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UI: Switching monitor size


Fr. Rusty

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Just a simple question that may have already been asked and answered, if so, please forgive the repeat.

 

Are there going to be UI upgrades in the near future?

 

I am having great difficulties using the current UI.

I have tried all the recommendations ( many very good ) but none change the fact that this is hard to use with small screens and when using with outboard monitors each and everything has to be moved, resized.

 

Then, when done, one cannot just close the program, but instead has to resize everything and pull it back to the smaller screen, then shut down.

If I don't do this, then on restarting Accordance, one cannot find the screens, or can only see part of it, cannot move the panes, resource palette , instant details.

So it's,; Unplug monitor to get everything back on the screen, then resize, then plug in monitor, then move everything, then resize, then perhaps still feel up to actually working.

 

I really hope, no, I pray, I really do, that some option is going to be available to me/us where this incredible program can be more easily accessed.

 

Thank you so very much for any positive news.

 

Once again, If anyone has a solution ( that a non-programmer can use ) It would be greatly and wonderfully appreciated ( will send a puppy or something ).

I really "need" help.

I just want to "use" the program, not constantly have to adjust it.

 

Recently, one of my workspaces will not even resize on my Mac, all other's will, but one will only get larger and has fewer resources open than any other-go figure.

 

Thanks for listening.

 

Again, greatest search engine I have ever seen, greatest Biblical tool I have ever had, it is just too hard to get out of the truck to use it sometimes.

 

Blessings all, not trying to be a pain, just want to do my work.

 

Rusty+

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Dr. J has prepared a podcast on Small Screen techniques. One of his suggestions is to have a second user for when you are on the small screen, and to run Accordance within that user. I guess you would have to switch users on the fly between all your other apps on your main user, and only Accordance for the small screen, but you might want to try this.

 

It would require some programming to have different startups including the floating windows. How many people would want this?

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Dr. J has prepared a podcast on Small Screen techniques. One of his suggestions is to have a second user for when you are on the small screen, and to run Accordance within that user. I guess you would have to switch users on the fly between all your other apps on your main user, and only Accordance for the small screen, but you might want to try this.

 

It would require some programming to have different startups including the floating windows. How many people would want this?

 

The floating windows would be much more usable if you could configure them, size them properly, and "attach them" to your workspace.

Then if you moved the workspace, they would/could move with it, the whole thing "could be resized" together, as a whole, with dimensions scaling together.

 

However, I honestly do not see the purpose in continuing any of them other than the instant details ( the only one truly re-sizable), everything else would easily fit in the top of the workspace bar as a drop down with items.

Resource Palette= Drop down.

Highlighters= Dropdown.

 

As far as signing in under another user, no, that's not going to work, I have to be able to use Pages, the net, other resources.

 

In my opinion, and it may just be mine to some extent, but the current UI which has a great legacy, is no longer current, no longer "Mac-like", it doesn't "just work".

 

I send people to look at and try Accordance- UI turns them off.

 

For people who have been with Accordance for many years, I am probably stepping on the holy grail, but i'm new, other are new, and moving all these things around constantly just to be "able" to work is frustrating.

 

Some will mention the Palettes in Pages and other apps, they are there, true enough, yet that is a completely different "type" of workflow than we use in Accordance, where we really do want to stay focused on the text, and, we use what is in the palettes a great deal more, throughout the work session, than one does when making a change in a Pages type document.

 

So, while looking for help, I am also trying to be of help, I hate to offer problems with offering some suggestions as well.

 

Sorry if I am a pain.

 

Time matters to me, I work a lot, I need to be able to use my study time well.

 

I love what Accordance does for me, I just really get frustrated trying to "set up and tear down" to use it.

 

Blessings,

 

Rusty+

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It would require some programming to have different startups including the floating windows. How many people would want this?

 

I for one would. Particularly Rusty's suggestion of attaching floating windows to the main workspace seems to me quite useful.

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It would require some programming to have different startups including the floating windows. How many people would want this?

 

I'll add my vote for this. I suspect this would be true for anyone using a laptop as their primary computer, which is increasingly common.

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I would guess that by "small screen" you may refer to a 13" laptop? I use a 15" MBP, but I use it constantly as my main Mac in 3 diff. configurations: on my desk in my home study I have a larger external monitor (but with the same resolution as the 15"), in my study at the seminary with an older profile 17" external monitor, and the rest of the time as a "stand-alone." The best solution I've come up with is to always keep Accordance on the main, MBP monitor and move the other apps to the external monitor. That's usually Word and/or PowerPoint, but it could include any of a dozen apps usually open. By using a utility program called MenuEverywhere I can have the main menu duplicated on the external monitor. (Works fine except for full-screen apps such as PowerPoint in presentation mode.) And then if you set up a default session configured the way you want it on the main MBP monitor, there's no need to "tear down and set up" every time. Just close Accordance and reopen it and it will reopen on the main monitor in your default config.

