Issue 94868 - Persistent settings are extremely confusing and non intuitive
Summary: Persistent settings are extremely confusing and non intuitive
Status: CONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: General
Classification: Code
Component: ui (show other issues)
Version: OOo 3.0
Hardware: All All
: P3 Trivial with 5 votes (vote)
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: AOO issues mailing list
QA Contact:
URL:
Keywords: oooqa
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2008-10-11 09:30 UTC by eruditehermit
Modified: 2013-02-07 22:42 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Issue Type: ENHANCEMENT
Latest Confirmation in: ---
Developer Difficulty: ---


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Description eruditehermit 2008-10-11 09:30:11 UTC
The only way to have customized persistent settings in openoffice.org is to
create a template with the customizations and then set the template to the
default so that it is used at openoffice.org startup. This is very confusing for
a new user. All settings in any tab should be persistent automatically with an
option in each tab to reset the default setting. This way the user can easily
customize any component in any menu such as page margins and have openoffice.org
remember the settings accross sessions and it also enables users to reset the
defaults if they make a mistake.

An example of the current behavior is as follows:
1) A user wants to set page margins to 1 inch and have openoffice.org use it as
the default for every new document created
2) User goes to Format--> Page and sets page margins to 1inch
3) user finishes writing that document and when the user opens a new document,
margins are again at the default.
__________________________________________________________
4) If user searches online or asks in a chat room, they are pointed to the
option to create a template in File--> Templates--> Save
5) User has to then go to File-->Template-->organize
6) User has to RIGHT click on the newly created template and set as default
template.

The steps after the underscore are complicated and confusing for a non power
user. Instead of the steps after the underscore, the settings that the user
changes should persist automatically accross sessions so steps 1-3 should be
enough. If the user desires to go back to default settings, there should be a
button in Format--> Page that allows the user to reset to default page margins.
Similarly, any settings in any of the settings tabs throughout openoffice.org
should be persistent automatically, with a reset to defaults button in each tab.
Comment 1 Regina Henschel 2008-10-11 14:37:27 UTC
I would vote against such handling. Styles belong to a document and having some
settings in one document should not effect other documents.

But nevertheless this is a valid request and therefore I set it to "new".
Comment 2 eruditehermit 2008-10-11 23:18:29 UTC
Maybe having persistent settings automatically would not be preferred by all,
but at the very least, there should be an option in every menu to save current
settings as default if the user wants to do so. This is a much better way of
handling the settings than the current method of having the user create
templates and make them the default template. The template method of persistent
settings needs to be changed to improve usability for new users because it is
confusing and there are a lot of non obvious steps required to make settings
persist across documents and sessions.
Comment 3 thorsten.martens 2008-10-21 10:42:41 UTC
TM->requirements: Please have a look
Comment 4 tarabuss 2008-10-22 05:26:35 UTC
this is a really good idea. as a new user I have wanted to change default
settings and not known how. it would make it a lot more user friendly if there
was a way to  save settings to make a new default or to return to old default on
each options window.