Suggestions for CoffeeCup Visual Site...

User 2420709 Photo


Registered User
5 posts

One thing which I would like to see in a future update is the ability to select which pages are built during save. This becomes an issue when you have a large number of pages and you modify just one. It takes a long time to save (as it builds the whole site) and more importantly if you edit any pages with a different editor it will rebuild the page back to the VSD design. It would be nice if when saving only opened or modified pages are saved/built.

Another minor point is to include a predesigned © line that can be modified on all pages (like the Edit keyword and description) as it becomes a nightmare to update the copyright notice with 300+ pages.
User 1941372 Photo


Registered User
92 posts

On the Gradient Designer tool:

First of all, wonderful innovation to split the color sliders into left color and right color! Love that!! BUT, doing that also adds a level of annoyance: what if I want the same color on both sides? I have to adjust each one separately and remember where I slid the slider to (in the Color Selector window).

How about adding a "lock" that would lock the two colors together (so it behaves like a standard color slider). There could be a little Lock icon next to the Closer icon.
When we look at the things around us, we only see them as they were in the past. We really have no perception of reality, at all!
User 2256123 Photo


Registered User
32 posts

Hey Carmel, if you think a standard (c) notice would be cool, think what Master Pages could mean. You could standardize ANYTHING across pages. (All pages or groups of pages depending how it was implemented.) But on April 25th, Scott said VSD would never have Master Pages. I bet if enough people ask, or express interest in a VSD Pro version, we can change his mind. It's only software after all, so anything is possible given money and time. ;)
User 1941372 Photo


Registered User
92 posts

On the Fill Properties tool:

Please add a way to snap to (or easily select) standard angles such as horizontal and vertical. It's a bit tedious to have to spin that little orientation widget whenever I want to merely change horizontal to vertical (and vice versa).

You could add a couple more radiobuttons (Horiz, Vert) and a reverse checkbox, or how about making so when the Shift key is held down, it jumps to the 45 degree increments (0 based).

When we look at the things around us, we only see them as they were in the past. We really have no perception of reality, at all!
User 1941372 Photo


Registered User
92 posts

Hi,

I mentioned this before, but I'm seeing more permutations of the problem:
    * The Object Properties window was open, yet the Fill toolbar button was shown as pressed. I clicked on the Fill toolbar button and the Object Properties window was replaced by the Fill Properties window (i.e. that synced the toolbar with the appropriate window)
    * Then I closed the Fill properties window and the Fill toolbar button was still shown as pressed!

When we look at the things around us, we only see them as they were in the past. We really have no perception of reality, at all!
User 1941372 Photo


Registered User
92 posts

When using the Gradient tool in the Fill Properties window, it would be great if there was a preview, or if the object updated whenever the gradient was changed while using the Gradient tool (so there is an interactive update providing immediate feedback). As it is no, one has to guess at what it will look like.

Even more colossal would be a split window showing before and after!
When we look at the things around us, we only see them as they were in the past. We really have no perception of reality, at all!
User 1941372 Photo


Registered User
92 posts

Just noticed that not only does triple-click not work, double-click doesn't even work in a text object. Normally, in an object where text can be edited, it possible to double-click to select a work and triple-click to select all of the text.

This is extra annoying because it's difficult, sometimes, to click-drag select all of the characters. There is a tussle between the sizing context and the selection context when using the mouse-pointer at the edge of the text object. This tussle makes it difficult (and in my case, impossible, to click-drag-select the edge character when clicking and dragging from the right to the left. I can do it from the left-to-right, but now that's yet another quirk I have to remember when using this software!

Please add these standard double-click and triple-click actions.
When we look at the things around us, we only see them as they were in the past. We really have no perception of reality, at all!
User 1941372 Photo


Registered User
92 posts

When selecting fonts, it would be really cool if the generic family fonts were at the top (e.g. serif, sans-serif, monospace, cursive, fantasy)

And even more SUPER cool would be if the fonts could be grouped into platform specific, like Helvetica for Mac and Arial for MS Windows, etc. But then, for this to have any credence, you would also have to adopt one of my other suggestions: make it possible to designate more than one font (using the visual interface alone). It also, might be necessary to include these fonts with the VSD package (i.e. have installer also install fonts that are used on these different platforms, if they aren't already present on the Users system.
When we look at the things around us, we only see them as they were in the past. We really have no perception of reality, at all!
User 1941372 Photo


Registered User
92 posts

So, I'm messing with your Insert HTML object and right off the bat I encountered a rather non-intuitive behavior: I wanted to access it's properties, so I attempted to follow the paradigm that your software trained into me: click on a object and look for the correct Properties window. So I scanned the toolbar -- nothing, then I right-clicked and looked through the popup menu -- nothing! Hmmm, where could it be...ah, maybe if I double click -- bingo!

In a User Interface, it's important to keep your paradigms consistent! BUT, if you adopt my earlier suggestion of having the Properties window morph to accommodate the type of object selected, then there would be no need to hunt for the proper Properties window--and the paradigms would automatically be handled.

In my case, clicking on the Insert HTML object would have morphed the Properties window into an Insert HTML object Properties window -- easy-cheesy and very nice for the User! [Well, maybe not easy for your developers, but that's the whole point of a Visual tool, to hide the complexity from the User!]
When we look at the things around us, we only see them as they were in the past. We really have no perception of reality, at all!
User 1941372 Photo


Registered User
92 posts

I'm having some trouble getting the Add Files tool to put the files where I want them. The top most folder shown is called "{Root}". What is it that you are calling Root?

It would really help if there was a way to peek into the "black box" a little. Like, maybe a right-click reveal of the full path of "Root" -- could be the URL, etc.
When we look at the things around us, we only see them as they were in the past. We really have no perception of reality, at all!

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