XYplorer Beta Club
XY is a great program. But on the other side I find it very unintuitive to use. Many hidden settings and features.
It would be great if the UI could be adjusted to make it simpler to use. I understand with the thousand options is has this is difficult. Another option would be to create how-to videos which explain all the cool features XY has. Or starts to explain the basics and then showcase cool options and tricks. This is not available yet AFAIK, right?
How to --- love / hate relationship with XY
Re: How to --- love / hate relationship with XY
Well, you can at least modify the toolbar to your hearts desire. I don't think the menus are too complicated. I have to admit though, after using XY for about 13 years, I'm still only scratching about 25% of the available features, I guess.
Re: How to --- love / hate relationship with XY
That's why there's a very complete PDF User Manual which makes it quite easy to search.
This has been suggested/requested many times over the years. If I recall correctly, it basically comes down to who is going to make the videos? I feel Don has enough to do without having to create tutorials, video or otherwise.Another option would be to create how-to videos which explain all the cool features XY has. Or starts to explain the basics and then showcase cool options and tricks. This is not available yet AFAIK, right?
Re: How to --- love / hate relationship with XY
I just have seen there is a new video about XY on YT -- maybe that is a bit what I was hoping for. A PDF manual is not installed with my XY and the downloads do also not show a PDF manual. Exactly what I was talking about. A lot of the XY stuff is hidden well. ;-)
Re: How to --- love / hate relationship with XY
A lot of stuff in life isn't placed in one's lap. The PDF manual is readily available on the website if you put in the effort to look for it.
- 2025-04-05_08-35-45.jpg (181.13 KiB) Viewed 292 times
- 2025-04-05_08-37-40.jpg (106.24 KiB) Viewed 292 times
Re: How to --- love / hate relationship with XY
Thanks a lot, I had overlooked the PDF manual there.
I would expect a manual to be available via the help menu, installed with the program. That was not there [EDIT: I was talking about the PDF you mentioned -- there is a command reference as expected]. Next option I would expect to find a download is under the relevant section of the homepage, where it can not be found as well. I now see it is under Support, where it maybe also belongs to. But mostly support means to get in contact with the developer (or forum) -- which also was not what I was looking for. So I was not triggered to click on that menu point. Did you notice that the top menu of the XY website changes depending on which menu point you choose? That makes it difficult to have an overview of what you can find on the website and where. Not providing the information where you typically would expect it, is exactly one of the frustrations I have with XY... :-)
BTW, when you download the PDF the path is: https://www.xyplorer.com/download/XYplorerHelp.pdf -- so it is available in the download folder. Go figure! ;-) The Chat GPT snippet you posted also thought it would be under 'documents' (which does not exist as a menu) or in the help section btw! I now have downloaded the PDF, but it seems just to be a copy of the menu and command reference you have in the help menu. So not the getting started and how-to or section with tips I was looking for.
Another example of where I think XY could and should improve to make things better to find:
When I had speed problems with XY (btw still have) I was pointed in the forum to click in the help menu on 'Help - Various Information' -- which is not really a good expression to describe what to expect btw. But, while clicking on that menu point I need to hold down Ctrl. What? How is a user supposed to find the tips hidden there how to speed up XY....?
The whole point of my post is that it should be easier IMO to find the relevant information. Of course one still has to be willing to take the time to read in the docs. But you can make it harder or easier to find the information.A lot of stuff in life isn't placed in one's lap. The PDF manual is readily available on the website if you put in the effort to look for it.
I would expect a manual to be available via the help menu, installed with the program. That was not there [EDIT: I was talking about the PDF you mentioned -- there is a command reference as expected]. Next option I would expect to find a download is under the relevant section of the homepage, where it can not be found as well. I now see it is under Support, where it maybe also belongs to. But mostly support means to get in contact with the developer (or forum) -- which also was not what I was looking for. So I was not triggered to click on that menu point. Did you notice that the top menu of the XY website changes depending on which menu point you choose? That makes it difficult to have an overview of what you can find on the website and where. Not providing the information where you typically would expect it, is exactly one of the frustrations I have with XY... :-)
BTW, when you download the PDF the path is: https://www.xyplorer.com/download/XYplorerHelp.pdf -- so it is available in the download folder. Go figure! ;-) The Chat GPT snippet you posted also thought it would be under 'documents' (which does not exist as a menu) or in the help section btw! I now have downloaded the PDF, but it seems just to be a copy of the menu and command reference you have in the help menu. So not the getting started and how-to or section with tips I was looking for.
Another example of where I think XY could and should improve to make things better to find:
When I had speed problems with XY (btw still have) I was pointed in the forum to click in the help menu on 'Help - Various Information' -- which is not really a good expression to describe what to expect btw. But, while clicking on that menu point I need to hold down Ctrl. What? How is a user supposed to find the tips hidden there how to speed up XY....?