[Kmymoney-devel] Usability Problems for the New User

[Alvaro Soliverez]

On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 12:14 PM, Jay Woods <woodsjay at cox.net> wrote:
> This is the first time I have used the program:
>
> From Help:
> KMyMoney
> Version 3.95.0-svn20090511
> Using KDE 4.3.5 (KDE 4.3.5) "release 0"
>
> From sysinfo:
> OS:  Linux 2.6.31.12-0.1-default i686
>  Current user:  woodsj at woolerie
>  System:  openSUSE 11.2 (i586)
>
> This was installed via YaST2 and the distribution was brought up-to-date
> on Feb 28th.
>
> The problem is that the initial screen (equivalent to the new file
> screen) is no longer appearing on program start-up.
>
> Why I would expect it to:
>
> The initial screen was attempting to collect Personal Data. I realized
> that the personal data should all be in the Addressbook. When I went to
> Contacts in KDE-PIM I found that I had a couple of email addresses and
> nothing else. Using the fields in the Personal Data screen as a template
> I filled in the corresponding fields of Contacts. The data was applied
> and OK'd, the contacts were saved, and the KDE-PIM program was
> closed.
>
> Now the initial screen was canceled so that I could expect the KMyMoney
> program would be working with a current copy of the Contacts. KMyMoney
> was restarted. The initial screen no longer appears.
>
> The initial screen should reappear until some data is explicitly saved.
>
> I am aware that the initial screen is similar to the New File screen but
> that depends on knowledge that shouldn't be expected yet for a new user.
>
> How this problem is handled will be used on the next three problems that
> have been spotted. Please train me.

Hello Jay,
none of that information, save for the base currency, which can be
inferred from the locale, is mandatory, so the New User wizard is not
forced if some info is missing.
The very same information you can enter in that wizard, can be entered
through options on the menu (albeit in separate items, I accept that)

So, unless some mandatory info is needed, we don't force a dialog onto
the user, which I believe is a sensible decision, IMHO.

Looking forward to your answer and feedback.

Regards,
Alvaro