 

But having said that, yes, you're right--using Accord on a 2d monitor isn't often worth the hassle. It would be nice if there were some shortcut to move all the pieces to the external monitor in one step. Maybe something like "hold down the Control key and drag the top left palette/window and all the other Accordance palettes and windows would be moved along with that window." Since you'd be dragging from the smaller monitor to the larger one, everything can stay in the same relative position and could be much more easily adjusted to the larger monitor as needed. (The reverse, larger to smaller monitor, would be a lot trickier--and perhaps not worth the programming hassle.) Or perhaps there could be a menu command in the Window menu: "Move Accordance to External Monitor" which would do the same thing. (It would be "grayed out" when there is no external monitor attached.) Or even that menu item with a submenu with a choice of configurations which could provide a choice of multiple default configurations. (I doubt that would work with an existing, manually configured layout since the various pieces wouldn't be int he same place as the default, but a user wouldn't normally do this in the middle of a work session--I'd think they would do this when first setting up in a new config when plugging in an external monitor.)

 

Another situation to consider: when I'm teaching in a classroom the video projector functions as an external monitor--but the display is behind me. (Yes, I know, use "mirroring"--but then you can't use the Presenter view in PowerPoint, and the projector is a smaller resolution than the laptop.) In this case I slide one workspace over onto the projector screen, but it's very awkward to actually do anything there since it's now behind you--and it doesn't fit the smaller projector screen either... :( No idea how to fix that--other than getting the seminary to buy new projectors that display 1440 x 900!)

 

For what it's worth, here's the default layout that I use on the 15" MBP: 2 multi-tabbed workspaces with the lexicons and grammars in the background workspace, each tab linked to the first similar tool (i.e. the 2d & 3d Greek lexicons are defined as "[LINK BDAG]"). This leaves the reference tools out of the way, but a triple click in the GNT window brings them immediately to the front--but they don't cover the GNT pane, so I can see the text and the tools at the same time.

 

post-14490-018437800 1298637658_thumb.jpg

 

The triple-click, in this case on the word γέγραπται in Mark 1:2, brings the 2d worspace to the front:

 

post-14490-027078100 1298637692_thumb.jpg

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Dear Professor Decker: Good points all and, thanks for the screen shots.

 

Yes, I have the 13 inch screen, which is a bit more difficult and like you, often just stay there due to the difficulty and loss of time moving everything.

 

But even on your 15" you have a good bit of wasted screen space in the lower left corner.

If the pallets were drop-downs from the top of the workspace, that whole left side could be another zone, panel or allow for a larger reading space, larger font etc.

 

I know I do not explain things well in "code speak" , yet, imagine drawing a rectangle and placing Accordance within it, arrange Accordance within it as one wants, then where ever you drag the rectangle, Accordance stays the same, but the whole rectangle resizes to the screen or whatever "size" you desire, and accordance resizes within it accordingly.

 

Would like to see the palettes ( if they cannot be put up in the top of the workspaces bar ) become "fully" resizable in both vertical and horizontal planes.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

Thanks for the input and screen shots.

 

I really do think making the UI easier to manage and usable would be beneficial to Accordance adoption, again, just my Opinion.

 

Blessings all,

 

Rusty+

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I am sure this is a little too early to ask this, but won't Mac OS 10.7 address this with it's new work spaces features? On that front, how will the new OS change the working of Accordance?

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... imagine drawing a rectangle and placing Accordance within it, arrange Accordance within it as one wants, then where ever you drag the rectangle, Accordance stays the same, but the whole rectangle resizes to the screen or whatever "size" you desire, and accordance resizes within it accordingly.

 

There's always a trade off. If one were working only in Accordance, then a fixed window as you describe would be fine. But if you do that, then it's "all or nothing." That is, you lose the ability to interleave windows from multiple programs. Accordance plays nicely with that scenario since the individual windows remain scrollable with the mouse wheel or trackpad. Thus if I've been in Acord., then shift to Word, so long as I have windows arranged so that I can see the key data, I can refer to it and even scroll that data *without* activating that window; the active window can remain Word where I'm writing, but I can often see the data that I need in the Accord window. That works even on a smaller monitor since I can keep Word on the left side, even at 150% or 200%, and still have room for an Accordance window on the right. Here's a typical "writing layout" for me (in this case I'm working on the Baylor handbook on Mark and have just finished writing up the first draft of the comments on ἀλεκτοροφωνίας in Mark 13:35):

 

post-14490-086572300 1298643511_thumb.jpg

 

Were I in my study (instead of curled up in my recliner in front of the wood stove this snowy morning! :rolleyes: with my Mac on a TV tray and my wireless keyboard and mouse in my lap), I'd have Word on the large monitor on the left and I'd be able to see all of Accordance--and scroll any of the panes as needed.

