Sonny Software

I have a file with 7500 refs. There's a series editor entry in less than 5 of them, and I don't care about them. I see series editor information in printed bibliographies very rarely.

On the other hand, I use keywords every day all the time, both reading and entering.

Please let me have the keywords field on the main page again.

I'm open to suggestions. What do others think? Is it important to have the keywords field on the main page (if so, why?). Don't forget that the keywords are also shown in the Concise View (and in fact you can create your own Concise View now, so you can show them at the top if you want, of wherever). What if the keywords and the drawer fields were moved into one tab (not on the main page)?

I don't plan to change the interface at this point without good reason and unless people really want it, so feedback is very welcome.

Jon
Sonny Software

Gerson wrote:I have a file with 7500 refs. There's a series editor entry in less than 5 of them, and I don't care about them. I see series editor information in printed bibliographies very rarely.

On the other hand, I use keywords every day all the time, both reading and entering.

Please let me have the keywords field on the main page again.

And I feel that Call Number shouldn't be in the drawer (which is a UI inconsistency in my opinion); I would like to see the the drawer fields moved into a tab. Ultimately, I think that the user should be given control over what appears in the different Reference window tabs and in what configuration/order. This is important not just for display, but for input.

What do other people think?

To all, note that the drawer could move to a tab, no problem. But of course the drawer and the main tab can be viewed together, but two tabs cannot. I know that some people won't like losing that flexibility.

Jon
Sonny Software

Jon wrote:To all, note that the drawer could move to a tab, no problem. But of course the drawer and the main tab can be viewed together, but two tabs cannot. I know that some people won't like losing that flexibility.

Thanks for pointing this out. I think that this is why configurability of at least the main tab is key.

Jon already knows this, but I will say it in the forum, too: for me, the keyword field is one of the most important fields in Bookends and I access it every time I import or enter a new entry. Since keyword management / tagging in general is such a tricky business every bit of visibility helps.

A configurable UI is, of course, the most flexible solution.

To me, the drawer also seems to be a strange relic and I rarely see new Bookends users actually making use of them (especially those who are new to OS X and thus did not go through the height of the drawer hype in those Mac OS X 10.0 and 10.1 days…) However, I would only sacrifice the benefit of the drawer (being able to see more fields at once) if we have a way to display more fields in the main window.

And, meanwhile, you can access the keyword tab from the keyboard by using the now implemented OS X standard tab shortcuts (Apple+ number of the tab from left to right).

I agree with the recommendation that keyword entry should be more accessible. Either the drawer or the first tab is fine. Perhaps reversing the "Abstract" and "Keyword" locations? I find I rarely use the abstract after I've read it.

In the sciences, I'd say that the aside from the info needed to identify the article, the Abstract is the most important field.

What about ditching the Notes field on the main tab? It's already there in the second tab. That would be straightforward. Now, who's ox will I gore with that suggestion?

Jon
Sonny Software

Jon wrote:In the sciences, I'd say that the aside from the info needed to identify the article, the Abstract is the most important field.

What about ditching the Notes field on the main tab? It's already there in the second tab. That would be straightforward. Now, who's ox will I gore with that suggestion?

Mine I'd prefer not to have to switch tabs.

You don't have to. Bookends has Notes out the wazoo:

main tab
second tab
Concise View
dedicated Notes view
You can even attach text file notes now

Taking one field that can be seen 4 different ways off the main tab seems like an excellent solution to me.

Jon
Sonny Software

Jon wrote:You don't have to. Bookends has Notes out the wazoo:

main tab
second tab
Concise View
dedicated Notes view
You can even attach text file notes now

Taking one field that can be seen 4 different ways off the main tab seems like an excellent solution to me.

You seem to be confounding display and input. While entering a new reference, I would have to change tabs in order to edit the Notes fields. This is why I don't like the drawer, apart from the aesthetics and the fact that the fields are tiny.

Your guiding principle from the early days was to have all the fields available in one window, wasn't it? Now that was in the days when Bookends only had a few fields. I still think that having configurable views of editable fields of the database is the best solution, but if this isn't possible or too much trouble, then I'm not sure what is second best.

I'm not confounding anything. You can enter text in the Notes field in three places now: the info pane of the List View, the main tab, and the Notes tab.

I don't think we need all three. And if people feel strongly about Keywords in the main pane, something has to go (there will be no configurable tabs, certainly not this go-round). I think all the notes fields are redundant. I'd like to hear from others on this.

Jon
Sonny Software

Jon wrote:I'm not confounding anything. You can enter text in the Notes field in three places now: the info pane of the List View, the main tab, and the Notes tab.

Right, but what I think people are saying is that they like the original concept of Bookends, which is that all fields were accessible and editable in one place: the Reference window.

I'm not sure what the best solution is. Perhaps moving keywords back to the main tab and thus reducing the total number of tabs from three to two is a good solution, but I for one would like to continue to be able to edit notes in the main tab so that I do not have to switch to another view or tab when I'm entering a new reference and wish to edit the notes.

You feel it's important that the smart group icon is not a magnifying glass but the picture of a gear, but you're not concerned about the esthetics of the window? I am. The ref window is now balanced and nicely sized. I don't see adding fields to the main tab.

So, I'll wait from feedback from others. What do the posters who place a lot of value on keywords feel? In the current UI we can have either keywords or notes in the main tab. Or keywords could go in the drawer (which doesn't appeal to me, but it's an option).

Jon
Sonny Software