Away/Idle in 0.82

[danielsh]

Okay, I know I've been bitching about the away/idle system a lot, but I'd just like to make a case for some changes in 0.82. I'll try to be brief.

The away message box has to have some way of editing saved messages, like the original version did. Most of my saved away messages are quotations, song lyrics, or something like that; I normally add a little note to them, like "Out" or "Be right back." Pre-0.80, this took 3 steps: Command-Y, choose a quotation, type a message, hit okay. Post-0.80, it takes 4: choose a saved message, Command-Option-Y to edit it, add what I need, hit okay. I know it's not a HUGE difference, but it just seems like a pain in the ass. I think it adds clicks unnecessarily, when the "Custom Status" window could easily be outfitted with a saved message selector.

I still don't think the idle system should be linked to the custom status window. I like to change my away message while remaining idle, to change my idle status while remaining away, to appear idle ten minutes after I go away (which is the proper AIM behavior), etc.

The new away/idle systems are, in a word, unintuitive. A few people have said that they find Adium more difficult to use now, but no one has argued that their user experience has been improved by the changes. Since it's aggravating some users and offering no benefits in return, doesn't it make sense to fix some of these problems?

Thanks for listening!

[Adam Iser]

Okay, I know I've been bitching about the away/idle system a lot, but I'd just like to make a case for some changes in 0.82. I'll try to be brief.

The away message box has to have some way of editing saved messages, like the original version did. Most of my saved away messages are quotations, song lyrics, or something like that; I normally add a little note to them, like "Out" or "Be right back." Pre-0.80, this took 3 steps: Command-Y, choose a quotation, type a message, hit okay. Post-0.80, it takes 4: choose a saved message, Command-Option-Y to edit it, add what I need, hit okay. I know it's not a HUGE difference, but it just seems like a pain in the ass. I think it adds clicks unnecessarily, when the "Custom Status" window could easily be outfitted with a saved message selector.

Adium -> Preferences, click on the "status" pane.

I still don't think the idle system should be linked to the custom status window. I like to change my away message while remaining idle, to change my idle status while remaining away, to appear idle ten minutes after I go away (which is the proper AIM behavior), etc.

You're really not supposed to be manipulating your idle time manually in the first place...

The new away/idle systems are, in a word, unintuitive. A few people have said that they find Adium more difficult to use now, but no one has argued that their user experience has been improved by the changes. Since it's aggravating some users and offering no benefits in return, doesn't it make sense to fix some of these problems?

People are just stubborn and like to complain. The state system is not harder to use.

[FredAkbar]

Adium -> Preferences, click on the "status" pane.

I think he meant changing them on the fly, just for that specific time, not permanently changing the saved message. For example, you could have a saved away that says "out to lunch," then you could select that away, add "...be back at 1," then set it; this is what danielsh was requesting, I believe.

[evands]

The new away/idle systems are, in a word, unintuitive. A few people have said that they find Adium more difficult to use now, but no one has argued that their user experience has been improved by the changes. Since it's aggravating some users and offering no benefits in return

No benefits? Support for all status states, including Available messages and Invisibility state, was one of our top four requests before 0.80. Two of the other three were a file transfer UI and blocking, which were also implemented, for those keeping score at home. Support for different statuses for different accounts, also a common request. Expanded usability of the duck icon in the menu bar ("EMD") for setting status, á la iChat? Also solved by the new system. Control over autoresponses being sent or not sent? Done. Customization of the fast user switching away message? Done.

[shadowsofthesun]

You're really not supposed to be manipulating your idle time manually in the first place...

Then why is custom idle time a feature?

People are just stubborn and like to complain. The state system is not harder to use.

Not to be an a**hole, but who are you to tell us what's easy and what's not? I realize you're an admin and a lead developer, so you have a great ammount of control over this. If Microsoft told us that their product is the most secure OS on the market, doesn't mean we have to think so. As far as I can tell, though, the new system of setting aways isn't any more difficult to use (at least as of .81)

What I'm getting at is: We like the newly added features and appreciate all the work put into them, but completely ignoring user feedback seems kind of stupid. If there's a large majority of people requesting a change in UI, it seems like it should be implemented if it's not too much work or difficulty.

