Development WG's famous to do list

[Nerzhul]

The layout, however, is still not completely fixed. For languages where "short code" is a big sentence, it gets messy. (Try German, Greek and Lithuanian.) Also unaligned on some other languages I can't find a reason for (Spanish, Finnish and Esperanto).

I see. Hmmm ... I think I need to redo the layout of the note form. The current table structure doesn't scale well across different resolutions. This will take a few days, I'm currently busy at work.

[suntzu]

I`ve installed the Chrome only to register bills and i had no problem in Portuguese, true that i haven`t try it in greek
That`s because i`ve installed the beta from IE8, and after that IE8 RC1, but i still had the same problem, that was
too slow in the expert form while inserting bills, usually blocked in the comments.
Also resolved, uninstalling it and restoring the IE7
Problem fixed

[CarlosManta]

The layout, however, is still not completely fixed.

This reminded me of another great quote in engineering "it it ain't broken, don't fix it". (Murphy Law)

Now seriously, I fail to see the advantage of this new feature, I see others that would be less work and more useful, but since you are doing all the work and I am just enjoying, I'll just stop moaning. Congratulations for your efforts, I am sure you will be able to get it working steadily. Browsers are a pain, makes you wonder if html is a standard or just a suggestion.

[Nerzhul]

This reminded me of another great quote in engineering "it it ain't broken, don't fix it". (Murphy Law)

I know ... technically it would be best to just leave the site as is and fix the few remaining bugs. Note insertion (our one mission critical function) works, so why ever touch anything again...

Maybe I should just roll back the site to the way it was in 2005 so everyone'll be happy?

Seriously, I've been thinking about simply branching the site. One branch (default) would just stay as is, be the default and only receive maintenance updates, while the other version of the site could be selected optionally and would get new features regularly. Users which don't like changes would be happy, everybody else wouldn't have a reason to complain. This would solve some problems, especially my decreasing motivation and increasing time overhead...

Now seriously, I fail to see the advantage of this new feature, I see others that would be less work and more useful

Which new features do you have in mind? I'm open for all ideas

[CarlosManta]

Maybe I should just roll back the site to the way it was in 2005 so everyone'll be happy?

I see your point. Refreshing is not bad every now and then.

Seriously, I've been thinking about simply branching the site. One branch (default) would just stay as is, be the default and only receive maintenance updates, while the other version of the site could be selected optionally

Sounds great. Boring plain bread for those who are eager to remain on the same habits (like me), and a sandbox/beta version where new features can be tested. Popular features from the second can then move into the first. I love the idea, but am not sure if that will lessen the burden. If you think it does, great!
You know, the first thing I do on a Vista Machine is make it look like windows 2000. That one worked fine, what's with all this popping menus, disappearing, transparency, auto hiding, etc. But I like the stacking on the task bar, and can't do without tabs on a browser. My point is it is great if the new function can somehow be disabled, and user can change gradually. Like the simple/advanced/expert, everyone can chose the one they like, how many lines per page, boxes on the right or not.
Hey, it is really to great to have EBT, and everyday more and more people are enjoying it. Motivation has to keep on going up.

Which new features do you have in mind? I'm open for all ideas

Some ideas
After you inserted the bills, the screen could show:
"You have just inserted xx bills in CityA. You have a total of yy bill inserted in CityA. CityA hit ratio is zz bills/hit. You are luckier/unluckier than average."
Or/And NIG-like info:
"You have now inserted xx bills since your last Hit. Your hit ratio is yy bills/hit. Next Hit will arrive soon/You are on a dry spell"
Or/And Motivation
"You have inserted xx bills today. On average you insert yy per day. Go and find some more/Well Done!"

It's just playing with statistics, and reading stored values for user and location, I guess not so complex to implement.

I particularly like the "Hit ratio", I think it could also be displayed in the rankings, as an extra column (not so complex) or even allowing sorting by Hit ratio (quite more complex)

I will bugger again If I have more crazy ideas.

[Nerzhul]

Seriously, I've been thinking about simply branching the site. One branch (default) would just stay as is, be the default and only receive maintenance updates, while the other version of the site could be selected optionally

Sounds great. Boring plain bread for those who are eager to remain on the same habits (like me), and a sandbox/beta version where new features can be tested. Popular features from the second can then move into the first. I love the idea, but am not sure if that will lessen the burden. If you think it does, great!