 

Later addition (sorry, I couldn't resist!):

 

post-14490-087962300 1298644767_thumb.jpg

 

Forecast this morning is for 5-8" of snow ... (though at the moment it's 33 and raining! temp to drop to 30 and switch to snow...).

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Good point, though not sure you wouldn't still be able to do that.

 

I guess these things make it quite evident I am just a user of technology and no little to nothing past that-smile.

 

BTW I think your students are blessed.

 

Rusty+

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Professor Decker,

 

I love the idea you show in your two workspace display, but I can not seem to get it to work. You mention that you have linked the other lexical resources to BDAG, so that they show their articles for the same entry. How did you do this? When I go to "Window -> Set, there is no option "Tie to BDAG." How did you tie these resources together?

 

 

Bret Hicks

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Professor Decker,

 

I love the idea you show in your two workspace display, but I can not seem to get it to work. You mention that you have linked the other lexical resources to BDAG, so that they show their articles for the same entry. How did you do this? When I go to "Window -> Set, there is no option "Tie to BDAG." How did you tie these resources together?

 

 

Bret Hicks

 

That's a trick I learned at the Accordance seminar last Nov. Use the Link command, which will give you a popup with a list of other tabs/windows to which you can link; select the BDAG tab (or whatever tool you're using as you "key" search).

 

With your cursor in the search area of the 2d tab (which needs to be the same type of tool, i.e., lexicon for a lexicon, grammar, for a grammar, etc.), use menu:

Search > Enter Command > Link

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There's always a trade off. If one were working only in Accordance, then a fixed window as you describe would be fine. But if you do that, then it's "all or nothing." That is, you lose the ability to interleave windows from multiple programs. Accordance plays nicely with that scenario since the individual windows remain scrollable with the mouse wheel or trackpad. Thus if I've been in Acord., then shift to Word, so long as I have windows arranged so that I can see the key data, I can refer to it and even scroll that data *without* activating that window; the active window can remain Word where I'm writing, but I can often see the data that I need in the Accord window. That works even on a smaller monitor since I can keep Word on the left side, even at 150% or 200%, and still have room for an Accordance window on the right. Here's a typical "writing layout" for me (in this case I'm working on the Baylor handbook on Mark and have just finished writing up the first draft of the comments on ἀλεκτοροφωνίας in Mark 13:35):

 

post-14490-086572300 1298643511_thumb.jpg

 

Were I in my study (instead of curled up in my recliner in front of the wood stove this snowy morning! :rolleyes: with my Mac on a TV tray and my wireless keyboard and mouse in my lap), I'd have Word on the large monitor on the left and I'd be able to see all of Accordance--and scroll any of the panes as needed.

 

Later addition (sorry, I couldn't resist!):

 

post-14490-087962300 1298644767_thumb.jpg

 

Forecast this morning is for 5-8" of snow ... (though at the moment it's 33 and raining! temp to drop to 30 and switch to snow...).

 

 

Cozy writing morning looks really nice!

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Thanks. I had actually just found that option by watching the podcast on zones and figured it out from that.

 

It is also worth noting that to get the lexical resource to display in the 2nd workspace rather than open it in the first workspace (i.e. in the tools zone of the text workspace), you need to tell BDAG and any others lexicons to recycle. It took me a bit to figure that out as well. Of course, I have only been using Accordance for a week, so a lot of this is brand new to me.

 

Once again, thanks for the idea. I am working on doing something very similar myself today.

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I am sure this is a little too early to ask this, but won't Mac OS 10.7 address this with it's new work spaces features? On that front, how will the new OS change the working of Accordance?

 

I don't know how OSX Lion will affect Accordance over all, but as I understand the new features and workspaces, it is not going to affect how the Ui of Accordance is set up, that's up the individual software developer for each software company, as I understand it.

 

 

Rusty+

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I cannot find a podcast on "small screens", have used search, gone through the podcast pages.

Can anyone direct me?

 

Thanks,

 

Rusty+

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It hasn't yet been released, sorry!

 

Well no wonder I couldn't find it! Duh, boy do I feel "dumber than a box of rocks"-smile.

 

Thanks and Blessings,

 

The red-faced guy.

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Would I be safe then to assume there is nothing in the works to change the way the UI or Floating Pallets function, at least at this time?

 

Just asking.

 

Thanks,

 

Rusty+

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I will not work on my Patience and wait in Hope with peace.

 

I am not a textual critic, but shouldn't it read: "I will now . . ."?

 

Just one jot or title (or letter) can really change the meaning! http://www.accordancebible.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

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Laughing out loud!

Boy did I mess up.

Yep, supposed to be "now".

Thanks for the catch.

Off to edit now

 

rusty+

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