PLC Newlines / Entry Layout In General

[pprendeville]

Plus 1 on Tuttles layout. Its my dictionary of choice at the since getting to know Pleco. Perhaps smaller line spacing as already mentioned or include more example sentences to fill all that white space.. I also prefer to see the character in the sentence instead of the squiggly line just for reinforcement. I guess the squiggly line allows you to reference it's sentence position quickly. Would like to see this as optional.

 

[mikelove]

Umm, I'd still prefer less white spacing... Make it slightly separated, but not as much as it is right now. And making it an option to move pinyin next to the characters etc. would be nice.

Ah, that clarifies it, thanks. (wasn't sure from your "accustomed" comment)

Plus 1 on Tuttles layout. Its my dictionary of choice at the since getting to know Pleco. Perhaps smaller line spacing as already mentioned or include more example sentences to fill all that white space.. I also prefer to see the character in the sentence instead of the squiggly line just for reinforcement. I guess the squiggly line allows you to reference it's sentence position quickly. Would like to see this as optional.

The squiggly line can be replaced in PLC at least (and soon all of our dictionaries) - Settings / Dictionary / Entry Display / Replace head with ~ (turn it off).

 

[insighter]

I have a mixed view on the extra white spaces. On one hand for very short dictionary entries the spacing is overkill. On the the other hand I do in fact like the spacing for longer entries where the example sentence and definition take up multiple spaces. Not sure at exactly what point it becomes visually appealing, butI'd say it also has to do with how far the text extends to the right margin (full lines needing spacing while mostly empty ones with a two or three characters don't need much). I'm not opposed to any spacings, but the shorter entries just need some tweeking, like for example what goldyn chyld said about the ~ examples.

 

[mikelove]

I have a mixed view on the extra white spaces. On one hand for very short dictionary entries the spacing is overkill. On the the other hand I do in fact like the spacing for longer entries where the example sentence and definition take up multiple spaces. Not sure at exactly what point it becomes visually appealing, butI'd say it also has to do with how far the text extends to the right margin (full lines needing spacing while mostly empty ones with a two or three characters don't need much). I'm not opposed to any spacings, but the shorter entries just need some tweeking, like for example what goldyn chyld said about the ~ examples.

Hmm... well we certainly could do that coding-wise, but I'm nervous about something that makes the formatting of entries seem to vary arbitrarily based on how long they are; it seems to me like it really ought to be consistent. So we really just need a better way to separate examples without spacing...

How about a small shift in the background color / slight border line around a block of examples? They'd use up less space, but this would make them instantly stand out, and make it visually easier to separate them from definitions and scroll past them.

 

[insighter]

How about a small shift in the background color / slight border line around a block of examples? They'd use up less space, but this would make them instantly stand out, and make it visually easier to separate them from definitions and scroll past them.

I'm bad at visualizing design layouts, but I'm sure that if you came up with some examples as part of a poll you could get some feedback. However as we have pre and post update spacing options available this isn't particularly important for me; I'm much more interested in the improvement in flash card options, character breakdowns, and things of that nature.

 

[mikelove]

I'm bad at visualizing design layouts, but I'm sure that if you came up with some examples as part of a poll you could get some feedback. However as we have pre and post update spacing options available this isn't particularly important for me; I'm much more interested in the improvement in flash card options, character breakdowns, and things of that nature.

Sure, but we have to strike a balance in what we work on - there are a lot of users (including probably the vast majority of people posting here) who want us to focus all of our energy on adding new features and options, but there are also people who find even the current selection of those overwhelming and just want everything to be easier to use and nicer looking. Some things (like our massive search engine overhaul) benefit both groups, but lots of others primarily benefit one group or the other, and particularly given how slow progress has been on iOS over the past year (while we focused most of our energy on Android) we really need to make it clear to everyone that things are moving again.

 

[ben_gb]

The layout is an improvement for when you're looking up dictionary entries, though maybe a *little* less white space would be better.

However, one area I find the new layout to be a problem is in the Flashcards. Often there is only enough space for the first 1 or 2 entries of a multi-definition word/character to be displayed (depending on the number of examples).
I'm specifically referring to when testing by showing the english definition, and then having to guess the chinese.

One idea to help with this might be to have an option in the Flashcards so that when you are being tested, you can set it to show "Defn Only" on the question screen, but when the answer is displayed, it switches to the "Show All" or "No Xrefs" mode.
Or, on the answer screen have a button to expand the card to see the full entry (assuming you've got it set to "Defn Only" in the settings).

By the way, I have noticed that on a lot of flashcards, since the white-spacing update, the Pinyin is being shown in the examples (highlighted in blue), on the test/question screen. This only seems to happen with the PLC dictionary. (Again when doing English to Chinese testing).

Regards,
Ben

 

[mikelove]

However, one area I find the new layout to be a problem is in the Flashcards. Often there is only enough space for the first 1 or 2 entries of a multi-definition word/character to be displayed (depending on the number of examples).
I'm specifically referring to when testing by showing the english definition, and then having to guess the chinese.

Good point, we ought to pack it more tightly in there since the definition area is smaller.

One idea to help with this might be to have an option in the Flashcards so that when you are being tested, you can set it to show "Defn Only" on the question screen, but when the answer is displayed, it switches to the "Show All" or "No Xrefs" mode.
Or, on the answer screen have a button to expand the card to see the full entry (assuming you've got it set to "Defn Only" in the settings).

Good idea, though I'm a bit wary of introducing a new option there now since a lot of that code is due for an overhaul in the near future.

By the way, I have noticed that on a lot of flashcards, since the white-spacing update, the Pinyin is being shown in the examples (highlighted in blue), on the test/question screen. This only seems to happen with the PLC dictionary. (Again when doing English to Chinese testing).

That's odd... did you change the "Replace head with ~" option in Settings by any chance?

 

[ben_gb]

By the way, I have noticed that on a lot of flashcards, since the white-spacing update, the Pinyin is being shown in the examples (highlighted in blue), on the test/question screen. This only seems to happen with the PLC dictionary. (Again when doing English to Chinese testing).

That's odd... did you change the "Replace head with ~" option in Settings by any chance?

The "replace head with ~" setting is switched off (can't remember whether or not this is the default).

I've attached a screenshot of one example. It doesn't happen with all flashcards which use PLC for the definition; most are correctly masking the characters and pinyin on the 'question' screen. But a significant number of cards do have this problem.

Regards,
Ben

 

[mikelove]

I've attached a screenshot of one example. It doesn't happen with all flashcards which use PLC for the definition; most are correctly masking the characters and pinyin on the 'question' screen. But a significant number of cards do have this problem.

Looks like the issue is that there are different spaces in the headword version of the Pinyin for this card than in the definition. We'll fix this in the next update, but for now I'd recommend turning "replace head with ~" back on - that should get this to behave better.

 

[Unfadeable]

I haven't taken the time to get used to it yet, but my gut feeling is that I don't like the added whitespace, and I also find Tuttle's layout to be the best.

 

[mikelove]

I haven't taken the time to get used to it yet, but my gut feeling is that I don't like the added whitespace, and I also find Tuttle's layout to be the best.

Thanks! That's definitely sounding like the winner.