One small request: Can we get the "OK" button in setting Away messages set to default so that an "Enter" or "Return" will select it?

[FredAkbar]

One small request: Can we get the "OK" button in setting Away messages set to default so that an "Enter" or "Return" will select it?

No, because then it'd be harder to make a carriage return in your away message (you'd have to hit Option-return).

[Adam Iser]

You're really not supposed to be manipulating your idle time manually in the first place...

Then why is custom idle time a feature?

Because it was there in version 0.7 and why did you remove it it was such a good feature and I used it all the time please put it back 0.7 was such a better release I hate the direction you guys are taking adium you're doing a horrible job removing features that I use and not adding anything new.

People are just stubborn and like to complain. The state system is not harder to use.

Not to be an a**hole, but who are you to tell us what's easy and what's not? I realize you're an admin and a lead developer, so you have a great ammount of control over this. If Microsoft told us that their product is the most secure OS on the market, doesn't mean we have to think so. As far as I can tell, though, the new system of setting aways isn't any more difficult to use (at least as of .81)

And who is danielsh to tell us what's hard to use? And who are you to tell us what isn't any more difficult to use? I'm stating my opinion, just as danielsh did, and just as you did in the paragraph above where you were going off on me about how I stated my opinion.

What I'm getting at is: We like the newly added features and appreciate all the work put into them, but completely ignoring user feedback seems kind of stupid. If there's a large majority of people requesting a change in UI, it seems like it should be implemented if it's not too much work or difficulty.

Look, alright. What the hell is with you guys and saying this? We are not completely ignoring user feedback. There is not a large majority of people requesting a change in UI. Why does this bullshit get posted in every thread around here even if it's not the subject at hand?

[Adam Iser]

A few people have said that they find Adium more difficult to use now, but no one has argued that their user experience has been improved by the changes.

That's because the people who enjoy the changes (which is the vast majority, by the way) have no reason to come to the forum and complain.

[Wengero]

A few people have said that they find Adium more difficult to use now, but no one has argued that their user experience has been improved by the changes.

That's because the people who enjoy the changes (which is the vast majority, by the way) have no reason to come to the forum and complain.

instead they go to macupdate and write great reviews
i went threw all the .8 reviews and not one person had a bad complaint about the new system(just a few complaints about problems fixed in .81), all good things to say about it
and heres some good reviews from version tracker(nothing bad about status) http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/morei ... e=feedback

[CASSIDY]

the idle time custamization setup is prefect, i think its cool wen someone has been idle for longer then they have actually been online haha

[JediL1]

The one gripe I have about the status/idle system is that after setting an away message with custom idle it's impossible toremove the idle without coming back from being away.

You set an away message with a custom idle (let's say 10 minutes), you come back an hour later but you cannot remove the idle while keeping the away message without coming back from being away.

One of the consequences of the change to removing the "set idle" and "remove idle" is this unrealistic behavior.

[ofri]

The one gripe I have about the status/idle system is that it's impossible to be away and removing idle after setting a custom idle.

You set an away message with a custom idle (let's say 10 minutes), you come back an hour later but you cannot remove the idle while keeping the away message without coming back from being away.

One of the consequences of the change to removing the "set idle" and "remove idle" is this unrealistic behavior.

What about selecting "Custome..." from the menu again and disabling the "Appear idle immediately" option?

[JediL1]

Ah, ok. Didn't realize that. Cool, thanks.

[The_Tick]

ADIUM ATE MAI BABIES!

[twopeak]

I like the new away/idle system!

A thing I would personally not regret to see is that this little floating window offers more features (now it only shows the state, but it could set the state, set away messages and so on)
Buuuuut, as I understood from more than this topic, this is a choice you make, and if I wouldlike it differently, I'll have to learn to program (like MBHockey and his metal-Adium)

[evilpenguin]

I just upgraded from .7 and I'm amazed at how much adium has evovled in such a short time. Great work adium devs.

