Web Documents custom layouts

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Web Documents custom layouts

Post by x-star »

I find the new implementation for Web Documents in MyInfo 4 much better than the old one from MI3, but there are a few things I think would make it even better.

Right now, when creating a new Web Document, it comes with a standard size two pane layout, with the upper pane - the Web Resource pane - occupying, by default, only a couple of lines, while the lower pane - the Notes pane - is about 6 times larger. Thus, in order to view the contents of the respective web page, first I have to manually resize the panes, enlarging the Web Resource one. Only then I am able to view the page and if needed, extract some content from it to place in the Notes pane or make some annotations etc. Hence, the first suggestion would be to make, by default, the Web Resource pane at least equal to the notes pane, if not larger; I think 3/4 for the Web Resource pane & 1/4 for the Notes pane would be the ideal default, at least for my usage scenarios. This way, since I keep the "Automatically open web resources" option checked, I would be able to directly view the newly created web document, without the additional time consuming step of manually resizing the panes. I noticed that MyInfo actually does something similar, in that after creating the first web document, it auto-resizes the panes, making them equal (1/2 each) for this document, as well as for all new ones from this point on, but it does this in a somewhat strange way, since this change only takes place after a restart of MyInfo. In other words, no matter what resizes I do to the web documents, they are lost when MyInfo is restarted, replaced by a unique 1/2 Web Resource & 1/2 Notes pane ratio. If MyInfo does this auto-resizing after a restart anyway, why not use a default 1/2 & 1/2 ratio when a web document is created?

As a second issue, there are web documents for which I would like to manually set a large Web Resource pane, the Notes pane remaining small, while for others, to set a larger Notes pane, while yet for others, to maximize either one of the panes. Unfortunately, all these per web document customizations are not possible right now. Resizing the panes in one web document applies to all web documents. Moreover, after MyInfo is restarted, all web documents are reset to the same 1/2 Web Resource + 1/2 Notes pane layout. In this context, a second suggestion would be to allow flexibility in displaying Web Documents by saving custom layouts for each of them (various screen ratios & maximized status for Web Resource/Notes panes).

Not sure if these are technically doable or even relevant for other users, but I would surely appreciate them a lot.

Best regards.
Petko
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Post by Petko »

We certainly are looking for a ways to improve the Web Resources usage in the next versions, so your suggestions are welcome! I could not say if this is technically doable yet.
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Post by x-star »

Thanks. How about the first suggestion for now? Make new Web Documents by default with a 1/2 Web Resource + 1/2 Notes layout? It's pretty close to the current implementation.
gcoulthard
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Post by gcoulthard »

I would second these suggestions. It has been a minor irritant for me also. To save the window proportions with the note's metadata would be best, but the 2/3 Web and 1/3 notes pane would also be great.

Glen
joshi
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Post by joshi »

Coming from the other perspective, I use the notes window more than I use the internal browser. So it would be nice to be able to set the notes window to maximize as a default.
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Post by x-star »

@ joshi: Well, with all due respect, I think it wouldn't be such a good idea. If you want/use the Notes pane maximized, why bother with Web Documents? You could create/use a normal document instead.

Besides, to quote myself: "a second suggestion would be to allow flexibility in displaying Web Documents by saving custom layouts for each of them (various screen ratios & maximized status for Web Resource/Notes panes)." I think this should pretty much cover your situation too, even if not "by default". But then again, this is just my opinion ;-)
joshi
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Post by joshi »

If you want/use the Notes pane maximized, why bother with Web Documents? You could create/use a normal document instead.
I use web documents so that I have a link to the website in the document tree, which for ease of access I sometimes prefer over putting the link in the document pane.
"a second suggestion would be to allow flexibility in displaying Web Documents by saving custom layouts for each of them (various screen ratios & maximized status for Web Resource/Notes panes)." I think this should pretty much cover your situation too, even if not "by default".
Setting custom layouts on a document-by-document basis, of course, would offer the most flexibility. If that's not possible, however, it would be nice if the user could set the default for how much screen space would be devoted to the web browser and/or the notes pane.
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Post by x-star »

@ Petko: to reiterate, is it at least possible, for now, to make new Web Documents by default with a 1/2 Web Resource + 1/2 Notes layout, given this is already happening after MyInfo is restarted?

Best regards.
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