Functional Page Layouts
Minor Enhancements Needed
Introduction
We are planning a major overhaul of the
functional specifications and graphical
user interface of the software. At the
present time, it takes a user about two
weeks to get up to speed learning how
the system works. It's not at all
intuitive. I would like the user
to get used to the system in minutes,
not weeks. Although we have
extensive context-sensitive help files,
they shouldn't be necessary. This system
has to encourage users and get them up
and running authoring and editing very
quickly. With Wikipedia you can edit
without even registering or logging in!
They have undo functions so that people
who want to deliberately deface the
system will be stopped in short order
because all changes can be reversed.
One of the problems with almost all
software is that it doesn't follow the
mind of the user. You're looking at a
screen with dozens of buttons and none
of them seem to do what you want them
to. The idea is to have the interface
streamlined enough so that there are not
a lot of things to distract you. For
example let's say that you want to move
something. You hit the move button and
all you see are your options for moving
and everything else is cleared out of
the way.
Fixes Needed
- Problem: I opened a new container and I do not see any subtopics or
an index available. The page is pretty much blank except that it has New
Term, New School, New Subtopic, etc. but that is all. How do I get
started?
Proposed solution: I don't think you should have to create a
container. The system should do that for you. (It doesn't now.)
You would begin by going to the Schools menu, clicking on it, whereupon a
list of schools would be presented, along with a description. A
message would say choose a school or create new. Create new would be a
link to perform that function. Each school would have an edit button
beside it.
When you click on the school name, you would see a new page titled with
the name of the school, and listing all of the terms in that school. Under
each term you would see the subjects in the term. They would be
listed in two columns such that you read down the length of the left column
and then go up to the top of the right column and read down. Each term and
subject would have an edit button beside it.
If you click on the name of a subject, a new screen appears titled with
the name of that subject. Again there would be two columns as above.
Every topic in the subject would be listed, and Subtopics would be listed
under each topic. There would be an edit icon beside each topic and
subtopic, along with the option to create a new topic or subtopic. If
you choose create new topic, a new screen would appear displaying all the
topics, allowing you to select the position into which you would insert a
new topic. Or, the original screen could be used with a system of
selecting a position of entry. This would be true for all of the categories.
Beside the subtopic would be a flashcards link. Clicking on this link
would allow you to study the flashcards in that subtopic. Beside the
flashcards link would be an edit button. Pressing this would automatically
create a container in the following format: Your
initials/school/term/subject/topic/subtopic. The display would show
the bulk editor opened up for that particular subtopic. Clicking on the
subtopic itself would bring up the flashcards for study. (The design of this
section needs work.)
To avoid an overly long name, every school, term, subject, topic, and
subtopic would be given a standard name and an abbreviated name. This
system is already in place. The abbreviated name would appear in the
breadcrumb, as it is now. Opposite the title of the container there
would be a rename button.
Any user, registered or not, would be able to write or edit. The
changed content, when saved, would appear as live on the users computer, but
not to the rest of the world. The changed content would really be
placed in a container and sent to the editing queue. If the editors
agreed that the changes were appropriate, they would make it live, or edit
it and make it live. At this point, the temporary content stored on
the server for the user would revert to what is really on the system.
The purpose of this is to emulate the system in Wikipedia in which anyone
can make changes. This gives the user positive reinforcement to do
more authoring and editing. When they have the impression that their
changes are live immediately, this serves to reward them, and yet the
safeguards are in place to prevent people from deliberately defacing the
system or making inappropriate changes.
The button "edit" should appear on the flashcard. This should bring up a
popup style menu displaying all available editing options, such as "edit
this flashcard," "edit or create flashcards in this subtopic," or "edit or
create elsewhere."
Change the edit button on the schools, years, subjects, topics, subtopics to
say EDIT instead of the current small pencil icon. It should appear to
all users, whether logged in or not.
Now, editing a tier (term, subject, topic, etc) with the edit button lets
you rename or move that tier to another tier. In the new system, clicking
the Edit button for a tier would display items in the tier below it and let
you view/rename/move/edit them.
Additionally, we would like the capability to view the entire school system
as a TREE view similar to Explorer in windows. The current method of editing
goes UP the tree, which is awkward. Hovering over an item on the tree would
select it; left clicking it would open a context menu with possible actions
such as Move Up/Down, Rename, Edit, or delete. There would be a tool
bar across the top of the screen that would allow you to move items up or
down as well as the other edit functions. The schools would be listed
alphabetically, while all other items would be listed in the order
designated. Flashcards would not be displayed in the tree view.
Clicking on a subtopic would bring up a new screen similar to the browse
window with all of the flashcards displayed. There would be an edit
button beside each flashcard in the list as there is now, and there would be
a toolbar across the top to allow you to move, insert, or delete a selected
flashcard.