But I do have to agree with the original poster on one of his points. My away messages are just a huge list of movie/TV/book quotes. When I go somewhere I pick a relevant quote and update the text below it. In .7 I vaguly remember only having to pick "custum away message" then in the box i'd have a drop down box of all my saved messages. I'd pick the one I wanted to edit, adium would fill the text box with the away message, I would add my text to the end, and then I would click 'away'.

So I guess my feature request is a nice drop down box in the "custum status" window that would let me select one of my saved away messages to autofill the textbox so I could edit it and set it with the option of also saving it.

Does that make sense? If not i'm sure someone else could explain it better.

[OmniGeno]

One small request: Can we get the "OK" button in setting Away messages set to default so that an "Enter" or "Return" will select it?

No, because then it'd be harder to make a carriage return in your away message (you'd have to hit Option-return).

Sorry, short on time, didn't read the whole thread, but I have a suggestion.

If you have your prefs set so that it will "Send on Enter" (Prefs>General), while you're editing your status/away msg, you can select OK simply by pressing Enter. This has been implemented again starting in 0.81 -- it was temporarily missing from 0.80.

[racheli]

I don't have too many complaints about the new away/idle system (I rarely used the custom idle, not to say that others didn't, but I always felt like I was cheating). I do agree with the original poster that it was nice to be able to customize a saved away message. My only other requests:

-Can the "Custom..." away message option be put up top? I have more away messages than fit on one screen when I click on the Status menu, which means that I have to scroll through all my messages to reach "Custom..." It's not a huge deal (takes only a few seconds more) but it would be nice to have that one at the top, since I use it the most often. Plus all my other away messages are "ranked" in order of how often I use them.

-Can the floating status box be made to go behind the chat window, rather than remaining in front of it? I like to have it centered on my screen, and it wasn't a problem before because if someone IMed me and I wanted to keep the away message up, I could just click on the chat window and the away window would disappear behind it. Now it stays floating on top of the chat window, and it makes me a little sad. 8)

[OmniGeno]

-Can the "Custom..." away message option be put up top? I have more away messages than fit on one screen when I click on the Status menu, which means that I have to scroll through all my messages to reach "Custom..." It's not a huge deal (takes only a few seconds more) but it would be nice to have that one at the top, since I use it the most often. Plus all my other away messages are "ranked" in order of how often I use them.

Memorize the key combo cmd-opt-Y. Press this when you want to bring up the Custom... status window. It's faster than scrolling to the bottom of the menu to get to it. Key combos are faster in general with whatever you're doing in any application.

-Can the floating status box be made to go behind the chat window, rather than remaining in front of it? I like to have it centered on my screen, and it wasn't a problem before because if someone IMed me and I wanted to keep the away message up, I could just click on the chat window and the away window would disappear behind it. Now it stays floating on top of the chat window, and it makes me a little sad. 8)

I don't really have a problem with this one, but I guess it would be nice to address this issue for an upcoming release. I tend to place the status window north of my buddy list, and so when the list gets long enough (it grows upwards due to the awesome auto-resize feature) part of it is covered by the status window. I usually just move the status window somewhere else when that happens though.

[racheli]

Memorize the key combo cmd-opt-Y. Press this when you want to bring up the Custom... status window. It's faster than scrolling to the bottom of the menu to get to it. Key combos are faster in general with whatever you're doing in any application.

I believe you mean Command-Y.

I don't really have a problem with this one, but I guess it would be nice to address this issue for an upcoming release. I tend to place the status window north of my buddy list, and so when the list gets long enough (it grows upwards due to the awesome auto-resize feature) part of it is covered by the status window. I usually just move the status window somewhere else when that happens though.

What can I say - I'm a creature of habit. I've always had my away message in the center, my buddy list on the right. Currently the away message window is just south of the chat window (so they don't overlap), but that just feels very odd. I think in general, it should be able to go behind the chat window, just in case there are others out there like me who must have their away message centered on the screen. Heh!