Hate the BW8 layout, and can't change it!

[rmclaughlin]

I've been using BW since 3.5 and I have always had my text and analysis on the left and my command line and search results on the right. I can't find a way to make this happen in BW8. Plus, I can't find a way to put my command line below the search results. I'm extremely unhappy about this!

I use BW *every day.* This completely changes the way I personally interface with the data. My habits of use I have drilled into my head over the past 11 years. Why take away this option? I have been SO frustrated by this! I'm giving myself headaches because I am constantly looking at the wrong part of the screen, and then having to reorient myself. BW used to be the first reference I checked, but now avoid it like the plague.

Plus, customer support has never returned my phone calls or emails. My loyalty is wavering. And where my loyalty goes, my department's budget is soon to follow.

[MBushell]

Over the years we have constantly tried to improve the user interface. The problem that we have run into from day one is that any changes whatsoever are going to be opposed by some people. We were faced with permanently freezing the interface and never making any improvements - or attempting improvements and hoping people would give the changes an honest try before jumping ship. For a long time when we made interface changes we tried to provide options to revert back to previous configurations. At a certain point this just became impossible to support. Any modifications had implications for an endless array of different configurations. We felt that changes were needed because people tend to have more screen real estate. The old two column configuration made sense when a lot of people had 800x600 displays. Those have almost completely disappeared now. We believe that the three column layout is more intuitive and makes a better use of screen real estate. Of course some people will disagree. I hope that you will take the time to let the new interface get broken in before you give up on us.

I apologize for the tardy tech support. No small company like us can keep sufficient permanent staff to handle the work load during a release. We have to keep the number of people on board that are necessary to handle the normal flow of business during the 90% of the time when there are no workload surges. They are getting caught up but there are limits to what they can do. We don't encourage overtime because we want people home with their families. But they are working as hard as they can to get caught up on e-mails. Please hang with us a bit longer. Of course if you want to return BW8 and/or take your budget with your organization with you, you can have the usual no-questions-asked refund. We really don't want a single penny from anyone who doesn't think we are worth it.

God bless,
Mike

[Don Johnson]

We felt that changes were needed because people tend to have more screen real estate. The old two column configuration made sense when a lot of people had 800x600 displays. Those have almost completely disappeared now. We believe that the three column layout is more intuitive and makes a better use of screen real estate. Of course some people will disagree. I hope that you will take the time to let the new interface get broken in before you give up on us.

mike,

I am not quite as disappointed in the changes, but I'd like to point out why I like a two column look with the search on the right.

First, as I said in an earlier post, the eye, according to advertising people I have talked to, goes naturally to the upper left of a page. I think this is true of a window on a computer also. So I would rather be looking first at the text I am studying.

But probably more important to me, as I have been working with Version 8, is that I mostly use BW on my laptop, 15 inch screen. I have Word open on the left (I print out on 8.5 x 5.5 for sermons) and BW on the right. This allows me to look back and forth quite easily while studying.

In version 8, I have found that even with the analysis window under the browse window and a two column setup, the new interface just doesn't work as well.

So... I have gone to running BW maximized and just doing the alt-tab thing back and forth to Word. Not quite as good, but it works.

I actually haven't even installed BW 8 on my desktop yet...

All in all, I like some of the new features quite well, but on this interface thing just wanted to point out that some of us use more screen real estate for more stuff... not just for one program.

[ingosorke]

And I thought I was the only one . . .

The layout of a program here is less about dynamic workflow (which could be assumed to be left to right) than static result display. In that sense, the slogan "Focus on the Text" was realized more naturally with the Browse Window on the left and the Command Line on the right.

That would be interesting to actually measure: eye pausation and movement based on display layout . . .

Difficult children we are, aren't we.

Ingo

[MBushell]

And I thought I was the only one . . .

The layout of a program here is less about dynamic workflow (which could be assumed to be left to right) than static result display. In that sense, the slogan "Focus on the Text" was realized more naturally with the Browse Window on the left and the Command Line on the right.

That would be interesting to actually measure: eye pausation and movement based on display layout . . .

Difficult children we are, aren't we.

Ingo

The three column layout was actually suggested by someone else in the company. I resisted it for a long time, for the very reasons cited here. But I later came to see that I was wrong. With the facelift on the former Analysis Window (with more tabs and more functionality) two columns simply doesn't allow enough room for the new features to work well. The change had to be made and I actually like it a lot now. I know that people don't like change. In a busy schedule, the less unnecessary change the better. But we felt these changes were necessary given the new features and the space that they require for acceptable functonality. I am truly sorry that some people don't like the changes, but there is no going back at this point. We couldn't even if we wanted to. I will be interested to see what people think in a few months.

[pocketscholar]

mike,

All in all, I like some of the new features quite well, but on this interface thing just wanted to point out that some of us use more screen real estate for more stuff... not just for one program.

Don,

I would seriously consider investing in a second monitor. It makes working with two applications really nice.

Jamie

[rmclaughlin]

Mike,

First, I'm not complaining about the number of columns or the real estate. I am complaining about the inflexibility of the relative position of the columns, and the inflexibility of the stacking order of the fields in the search/results column.

Second, I appreciate that BW experiences heavier customer service demands when you release new products. However, when BW doesn't acknowledge emails and phone calls it has received, it can be very frustrating for users. It has been weeks since I first contacted customer support, and I have still never heard a single word from them -- even if only to tell me that they were behind and would get to it eventually.

I am disappointed that BW no longer offers the features I have come to rely on and to expect. I hope that BW will restore this functionality in future releases. Incidentally, if you are tallying votes for which features to include, please count mine 12 times (that's how many licenses I have).

[ingosorke]

Thanks for your response, Mike; I'm giving it a try. Hang in there, things will calm down.

[Don Johnson]

Don,

I would seriously consider investing in a second monitor. It makes working with two applications really nice.

Jamie

True enough, but not too practical on my laptop!!

I think I could adjust to the change better if the search window had been hard-wired to the right hand side!

[SCSaunders]

The three column layout .... I resisted it for a long time, for the very reasons cited here. But I later came to see that I was wrong the light.

My dilemma: I don't like change, but I love improving. I can't improve without making change. I don't see this as a "lesser of two evils," but a conflict of "two irreconcilable goods."

I didn't like the new layout initially because I don't like "forced" change, but I'm conflicted. I'm a "tweaker." I love to - at least attempt to - improve. So in the prior version, being able to switch back and forth, "tweaking" back and forth, I came to like the 3 column view. For me at least, it became an improvement. We've even celebrated a few anniversaries together, reminiscing about how our courtship didn't start out all that smooth. My feeling in the beginning was, you may have a great personality, but I've got work to do. Sunday comes every three days.

Anyways, my .02 cents, which in today's economy means I owe everyone who read my post a "Grand Slam" breakfast at Denny's.