Beta 2 Priorities

[mikelove]

So it's been slightly less than a day and we seem to have fixed the 3 or 4 can't-use-the-software-at-all problems that have come up with Beta 1, which means that now it's time to turn our attention to Beta 2. It should be out in about 3 weeks, and pretty much the sole focus of it is on bug-fixing; that and filling in some of the more troublesome missing features, like hardware button input.

So my question in this thread is: which 2 or 3 (or 4 or 5, but try to keep it reasonable) things would you most like to see fixed / re-enabled in the second beta version?

 

[weight]

Some of us I'm sure are looking forward to using 2.0's flashcards on a daily basis. Am I right in saying that it looks like your going to wait until the finished product and possibly 4 months or more until we have the ability to import our card ranks and history into some final version? If so, getting the flashcard database to where you want it (and where I can get my flashcards in and out of it) would be the number one priority for me.

 

[gato]

I would recommend giving a priority to the features that already existed on 1.03, that is, making the dictionary search and flashcards as functional as they were in 1.03. The new features can wait until these basic features are stabilized.

 

[ipsi]

1) Speed up the Palm Version
2) Make searching work
3) Make possible full-screen character input
4) Fixing of flashcard testing modules (i.e. tone-related ones where the tone doesn't currently appear (making it rather hard to answer correctly!))
5) Enabling all menu/preference items.

That's a rough order of what I want done most/first

 

[gandq]

I second gato's suggestion.


jo.

 

[johnh113]

Dear Mike,

I also agree with Gato. Stability with regard to Pleco 1.03 features and the ability to use my flashcards are top priority for me. I spend 99% of my Pleco time in flashcards. New features can wait until we get back to where we were with Pleco 1.03. Thanks for all the hard work. Looking forward to Beta 2.

John

 

[Gottfried2903]

Some of us I'm sure are looking forward to using 2.0's flashcards on a daily basis. Am I right in saying that it looks like your going to wait until the finished product and possibly 4 months or more until we have the ability to import our card ranks and history into some final version? If so, getting the flashcard database to where you want it (and where I can get my flashcards in and out of it) would be the number one priority for me.

I support him STRONGLY in that point!

Flashcards are priority #1 for me.

Keep everything the same but add the flashcard sessions and tests.

P.S. PLZ someone tell me how to add (except simply to use a graphic) to get the nice chinese characters next to your name.

 

[Sarevok]

Some of us I'm sure are looking forward to using 2.0's flashcards on a daily basis. Am I right in saying that it looks like your going to wait until the finished product and possibly 4 months or more until we have the ability to import our card ranks and history into some final version? If so, getting the flashcard database to where you want it (and where I can get my flashcards in and out of it) would be the number one priority for me.

As a total flashcards-freak, I second this one...

P.S. PLZ someone tell me how to add (except simply to use a graphic) to get the nice chinese characters next to your name.

They represent your "rank" on the forums and are corresponding to 科举 "levels" (that traditional civil service examination system in ancient China), 秀才 being the lowest (you get that after writing 10 posts I think) and 状元 the highest... I believe 皇帝 is impossible for us mere mortals :mrgreen:

 

[hairyleprechaun]

I also agree with Gato.

Flashcards
Stability
All 1.03 features

New features should come later.

 

[sfrrr]

Since I'm one of those Yahoos who don't use flashcards for much of anything, my priorities are different. Except for the stability one, which I assume everyone wants--and that's why we're beta-testing, folks.

1. All dictionaries work.
2. User dictionaries work as flawlessly as a computer can work.
3. Audio files work.
4. stroke order (although that's rarely something I would use, but it should be enormously helpful to newbies).
5. For flashcard fans, ability to import sets from PD 1x without having to edit or mess with each record.

Basically, I want the moon and the Mona Lisa, like I do at the beginning of any beta-test. By the end of testing, all I'll want is to get the thing finished and out the door.

Sandra

 

[Alexis]

My votes are for:

1) Make searching work.
2) Make that menu options/preferences do not mess up the interface.

 

[cming]

I agree with Hairyleprechaun and Gato:

1. Flashcards
2. Stability
3. All 1.03 features

Did I mention that flashcards should be No.1?

 

[sfrrr]

I think I'm missing something here. This is a beta that we're testing, no? Mike's asking us for priorities. However, I guarantee you that stability is already Mike's top priority. I took his question to mean what's the most important feature he should concentrate on--i.e. if time were running out and you could have only one feature fully implemented, what would it be. For many of you, that feature is flashcards. For me, working audio files is probably my top priority. In fasct, I'm sorry that I lost track of what my fingers were typing. It goes without saying that all of the dictionaries and ways of accessing will work. Also, searching is another given because this program centers around it.

This is not an advanced beta, where almost everything should be working. This is such an early beta that it would probably would have been called an alpha in the old days. When testing at this stage, expect nothing to work and everything to crash. Our job, as I see it, is to try to break this beta--find out what doesn't work on which machines or during what actions.

FWIW.

