MT 1.3b57 Progress - Take2

[Phergus]

What's the deal with this auto-prompt to save a campaign every time you select Connect to Server?

The majority of users are players and not GMs. They will likely never need to save a campaign file and don't need to see this every time they go to connect.

It needs to get a proper preference, and a checkbox on the dialog to disable it, or it needs to go.

[Full Bleed]

What's the deal with this auto-prompt to save a campaign every time you select Connect to Server?

How about having MT check to see if a named campaign is open (as opposed to the unnamed grass-map default), and if there is, then ask if they want to save it. If there isn't then just have it function as before. That would save most campaign work provided that it's been saved at least once intentionally.

I don't think having a default preference of off will help people stop losing campaign changes until after they've lost one or two... and players aren't likely to go looking for how to turn the option off if it's on by default.

[RPMiller]

Can MT just check to see if the current user is signed in as a GM and offer to save?

[LamilLerran]

players aren't likely to go looking for how to turn the option off if it's on by default.

How about having the option on by default, but have a checkbox right on the "Save? Yes/No/Cancel" box saying something like "Don't ask me this again"? (In addition to an option in preferences.)

[Phergus]

How about having MT check to see if a named campaign is open (as opposed to the unnamed grass-map default), and if there is, then ask if they want to save it.

Certainly better than the current implementation.

I don't think having a default preference of off will help people stop losing campaign changes until after they've lost one or two...

Failing to see a problem with that...

Can MT just check to see if the current user is signed in as a GM and offer to save?

Nope. Until you have explicitly connected to a server as player you are a GM.

How about having the option on by default, but have a checkbox right on the "Save? Yes/No/Cancel" box saying something like "Don't ask me this again"?

That's along with a check to see there actually is some work in progress is the right way to do it.

[Full Bleed]

I don't think having a default preference of off will help people stop losing campaign changes until after they've lost one or two...

Failing to see a problem with that...

So, you're ok with people losing work on campaigns a couple time before coming to the forums and complaining, "Hey, we need way for that not to happen!"

Only to have people smugly retort, "Go check out the preferences. You see that preference written in a way that you don't understand what it actually is until you need to is the one you need to check-box so that doesn't happen."


I'd also advise against the "Check this not to see it again" box on the pop-up because just about everyone (players in particular) will check the box on the pop-up to keep it from happening. Then they'll forget about having done that and potentially lose a campaign or two later if/when they decide to make one. The whole point of the pop-up will be lost to most almost immediately.

And, despite the annoyance, there is a need to fix losing unsaved work.


I still say you just ask people if they want to save a campaign if a named (i.e. previously saved) campaign is open. If MT was smart enough to realize when a change was made to a campaign that may potentially require saving then that would be even better, but I don't think it is. Failing that, any time, for any reason that someone is exiting a campaign without saving, they should be offered the opportunity to save.

[cubeblue]

So, you're ok with people losing work on campaigns a couple time before coming to the forums and complaining, "Hey, we need way for that not to happen!"

Only to have people smugly retort, "Go check out the preferences. You see that preference written in a way that you don't understand what it actually is until you need to is the one you need to check-box so that doesn't happen."

I'd also advise against the "Check this not to see it again" box on the pop-up because just about everyone (players in particular) will check the box on the pop-up to keep it from happening. Then they'll forget about having done that and potentially lose a campaign or two later if/when they decide to make one. The whole point of the pop-up will be lost to most almost immediately.

And, despite the annoyance, there is a need to fix losing unsaved work.

I still say you just ask people if they want to save a campaign if a named (i.e. previously saved) campaign is open. If MT was smart enough to realize when a change was made to a campaign that may potentially require saving then that would be even better, but I don't think it is. Failing that, any time, for any reason that someone is exiting a campaign without saving, they should be offered the opportunity to save.

I agree entirely. Especially about the "check this box to make this pop-up disappear forever" I don't like it on the delete token pop-up either, personally. Even though I don't want to check it, I keep having this urge to... perhaps from all the times I've reinstalled Windows and had to make sure it's checked in IE for things like sending cookies, etc. I don't like the idea of pop-ups that offer to go away forever unless their intended to be one-time notifications and it's assumed most people will dismiss them. Besides, as long as there's an option to disable that pop-up in the preferences, that's plenty. The people who know what they're doing will disable it if they want to, the people who don't probably don't need to have the ability to easily accidentally disable it.

Anyways, yeah, preferably MT detects changes to the existing campaign and offers to save if leaving that campaign for any reason. If no change since last save, or it's a blank new map, don't offer to save it.

[Phergus]

Maybe we can include a virtual nanny with MapTool to keep users from running with scissors or burning themselves on the stove while we are at it.

[Full Bleed]

Maybe we can include a virtual nanny with MapTool to keep users from running with scissors or burning themselves on the stove while we are at it.

Sounds like a good idea.

Probably easier than programming things to be user-friendly.

[palmer]

Maybe we can include a virtual nanny with MapTool to keep users from running with scissors or burning themselves on the stove while we are at it.

It also needs to produce five pages of safety documentation instructing you to wear goggles when you are using Blu-Tack.

[pmbruner]

I think MT should detect whether you are wearing steel toed shoes and warn you during launch, with an option to not be warned again. Just in case your PC tumbles off the desk and crushes your foot during play.

[trevor]

I got a couple bug fix patch submissions over the past couple days that I'm working on including

[Azhrei]

Anyways, yeah, preferably MT detects changes to the existing campaign and offers to save if leaving that campaign for any reason. If no change since last save, or it's a blank new map, don't offer to save it.

I don't think a change like this is likely in the short-term.

Right now there are a bunch of different pieces of code that make up the "campaign". For instance, there are campaign properties, zones (the maps themselves), tokens attached to the zones, campaign macros, tables, and then menu options that control the display (view grid, FoW on/off, etc).

It would be quite a bit of hassle (and a lot of redundant code) to add trackers to each of those classes with the organization the way it is now. Some of them might be easy: tokens and menu options (there are common code pieces for all tokens and all menu items). Others would be more tricky.

This is a good idea to keep in mind for 1.4 though -- some kind of modification tracking.

[cubeblue]

This is a good idea to keep in mind for 1.4 though -- some kind of modification tracking.

Yeah, I mean in the short term, even for a full 1.3 release it might not be practical. Not a huge problem at all.

[DJuego]

I got a couple bug fix patch submissions over the past couple days that I'm working on including

I am avid!!

DJuego