Author Topic: Unfriendly Software  (Read 2170 times)

Offline rienvanham

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Unfriendly Software
« on: January 03, 2021, 09:58:45 AM »
First: I use only Photo Mechanic Plus and nothing else to do the management of my photo's. Until so far I couldn't find any software that does the job better than PMP. But what I'm wondering (and that is confirmed by many questions users ask) is: are you (the developers of PMP) actually "listening" to users or even, develop together with users? I ask this because there are so many "non-user-friendely" items present in this software. Everytime I ask myself "my god, why is this implemented in this way"? It could be so much more friendly. It could even be the best software in the world. But simple annoying things aren't fixed of even developed. I also asked for keyboard shortcuts and the only answer is "no, there is no keyboard shortcut" or "you can do a feature request".

e.g.:
why isn't the structured keywords-panel available in the metadata-info panel?
why don't both screens (if you have 2 monotors) (dis)appear at the same time?
why is the view crop (P) disactivated if a photo with no crop passes?
why isn't the user capable of creating it's own keyboard shortcuts?
why isn't ctrl-c working?
why is the zoomlevel reset everytime I start PMP?
why can't I use shortcuts in the Map Browser?
why can't the Set GPS Coordinates-panel be resized?
why can't I adjust the capture date and time for many photo's individually?
etc. etc.

Thanks in advance!


Offline Kirk Baker

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Re: Unfriendly Software
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2021, 10:45:32 AM »
Rien,

First: I use only Photo Mechanic Plus and nothing else to do the management of my photo's. Until so far I couldn't find any software that does the job better than PMP. But what I'm wondering (and that is confirmed by many questions users ask) is: are you (the developers of PMP) actually "listening" to users or even, develop together with users? I ask this because there are so many "non-user-friendely" items present in this software. Everytime I ask myself "my god, why is this implemented in this way"? It could be so much more friendly. It could even be the best software in the world. But simple annoying things aren't fixed of even developed. I also asked for keyboard shortcuts and the only answer is "no, there is no keyboard shortcut" or "you can do a feature request".

e.g.:
why isn't the structured keywords-panel available in the metadata-info panel?

It is available from the popup menu to the right of the keywords field.  It's been there since its introduction.

why don't both screens (if you have 2 monotors) (dis)appear at the same time?

I don't understand what you mean.  Disappear?

why is the view crop (P) disactivated if a photo with no crop passes?

Because the View Crop mode doesn't allow you to do other operations while it is active.  If you have no crop then View Crop would require you to turn off View Crop mode in order to create a crop.

why isn't the user capable of creating it's own keyboard shortcuts?

That could indeed be improved.

why isn't ctrl-c working?

Like I said in response to your other thread on the same subject: it works for me.  I don't know why it doesn't work for you.  If you'd be willing to do some testing with a special build or two with me, then I'll see what I can do to fix it for you.

why is the zoomlevel reset everytime I start PMP?

If you quit PM Plus and the zoom was active at 200%, then upon restart you would want it to still be zoomed when you first open the Preview window?  I don't think many people would want that.  If we were to make that persistent, it would have to be a preference that would default to off.

why can't I use shortcuts in the Map Browser?

What shortcuts?

why can't the Set GPS Coordinates-panel be resized?

Victory!  The next build of Photo Mechanic Plus and PM6 will allow the Set GPS Coordinates dialog to be resized.  I worked on that just before my extended vacation which is still ongoing.

why can't I adjust the capture date and time for many photo's individually?

Generally the capture date/time is off for a series of images so bulk changes is where we focused our limited development time resources.  It would be possible to add a navigation feature like the one in the Set GPS Coordinates dialog.  You will have to make a feature request for this and much of the above.  If a lot of other users think your features are worthwhile and upvote them, then it is likely that they will be implemented.

We definitely listen to users.  Most companies don't provide direct access to their developers like we do.  We're known for listening to our customers and for providing excellent support.  We may not implement every feature asked for, but we do implement the ones that we feel provide the best usability for our users.

Thank you for your feedback.

-Kirk

Offline rienvanham

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Re: Unfriendly Software
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2021, 10:57:02 AM »
Hi Kirk,

a few replies:

Both screens: I use 2 monitors, at the right the browser (or thumbnail vies) and at the left the preview view. Both are fullscreen. Now, when I minimize one, the other one stays fullscreen. When both screens are minimized and I bring one to front, the other one doesn't come with it. I think both should me minimized at the same time and restored.

Zoom: thumbnail view (slider right of arrow and loupe): if I increase the size so that 7 photo's are in one row: after restarting PMP it is reset to 10.

Map Browser: Wy can't I use keyboard shortcuts to advance to next or previous photo? Like in Metadata info?

Thanks in advance!

I appreciate your comments and answers!


Offline Kirk Baker

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Re: Unfriendly Software
« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2021, 03:03:54 PM »
Both screens: I use 2 monitors, at the right the browser (or thumbnail vies) and at the left the preview view. Both are fullscreen. Now, when I minimize one, the other one stays fullscreen. When both screens are minimized and I bring one to front, the other one doesn't come with it. I think both should me minimized at the same time and restored.

I'm not sure I would agree with that.  They're both completely independent frame windows.  What if I want to keep one of them full screen and minimize the other so that I can work with another application and see the other PM window?  If they both minimize when one is minimized then I wouldn't be able to do that.  I could see adding a feature where you hold down a key (Shift) when you minimize and then both could be minimized.

Zoom: thumbnail view (slider right of arrow and loupe): if I increase the size so that 7 photo's are in one row: after restarting PMP it is reset to 10.

Ah.  I thought you were talking about the Preview window.  You can control the default size in the Preferences overall.  The thumbnail size is not saved/restored currently.  I agree that it should be made persistent when restoring the session.

Map Browser: Why can't I use keyboard shortcuts to advance to next or previous photo? Like in Metadata info?

They don't currently exist.

-Kirk

Offline rienvanham

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Re: Unfriendly Software
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2021, 11:46:56 PM »
Hi Kirk,

Thanks for your answers!

Rien.

Offline Hydester

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Re: Unfriendly Software
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2021, 12:55:17 AM »
I would agree with the sentiment of the above. See my comment here: http://forums.camerabits.com/index.php?topic=13858.0 about how difficult it is just to see the images in a catalog here: http://forums.camerabits.com/index.php?topic=13858.0 and post here: https://docs.camerabits.com/support/discussions/topics/48000561198

Offline Kirk Baker

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Re: Unfriendly Software
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2021, 11:15:45 AM »
why isn't ctrl-c working?
why can't the Set GPS Coordinates-panel be resized?

These two issues are addressed in this build: http://forums.camerabits.com/index.php?topic=13890.0