Sandra

 

[mikelove]

sfrrr is right, this is essentially an alpha release in computer industry parlance, in fact if more people knew what an alpha was we probably would have called it that. As is 'beta' seemed like a better bet, 'alpha' might ironically have inspired more people to install / be frustrated by this first release since they wouldn't necessarily understand what alpha meant.

So yes, stability is indeed the top priority, and right up with that is getting the most essential dictionary functionality (i.e., search and input) working correctly. The question is what else to work on beyond that, and it seems like as far as non-dictionary-related stuff, flashcards are definitely getting the most support. Beta 2 most definitely will not have a 1.0-to-2.0 converter, though, and the format likely still won't be stabilized yet either, so as far as migrating to 2.0's flashcards you're not going to be able to do that until Beta 3 at least, which I imagine lessens some people's enthusiasm for that feature.

Is anyone else besides sfrrr experiencing problems with audio on Pocket PC? We're still not very clear on that bug... (this question should probably be put in one of the bug-reporting threads)

Since the Palm OS ARM speed optimizations are probably the biggest potential source of new issues among the things we haven't implemented yet, those are one of the things we're going to work on first; we really want to make sure that code is nice and stable and has been out for a while before the finished release. Pocket PC font optimization is right up there too; we actually have an HTC Hermes on order so once that arrives we'll definitely be taking a look at that problem. So hopefully in Beta 2 we'll have fixed the two big speed issues, gotten search / input to be nice and stable, and cleaned up flashcards at least enough so that you could for example add a few hundred single-character words and start pounding away on stroke order, or add the first level or two of HSK and pound away on your Pinyin tones, even if you're not yet able to switch over to 2.0 flashcards exclusively.

 

[gato]

Given that you only have three weeks before the next release, it may be a challenge to stabilize even the basic features (i.e. those that existed on 1.03).

In terms of search and flashcards, hopefully these problems can be resolved to get to a 1.03 level of functionality:
- Handwriting-recognition based search currently doesn't work at all
- Regular-size font headword (instead of the currently large)
- Add to flashcard feature
- Flashcard import from regular textfiles

If you have more time, I would be interested in getting the following addressed:
- file browser for flashcard import/export and for the reader
- Reader seems to have a problem reading larger files (larger than 50KB?)
- full-screen mode for the reader (in which the dictionary entry is only visible when a word is highlighted)

 

[Fleminator]

Glad to hear a top priority is getting the speed of Palm optimized. That's my number 1.

Is "Using the ABC dictionary in both 2.0 and 1.1 without having to reinstall" a feasible priority. I would be using 2.0 for all my daily needs EXCEPT flash-cards (the other big priority) if I could get the ABC on both without having to reinstall everytime...there may be license issue there, though. Right now, the beta doesn't get as much attention as it would if it would just a hair beefed up (though still buggy, of course.)

 

[ipsi]

Yeah, I'm really keen on getting the Palm Speed up too. It's the one thing that's really stopping me from using this dictionary a lot more than I really should.

Fleminator: I've posted (in the bugs thread, I think) about that, and Mike just said to put the ABC dictionary in a different folder on the SD card (if you don't have an SD Card, you're a bit screwed), and I can use all my dictionaries (ABC, OX, NWP, C&S) in both 1.3 and 2.0B1. Have a look, should be in there somewhere.

 

[mikelove]

gato - I think I asked this in another thread, but are you sure Add to Flash isn't working? If you go to Manage Cards and do an obvious search like "created > 1/1/07" does that bring up any cards or does it still give you a blank list? Handwriting search and headword magnification should definitely be addressed in Beta 2, and probably text-based imports as well.

File browsing and document reading are relatively low on the priority list for this beta, since unlike flashcards people aren't already accustomed to using the reader and hence aren't feeling its absence quite so much, but we've already designed the interface for a fullscreen mode for the reader so that should definitely be in the finished version. (and feel free to remind us of it loudly if it's still missing in the first release candidate)

 

[gato]

I think I asked this in another thread, but are you sure Add to Flash isn't working? If you go to Manage Cards and do an obvious search like "created > 1/1/07" does that bring up any cards or does it still give you a blank list?

My mistake. It does work. I think I was repeating what someone else reported in another thread.

I hope file browsing can be implemented by the time of the final release. All the other readers I've tried have a file browser of some sort. It's awkward to have to type in the file names. One probably would need to exit PlecoDict and open up a file browser to find out what the exact file name is.

 

[mikelove]

Well there might be some kind of minimal file browser, but honestly on Palm very few people even know how to put non-PDB files on their memory cards, so adding the ability to dig up a text file buried in a subdirectory somewhere isn't really a big priority - as long as you can download a PalmDoc or PlecoDoc file, HotSync it over to your Palm, and see it listed in the reader load screen I think that's really all most of our customers would need. We're really not aiming to match TealDoc et al in this first release, we just want to put out a serviceable text reader that'll do some interesting stuff with Chinese lookups and keep people from missing Instant Access too much.