like an X and a + sign). I cannot think of any example.

Plus, there's just the fact that there's a ton of whitespace over there, taking up space for no reason. Why not make that whitespace functional? I didn't have to move a thing to fit those buttons in. If you didn't have room for the buttons, I could understand making a different choice.

And I would guess that you haven't had any complaints because most people don't use the feature. People who want T-clock generally aren't looking for a program launcher. They are looking for a replacement clock. Program launching is a nice feature if you find it, but not in any way essential.

All of that said, a compromise of indicating the double click feature in any way would be nice, if not ideal. It would at least make it discoverable. The way I'd do it is to both add "(double-click to edit)" to the top, and put a dummy "Add new item" entry at the bottom of the list. But it would still be good to be able to delete directly from the list, and not have to open the edit dialog, and I'm not sure what you would do about all that extra whitespace.

And, no matter what you do, I think the Menu Item Details tab is not so great. It doesn't work like a tab--you can't use it separately from the Quicky Menus tab. It's what made me think the program launcher feature was completely broken. Remember, this is a hack of a hack--the idea that some things may be broken is built in.

BTW, if you really want to get user friendly, you need an installer. There are so many people I would recommend this software to, except they would not know how to install it. The portable version is nice, but a fully installed version would be nice, too.

Heck, if you want, I might work on it--assuming my illness doesn't get in the way of doing work again.

5
T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)
« on: June 19, 2014, 02:47 PM »
Those buttons are very necessary as it is otherwise completely opaque to the user that double clicking on some list will do anything. That is just not the way UIs normally work. I only discovered that double clicking worked by accident yesterday when I was writing the complaint. I was actually going to report that the custom menu option was broken, because I couldn't figure out how to work it. That's how unintuitive the current arrangement is.

The buttons not only make it very clear to the user what they do, but also are standard on pretty much any list I've ever seen where you can add, edit, and delete entries. Right-click menus would just once again hide features from the users.

And I've never seen a tab becoming overwritten. If you have to because of resource restrictions, fine, but it would be a really strange experience. A popout modal dialog box is how this usually works.

But, ultimately, my main point is that, if you want to make something more user friendly, you can't hide the basic features from the user. If you want to let them edit menu items, you have to make that feature front and center.

I don't need any of these changes, as I've figured it out. But I am trying help you with the goal you stated--to make the menu dialog more user friendly.

6
T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)
« on: June 19, 2014, 05:55 AM »
The fold out menu would be modeled on the one for T-Clock Timers. There would be an "Add/Edit Alarms" menu item at the top, and a list of alarms at the bottom.

The difference would be that all defined alarms would show, not just active ones, but active ones would have a checkmark on them. Clicking on any alarm menu item would toggle alarm activation.

As for the dialog that would open when you clicked "Add/Edit Alarms," it could very well be the Alarms tab. But if you wanted to change it, I would probably take everything in the top section and make it a new dialog. Setting chimes could be another separate dialog.

Putting all this together, the menu would look like this:

T-Clock Alarms >
    Add/Edit Alarms
    Hourly Chimes
    -----------------
    Alarm 1        ✓
    Alarm 2
    Alarm 3        ✓


As for how the Menu Items tab would be better, I can see what you mean that it would be hard to just to add a button to the existing dialog. So I'll just mockup a complete remake that would, in my opinion, be much more user friendly. It looks a lot like what I've seen in most programs that give you options like this.

Menu Items tab in Preferences:


Menu Items edit dialog (opens on top of properties dialog when you click Add or Edit):



7
T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)
« on: June 18, 2014, 08:35 PM »
Everything you did seems to work. But I didn't notice an actual menu item for the alarm clock, neither in the options nor the default menu. Being able to use a click option is fine, but I think a menu item would be good, too. And a fold out menu listing all defined alarms--similar to the Timers menu--would be amazing.

Something I didn't mention before: It's not obvious how to create a new menu item in the "Menu Item Details" tab. It might be a good idea to add a "New Menu Item" button. I just now figure out that I have to start from the "Quicky Menu Items" tab.

Not trying to put a downer on all your work, BTW. It's pretty cool! I wouldn't have said anything, except you asked if I got everything I wanted.

8
T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)
« on: June 09, 2014, 04:52 PM »
Well, since it's going to take a while, I guess I'll go ahead and report another bug, in case I forget. I don't use it, but the Custom Calendar option doesn't seem to open on Windows 7 64bit. I can open it manually by opening "XPCalender.exe," but it won't open from TClock.

Also, while I also already replied to WhiteTigx's message asking what the Set Time option does in XP, the message didn't show up in my outbox, so I'm posting here. As you guessed, it just opens the normal time set dialog, the same one opened by the right click menu item. Unfortunately UAC makes it still a bit different than in XP, but I don't think there's anything you can do about that.1

Ideally, what I would like is for every menu item to eventually2 be available in the Mouse tab. From a design standpoint, it just makes sense. The click options are quick shortcuts to the existing menu options.

1You're going to get some form of UAC prompt either way, since you must elevate to set the time. So you might as well stick with the way Windows handles it, where you only get the dialog if you try to change the time.

2As in, don't hold up a release for it! It's not that important.

9
T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)
« on: June 03, 2014, 11:43 PM »
Unfortunately I don't know what the latest build is these days. I stepped away from the project and released the source code about a year or so ago. There are several other people are working on it now (I think), but I don't know who is where on what. I just forget sometimes and comment here out of reflex.

If someone knows what the most current build is, I'll add it to the first post here, and also make a note of it on my website ... My inbox is still getting hammered about that week number bit.

@WhiteTigX - Did you or LonelyPixel have the latest build?

Well, I was referring to WhiteTigX's version, which implemented using the Windows default calendar and fixed it where clicking again closes it. His version is linked here: https://www.donation....msg336616#msg336616

LonelyPixel's version is already in linked the first post, so I don' think you need to worry about that one.

10
T-Clock / Re: T-Clock 2010 (download)
« on: June 03, 2014, 08:11 PM »
Stoic Joker, since you're still around, could you edit in a link to the latest version in the first post? I almost missed it, and was going to report a bug that has now been fixed.

I still have one other thing to report, however. It's a feature request more than anything. I would like to have a menu option and click option for pulling up the Alarm dialog. Right now, I use a workaround where I make sure the alarm is the last tab open when I use the Properties dialog, but an explicit Alarm option would be nice.

Even better would be if they could have a fold out option like the Timers do, listing all alarms.

Finally, I'd like a mouse-click option to set the time. Double clicking on the clock would let you set it back in XP, and I'd love to have that back. I figure that would be easy to code--otherwise I wouldn't ask, as it's so trivial. But that alarm clock thing would really be nice.

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