I’ve just responded to a query from a user whose problem (I think…[^1]) is down to the fact that a feature has changed considerably since a previous version. I was going to point him or her to the release notes. I could have given the link to the website page or referred to the manual of course, but it occurred to me that it might be useful to have the release notes handy on the Help Menu (as Tinderbox and several other programs do).
I suspect most people (including me…) just accept the upgrades when they come without paying too much attention to the notes at the time – or skim them and forget – so an easy way of checking might come in handy now and then.
A minor point, of course, but worth considering?
Regards
David
[^1]: I may have got the problem totally wrong, of course, but still…
Not a bad idea, although I’m not sure it would help in cases where users’s problems stem from terminology changes; I’m not sure how many of them would think to look in the Release Notes, and even for those who do, our release notes are always pretty daunting, with hundreds of changes each minor release…
I agree – most probably won’t look there: but then, I’m always slightly surprised by the number of posters who don’t even look through the menu items before asking questions, never mind reading the manual… It must shred Ioa’s soul…
It might help those who suddenly think “it used to do this and now it doesn’t…” but not a big deal at all and certainly not worth much development time!
Come to think of it, a whole new menu called “Manifest Crew Member”. Submenus of curmudgeon, the +3 , human computer and other. In each submenu would be the members of the forum who have been declared members of said grouping. Selecting an individual member would insert a random phrase frequently used by said member (Ioa could mine the phrases form the mysql backend of the forum in less time than it has taken me to type this parenthetical).
Imagine the glorious travesty that would ensue from simple over use of the +3 category!
I think it should be voice control activated à la Siri, responding to requests for ‘what’s new’ with a different personality depending both on the accent and tone of voice used and the specific phase of the moon at that moment.
I feel that this new feature (or Viki, as s/he/it will be known) is essential, particularly when the ‘secret listening mode’ is enabled remotely. This will read out random excerpts from the manual in Old Church Slavonic when it hears one of a number of key phrases such as – well, that bit has yet to be decided in detail, but I think we both know “but that’s not like in Word” will be one of them…
I’ve just downloaded the latest Beta and noticed that you’ve added Release Notes to the Help menu. This is the first Beta I’ve downloaded, so hadn’t noticed it before – just wanted to say thanks – it’s only a small change but it’s just another example of how responsive and helpful you are!