On Tuesday 12 November 2002 04:58 pm, Tim Rowledge wrote:
> When opening the SMLoader for the first time we get a very blank
> stare from the UI. I'd like to suggest that the text in
> SMLoader>contents be expanded to let people know how to actually
> see something and stop hyperventilating. I'd suggest the text, but
> it is much more likely that the author will know the proper
> explanations than I.

You mean in 3.4, right? In 3.2 you at least see some packages (the 
auto-installable ones for 3.2, as I recall).

There is a problem that some of the packages registered on SqueakMap 
aren't directly loadable: that is, their download address may lead to 
a web page that has to be further navigated, or that there are 
prerequisites that need to be loaded first (for instance, the 
SARInstaller before any .sar package).

I don't know the best way to present these, other than properly 
disabling options like "install" when appropriate.

> Actually, as a generic UI suggetion I'd offer the thought that
> whenever you have a text view in an app. that is not showing
> anything it really ought to be showing some basic instructions on
> how to proceed. Clearly this isn't appropriate in all cases but
> I'll bet it would reduce confusion in a goodly number of cases.

That's a good suggestion.
-- 
Ned Konz
http://bike-nomad.com
GPG key ID: BEEA7EFE