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PA Menu- C&Q

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November 29, 2006 - 4:22pm
#1
Dutchie
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PA Menu- C&Q

Hi John,
C&Q = Comments & Questions Smile

Very nice menu.Also works quite well.
Thanks for a great job.
However,my questions are:
1.Menu cannot be moved.
Could you please make the menu movable?
2.Menu exits whenever a selection is made.
Could you make the menu persist untill I choose to close it?
3.Occasionally the menu just closes by itself.
No idea why.
4.Are any other skins available?
I like the existing one,but also like to change at times Smile
5.Help file is non existent.(although icon is present on the Menu)
Any plans to provide a local helpfile?

Thanks in advance for your answer.

Pete.

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November 29, 2006 - 4:50pm
John T. Haller
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As

1. Nope. It's gonna stay in the lower-right, where the system tray is by default in Windows. Same way the Start Menu is always in the lower-left. Better to be consistent as it's easier to users. I may set it up so it detects the task bar on the top and launches at the top, but that's a bit harder to do than it seems. (Wouldn't it be odd to have an icon in the lower right and have it show/hide a menu nowhere near it?)

2. It doesn't exit. It just hides. Same way the Windows menu works. Or a dropdown menu or context menu for that matter. Again, consistent with a normal user's expectation.

3. It hides whenever it loses focus. Like any other menu.

4. Not yet, but later.

5. Not right now. It's online only.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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November 29, 2006 - 7:07pm
(Reply to #2)
Dutchie
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Hi John, Thanks for your

Hi John,

Thanks for your quick response.

Re:1.
You wrote:
"Nope. It's gonna stay in the lower-right, where the system tray is by default in Windows. Same way the Start Menu is always in the lower-left. Better to be consistent as it's easier to users."

Too bad.I'm sorry that you have taken a position on it,rather than considering alternatives.
Just because M$ Windows has this,what I consider an assinine setup,there is no reason to follow it.
BTW,the Windows Start menu is not always on the lower left.
in fact it is movable and lots of people have it as a vertical bar.
If you dock it to the right side if the screen,that where the (XP) Start Menu will show.
There are numerous menus from other applications that don't follow this convention.
There is nothing inconsistent about having a menu that is:
1.Movable,Floating or Dockable.
2.Has the option to hide when docked to any side of the screen.
3.Has the option to hide (minimize to Tray) if so selected or stay
visible if so selected.
4.Resizable, horizontally as well as vertically.

Quote:"(Wouldn't it be odd to have an icon in the lower right and have it show/hide a menu nowhere near it?)"

No,not at all, if you have set it to behave like you want.

Re:2. Quote:" It doesn't exit. It just hides."
I understand,my bad. I should have said minimized to Tray.

Quote:"Same way the Windows menu works. Or a dropdown menu or context menu for that matter. Again, consistent with a normal user's expectation."

That's just the problem and certainly was not my expectation.
Does that me me abnormal?
Since this is a new application,you have the freedom to set new standards,rather than following M$ convention.

Anyway,thanks again for your answers.
I was just hoping that you would see the benefit of my suggestions.

Pete.

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November 29, 2006 - 7:27pm
(Reply to #3)
John T. Haller
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Advanced would come later

Remember, this is a 1.0 release that I coded fresh. As it solidifies, more advanced features will be added (and much of what you ask for would be more advanced). The goal of the first release was to be a slick, basic menu that would work the way users are used to menus working. Every menu on every operating system hides when you click something. Every "programs" menu on every operating system (except OSX) is in a corner of the screen (it's only by using "advanced" add-ons can you alter this behavior). I'm aware the Windows start menu can be moved... but *only* when you move the whole taskbar. And, as stated, I'm considering adding the ability for the menu to detect this but, as I mentioned, it's easier said than done (Windows provides no simple way to determine where the task bar is and whether it's hidden).

A lot of this is about user expectations and usability. There's a reason a menu is show right next to the control to activate and deactivate it (start menu, program menu, option menu... they *all* do this)... because it makes logical sense. So, it's far more important to make things simple, usable and logical in an initial release... following standards throughout user interface design... than to stray from them just to be different. Once you get that right, then you add in advanced options so "advanced" users (also known as the obsessive folks like me) can customize to their heart's content... but you still keep all the accepted standards as your default so that anyone can use it right off the bat without having to "learn" how to use it. Firefox is a great example of this. It's dead easy to use by default and keeps just the essentials where you need them so anyone can sit down and use it... but then there is a richer customization below the surface that was more developed as the product matured.

Make sense?

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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November 29, 2006 - 8:30pm
(Reply to #4)
Dutchie
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Hi John, Thanks for your

Hi John,

Thanks for your very detailed reply.
I understand your point of view.
I may not agree with every angle of it,but hey,it's your creation.
It looks like I may be "obsessive" too :),since I like
to tweak things to my liking,whether through options or add-ons or
by tweaking the Registry.
Anyway,we'll see what develops.
In the meantime I have a nice looking menu.

Take care,
Pete.

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November 29, 2006 - 8:39pm
(Reply to #5)
John T. Haller
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Positioning...

One thing I'm considering for advanced options later is a "position" option. You'd be able to select whether the menu appears in the: lower right, lower middle, lower left, upper right, upper left or centered. Maybe even middle right, middle left, etc. I'm planning on combining that with the option to trigger it the menu (show or hide) via a global hotkey... and maybe even a mouse move (like moving the mouse against the right-hand side of the screen). Of course, these would all be off by default, but they'd be in the options screen (once there is one).

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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November 30, 2006 - 8:01pm
(Reply to #6)
Dutchie
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Hi John, Sorry for the

Hi John,

Sorry for the delay.I was away for a while.
Thanks for the added info.Yes that sounds great.
At least it would give you more options.
I have a whole bunch of apps that have movable menus,so
I suppose I got used to that,plus I lke it.
I can leave a menu open,move it to a second monitor
and not go back to the Tray to open it again.
Anyway,all this takes time to develop .
Thanks for all your efforts.

Pete.

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November 30, 2006 - 9:07pm
(Reply to #7)
wingmanjd
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Re: As

Hello John,

First off, thanks for all the work you do. I'm loving the stuff that's put out here at this site.

I realize that your menu is a v1.0, but are you taking suggestions for future releases? Would it be possible to customize the folders shown in the menu, as well as organize the executable's? If there's already a way, lemme know. Thanks so much.

----------------------------
Call me for free with Skype
@ Wingmanjd
----------------------------

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December 10, 2006 - 2:42am
(Reply to #8)
sniperdgs
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Joined: 2006-12-10 01:54
pa menu

1.Menu cannot be moved.
Could you please make the menu movable?
>i dont mind that its not moveable but my menu is at the top, like apples
2.Menu exits whenever a selection is made.
Could you make the menu persist untill I choose to close it?
>this was one of my BIGGEST pet peaves
3.Occasionally the menu just closes by itself.
No idea why.
>the other problem a 2nd opens when i click on the icon again GRRRR!!!
4.Are any other skins available?
I like the existing one,but also like to change at times Smiling
>this is fine but simple is better. sometimes i like old menus for pos computers. and ease. i perfer taps and a little more of pstart functions.
5.Help file is non existent.(although icon is present on the Menu)
Any plans to provide a local helpfile?
>i did notice this and i was dispointed bc i accually use help menus.

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