'(forw) Re: Question about your KPresenter's review'

[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       koffice-devel
Subject:    (forw) Re: Question about your KPresenter's review
From:       "Eric S. Raymond" <esr () thyrsus ! com>
Date:       2002-02-14 4:27:37
[Download RAW message or body]

Still DNS troubles...
-- 
		<a href="http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/">Eric S. Raymond</a>

Return-Path: <cathy@minx.thyrsus.com>
Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1])
	by golux.thyrsus.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g1E4GHe06388
	for <esr@localhost>; Wed, 13 Feb 2002 23:16:17 -0500
Envelope-to: esr@thyrsus.com
Delivery-date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 20:28:36 -0800
Received: from hurkle.thyrsus.com [198.186.203.83]
	by localhost with IMAP (fetchmail-5.9.7)
	for esr@localhost (single-drop); Wed, 13 Feb 2002 23:16:17 -0500 (EST)
Received: from dsl254-112-233.nyc1.dsl.speakeasy.net ([216.254.112.233] \
helo=minx.thyrsus.com)  by hurkle.thyrsus.com with esmtp (Exim 3.22 #1 (Debian))
	id 16bDVb-0007nw-00
	for <esr@thyrsus.com>; Wed, 13 Feb 2002 20:28:35 -0800
Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]])
	by minx.thyrsus.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) id g1E4PAA01829;
	Wed, 13 Feb 2002 23:25:10 -0500
Message-Id: <200202140425.g1E4PAA01829@minx.thyrsus.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;
  charset="iso-8859-1"
From: Catherine Olanich Raymond <cathy@thyrsus.com>
Reply-To: cathy@thyrsus.com
To: David Faure <david@mandrakesoft.com>, <koffice-devel@mail.kde.org>
Subject: Re: Question about your KPresenter's review
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 23:25:10 -0500
X-Mailer: KMail [version 1.3.1]
Cc: "Eric S. Raymond" <esr@thyrsus.com>, landley@trommello.org
References: <Pine.LNX.4.33L2.0202101400020.14687-100000@smtp.mandrakesoft.com> \
<200202120333.g1C3XNU28217@snark.thyrsus.com> \
                <200202121109.38715.david@mandrakesoft.com>
In-Reply-To: <200202121109.38715.david@mandrakesoft.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
X-SpamBouncer: 1.3 (1/18/01)
X-SBClass: OK

On Tuesday 12 February 2002 05:09 am, David Faure wrote:
> On Tuesday 12 February 2002 04:24, Catherine Olanich Raymond wrote:
> > > > > But since the UI needs to be improved first, as you noted
> > > > > (same work as the one that was done on KWord, cleaning up menus and
> > > > > toolbars), it'd be a better idea to do that first, before finishing
> > > > > the documentation.
> > > > 
> > > > I have mixed feelings about this.  I believe the UI needs to be
> > > > improved. On the other hand, KPresenter is out there *now*, and it
> > > > does perform the basic tasks--if the user can only figure out how to
> > > > do so.  Fixing the documentation first will give users incentives to
> > > > try using KPresenter now. If you fix the program first, you may find
> > > > that the users who might have been willing to give it a try have
> > > > already given up on it.
> > > 
> > > I don't think it's a good idea to write documentation about "a crippled
> > > UI".
> > 
> > Did Eric refer to the UI as "crippled"?  I don't believe that I did.
> 
> No, but that doesn't prevent me from doing it ;)

True enough.  However, I would not go that far.  :-)

By the way, I spent 5 minutes at the office refreshing my recollection 
somewhat about how MS PowerPoint handles text editing.  The answer is that it 
does not work quite like KPresenter.

With KPresenter, after you place a text box in the slide you always have to 
double click to enter text into the box.

With PowerPoint, when the text box is first created, it is automatically open 
for the entry of text.  However, if you wish to enter more text after you 
have finished typing and moved the cursor away from the text box, you *then* 
have to double click inside the text box to put the text box back into text 
entry mode.

Having the text box be immediately open to text as soon as the box is created 
feels more natural and (for me) makes the program easier to use.

> > However, it's not my understanding that a complete overhaul of KPresenter
> > is contemplated (if I'm mistaken, let me know!).  KPresenter is out
> > there.  It's available to users, and users are encountering it.  Users
> > other than me, Eric and Rob likely are having problems with it.  Some of
> > those problems could be lessened by improving the documentation. 
> > Lessening those problems in that manner would, I believe, create goodwill
> > for KPresenter/KDE generally by demonstrating the development team's
> > interest in helping the program work better for the users.
> 
> I certainly hope we can fix the UI before the next KOffice release.

I do too.  :-)  

Another component of my comment is the implicit assumption that it would be 
faster and simpler to improve the documentation than to "fix the UI."  That 
would at least make the present version of KPresenter easier to use.  Just a 
thought.

-- 
Cathy Raymond <cathy@thyrsus.com>

"The meeting of personalities is like the contact of chemical substances; 
if there is any reaction, both are transformed."  Carl Jung

_______________________________________________
koffice-devel mailing list
koffice-devel@mail.kde.org
http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/koffice-devel

[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 