Is it just me or is Notes 8.5 Help a steaming pile of...
Category Notes Help
OK so the content is the same, and content is king, but the UI for help in Notes 8.5 is super slow and I think pretty ugly. I was just working on some computed text in an email I was sending, I made the mistake of clicking F1 when I had an @function selected in the reference panel, you know, the way that people have obtained help on an @ function for years. It popped up with some help system that said it was building some such thing or other, I left it for a while then decided to save some time so booted an old machine, loaded Notes 7.0.3 and searched the help file, went back to the Notes 8.5 machine and closed the window that was still updating the search and got back to doing what I wanted to do.
Does Notes 8.5 ship with two help systems? If you run the Notes basic client you get the previous snappy help system, if you run the new improved whiter than white version of Notes 8.5. you get the new steaming pile of... help system, I thought IBM wanted to save money, doesn't it cost more to maintain two help systems?
Also If I can undock other panels into their own windows in Notes 8.5 why can I not do the same with the help window that appears? The screen options look the same, but have different options. Not everyone is running 1920x1600 resolution screens.
UPDATE: I take it back, you can detach the help window, but the way to do is totally different to a panel an inch or so over on the screen...The key is to use the right mouse button on the window title for the help. This is the kind of thing that people beat Notes up over. I can hear it now, it's eclipse help, it's not the fault of Notes.
OK so the content is the same, and content is king, but the UI for help in Notes 8.5 is super slow and I think pretty ugly. I was just working on some computed text in an email I was sending, I made the mistake of clicking F1 when I had an @function selected in the reference panel, you know, the way that people have obtained help on an @ function for years. It popped up with some help system that said it was building some such thing or other, I left it for a while then decided to save some time so booted an old machine, loaded Notes 7.0.3 and searched the help file, went back to the Notes 8.5 machine and closed the window that was still updating the search and got back to doing what I wanted to do.
Does Notes 8.5 ship with two help systems? If you run the Notes basic client you get the previous snappy help system, if you run the new improved whiter than white version of Notes 8.5. you get the new steaming pile of... help system, I thought IBM wanted to save money, doesn't it cost more to maintain two help systems?
Also If I can undock other panels into their own windows in Notes 8.5 why can I not do the same with the help window that appears? The screen options look the same, but have different options. Not everyone is running 1920x1600 resolution screens.
UPDATE: I take it back, you can detach the help window, but the way to do is totally different to a panel an inch or so over on the screen...The key is to use the right mouse button on the window title for the help. This is the kind of thing that people beat Notes up over. I can hear it now, it's eclipse help, it's not the fault of Notes.
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Comments
Posted by Kathy Brown At 10:14:04 PM On 04/20/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Carl Tyler At 10:23:59 PM On 04/20/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Mary Beth Raven At 10:35:58 PM On 04/20/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Colin Williams At 10:47:54 PM On 04/20/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Rob McDonagh At 11:06:34 PM On 04/20/2009 | - Website - |
@5 Always good to know you're not alone.
Posted by Carl Tyler At 11:46:04 PM On 04/20/2009 | - Website - |
The other option is the help is still all there in NSF format in the help folder on local.
Posted by Simon O'Doherty At 02:31:01 AM On 04/21/2009 | - Website - |
Just to open a database in the design client takes about two minutes on my work PC (XP pro dual core intel 2.4 GHz with 3GB RAM). On my home machine with plian old notes 8, it takes about half a second (ok its a quad core but otherwise similar spec).
Painful. And I don't like the new design element navigation either.
Posted by Richard At 06:11:38 AM On 08/26/2009 | - Website - |