[mythtv-users] Re: Re: Cannot set a recording

Michael J. Sherman msherman at dsbox.com
Mon Sep 6 12:27:31 EDT 2004


 >> Yeah, the interface just threw me for a loop. It appeared as a list >of
 >> options. It was not entirely clear that you had to scroll left/right >to
 >> get options to change. Perhaps a different UI scheme (something more
 >> standard) would be better and more intuitive; at least a little arrow
 >> indicator perhaps next to the option to denote the fact that you can >in
 >> fact go left/right to change it.
 >
 >Well, if you're using CVS you should be following the commits list,
 >which included instructions on how to use the screen (as do the
 >release notes Isaac linked to on mythtv.org). Some further work will
 >be done on this screen in the future to add visual cues to indicate
 >when you can use left/right but pretty much everything on that screen
 >can be scrolled with left/right.

I think the point I was trying to get at was this interface style is 
new, and not intuitive.

The options (even the ones you can move left/right) are just presented 
as a list in a listbox type of widget.  To a normal computer user, that 
means you can select up and down to scroll up/down the list, then choose 
one option.  The fact that you are mixing list choices with selection 
choices (left/right) breaks very standard interface conventions.  And, 
IMHO, that is a Bad Thing (TM).  Visual cues for knowing when to go 
left/right would be huge.

Open source software is continually dinged on the lack of usable 
interfaces; why not buck that trend and use standard/simple interface 
styles?  If I showed this "new" and "improved" recording options screen 
to a non-technical person, their head would explode.  I guess I could 
explain how the new options screen is not using QT widgets and it's 
themeable, and then I'm sure they would understand.

If I'm out on a limb here and nobody agrees with me, that's fine.  I may 
just be unreasonable in my expecations for MythTV.  I have perceived a 
negative trend in the interface over the last five months, and I just am 
only trying to voice my opinion.  My wife uses our Myth box, too, so all 
of these new styles are not a good thing when they are so complicated 
and non-intuitive.


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