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Simplified Statistics palette

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 8:10 pm
by ptram
It may seem just a minor details to many, but for me the new Statistics palette is too busy, too distracting. When I write, I must focus on my text and the current character count (words if I lived in an English-speaking country). The new palette does contain too many information, and eats too much space, going against Mellel's own philosophy of "less is more".

Would you like, like me, to have the option of a less busy Statistics palette, to be chosen as an alternative to the more 'advanced' one?

Paolo

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:06 pm
by terceiro
I find it easy enough to focus only on the necessary information and simply mentally filter out the rest. I would rather have too much info than not enough.

Then again, sometimes I compose in TextMate, which doesn't even have a life word (or character) count. I must manually invoke the count, which hovers for a moment and then disappears. I have never felt that a live word count was critical for my work, anyway. I'm probably a lousy person to ask. Then again, why does anyone need a live character (or word) count? I believe it is important, but do I need to see it updated with every keystroke? Can't I just check it once per paragraph and see how I'm doing?

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 10:28 pm
by ptram
When you are asked to write an article of a given length, live count is critical to be always aware of where you are. Otherwise, you risk to write a lot of text that you must later delete. Invoking word count from time to time, is a bit like writing with your eyes shut.

On the other side, having too much information is like keeping your eyes open, with too much light in the room. You end up being distracted, and not seeing the all important information.

Paolo

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 11:52 pm
by shades
For me and my writing, word count is never an issue. I will occasionally look at it out of curiosity. So it is a nice-to-have feature, but minimal/hidden would be beneficial for me.

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:05 am
by rwg
I'm happy with the new statistics palette, and since it is usually the only palette I have open, covering the desktop with palettes is not an issue. One thing I have noticed, however, is that the headings down the left side (Characters, Words, etc.) will sometimes disappear, leaving only the numbers, and the only way to restore it is to quit and restart Mellel. Has anyone else experienced this behaviour?

Rolf

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 6:48 am
by macsailor
rwg wrote:I'm happy with the new statistics palette, and since it is usually the only palette I have open, covering the desktop with palettes is not an issue. One thing I have noticed, however, is that the headings down the left side (Characters, Words, etc.) will sometimes disappear, leaving only the numbers, and the only way to restore it is to quit and restart Mellel. Has anyone else experienced this behaviour?

Rolf
I agree. I think that the new statistic palette is great and suites my needs perfectly.