minor feature suggestions

A place for users to ask each other questions, make suggestions, and discuss Bookends.
thecritic
Posts: 156
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 2:10 pm

minor feature suggestions

Post by thecritic »

1. How about actually showing the color in the "gear" menu?
2. How about displaying the number of references contained in different groups in the "Groups" column in the main database window?
3. A cache size that adjusts automatically -- if this is possible.
Last edited by thecritic on Fri Apr 21, 2006 6:02 am, edited 2 times in total.
thecritic
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Re: minor feature suggestions

Post by thecritic »

thecritic wrote:1. How about actually showing the color in the "gear" menu?
By "color," I mean the color of the labels.
thecritic
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Group pane changes

Post by thecritic »

Would it be possible for the user to reorder the group names by dragging?

Could the user assign command keys to smart groups, as well as to static groups?
Jon
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Post by Jon »

It makes no sense to assign commandkeys to smart groups.

Jon
Sonny Software
thecritic
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Post by thecritic »

Jon wrote:It makes no sense to assign commandkeys to smart groups.
Why not? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the function of command keys.
Jon
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Post by Jon »

See the release notes, and the User Guide for information about this feature.

Jon
Sonny Software
thecritic
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Post by thecritic »

Jon wrote:See the release notes
I must be blind, but I cannot find the release notes, either in the unzipped downloaded app package, or on your web site. I've read p.187 of the manual, and it says, "You can also assign the numbers to static groups as keyboard shortcuts to be used with the Command key."

"assign THE numbers"? Do you mean "assign numbers"?

I'm assuming that this means that invoking the command key will automatically select the static group and display the references associated with it. Am I wrong? If not, then I do not understand why it would be useless to associate a command key with smart groups ...

While we're at it, that image of ratings on p.178 is very intriguing. I can't find them mentioned anywhere else in the manual. Is this an iTunes-like function, in addition to labels?
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Post by Jon »

The release note history can always be found here:

http://www.sonnysoftware.com/newfeatures.html

The shortcuts are for adding references to groups, not displaying groups.

The ratings groups are shown as examples. It is easy to create such groups yourself.

Jon
Sonny Software
thecritic
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Post by thecritic »

Jon wrote:The ratings groups are shown as examples. It is easy to create such groups yourself.
Thanks so much.

But how did you make the stars appear in the static group name? More importantly, wouldn't ratings be more appropriately *smart* groups, just as they are in iTunes and iPhoto? Ideally, the number of stars would be assigned in a field.
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Post by Jon »

Mac OS X -> Character Palette -> Symbols -> Miscellaneous Symbols

Static or smart groups can be used for ratings, whatever you prefer.

Jon
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thecritic
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Post by thecritic »

Jon wrote:Mac OS X -> Character Palette -> Symbols -> Miscellaneous Symbols

Static or smart groups can be used for ratings, whatever you prefer.
Right, but ideally they would be easily assignable, such as via command-key equivalent. I guess one could implement smart ratings groups using labels, but then there would also be the color distraction. I guess it would be redundant with labels, anyway.
thecritic
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OpenURL

Post by thecritic »

How about the ability to generate special OpenURL-type URLs to look up references online via SFX?
mtzmtz
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New request: Auto selection on creation

Post by mtzmtz »

I like how when you import a reference, it is automatically selected in the database. Is there a way to do that when you create a new reference from scratch? After closing the reference window, have it automatically selected so it can be copied, previewed, etc.

Thx
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Post by Jon »

That's not a bad idea, but may be hard to implement well. It makes sense if you create a new reference and then immediately close it. But the reference window can stay open while you perform other tasks, and you may not want the reference selected in the List View when you finally close that window.

There are many workarounds for this. One that immediately comes to mind is to mark the reference when you add it, and then it will appear in the Hits group.

Jon
Sonny Software
mtzmtz
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Post by mtzmtz »

Jon wrote:But the reference window can stay open while you perform other tasks, and you may not want the reference selected in the List View when you finally close that window.
Valid point. I'll try getting used to the Hits solution. Another thought would be to create a button on the reference window for "close and select" or something like that.

thanks.
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