Yeah, unfortunately once the two branches would differ too much, people would cry out to get feature X from the developer version - which would again disturb other people who were perfectly happy with the old version and the cycle would continue again. Ok, forget about the branching idea

Generally, it's almost impossible to make everything configurable and backwards compatible. Again, take the 2005 version of the site - who would by now have this old "2005 version" configured, except for inactive users? Or one of the dozens of incremental development steps since then?

And what sense does it make to maintain backwards options for this one guy who really liked the site without the expert form better anyway? How do you deal with global decisions, like new city data structures which you can't really hide? Or new translations? Hey, what about the guy who loved the site before faker X was deleted?

I guess it's much more feasible to find a balance between necessary and interesting changes and the wishes of the audience. I think most of the time they're in line anyway.

[suntzu]

@ Manta - If you like a clean OS use Linux, you can have your laptop into a dual boot
@ Nerzhul - Although flags are nice to see, for users that insert lots of bills probably don`t bring any advantage, but for smaller / medium insertion users that can be a nice feature.
Yeaterday a friend (which is a top user in Ericeira, but that doesn`t use the forum) was very surprised because an UK flag showed up there
I read some posts about one idea when you get a hit, and the idea was when showing the hit, having a photo of the place that you´ve hitted.
The idea is great ( in my point of view), since i´m one of the guys that when getting a hit i´ll search for images of the place if i don`t know it. On the other hand there are lots of people that will say that this idea is crap and uninteresting.
Bottom line, many heads, lots of opinions and at the end nobody agrees
Keep up the good work

[CarlosManta]

Seriously, I've been thinking about simply branching the site. One branch (default) would just stay as is, be the default and only receive maintenance updates, while the other version of the site could be selected optionally

Sounds great. Boring plain bread for those who are eager to remain on the same habits (like me), and a sandbox/beta version where new features can be tested. Popular features from the second can then move into the first. I love the idea, but am not sure if that will lessen the burden. If you think it does, great!

Ok, forget about the branching idea Generally, it's almost impossible to make everything configurable and backwards compatible.
And what sense does it make to maintain backwards options for this one guy who really liked the site without the expert form better anyway?
I guess it's much more feasible to find a balance between necessary and interesting changes and the wishes of the audience. I think most of the time they're in line anyway.

Well, you suggested it, not me!
The point is/was that the beta/sandbox/developer version to be used to test new features. Checking if they work and/or if they are useful or achieve the aimed goal. Not reinventing the wheel, but all software has beta versions and testers. The point is not to keep every feature as optional, but to test them before implementing. And if some can stay optional or configurable, even better.

I understand however that keeping two versions running is more work than only one.

[€€F]

nice to see the flags now when you enter a note!

[De-Ker]

Well i do like the flags, And however it doesn't has a function really it's fancy nonetheless and great for new users who don't know all all the short code and serial number combo's and where they come from. Great feature imo!

It would be nice if you saw this combo also in the hit list. You can spot fakers more easily and it would make hits with rare note combinations like the G/L 20 or so a bit more special even if they are national!

What i would like to see is a function to zoom in on your hit map. Or make use of the google overlay like Eurobilltracker.at does it... (http://www.eurobilltracker.at/map.php?id=42188907)

that's it!

[Crazy Bob]

What i would like to see is a function to zoom in on your hit map. Or make use of the google overlay like Eurobilltracker.at does it... (http://www.eurobilltracker.at/map.php?id=42188907)

Link doesn't work...

[De-Ker]

What i would like to see is a function to zoom in on your hit map. Or make use of the google overlay like Eurobilltracker.at does it... (http://www.eurobilltracker.at/map.php?id=42188907)

Link doesn't work...

it does here! both IE and FF

[lmviterbo]

It's also working both here at the office and this morning at home.

[suntzu]

Yes, it works

[Crazy Bob]

What i would like to see is a function to zoom in on your hit map. Or make use of the google overlay like Eurobilltracker.at does it... (http://www.eurobilltracker.at/map.php?id=42188907)

Link doesn't work...

it does here! both IE and FF

Strange. Here at home it does indeed work! Great tool!