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| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 07:17 #72509 | |
maxand
1637 posts |
This is a follow on from this thread. Sticky notes can already link a headcode to its Show Timetable window. Typing a valid headcode in a sticky note displays it as a blue underlined hyperlink which when clicked displays the Show Timetable window for that headcode. Wonderful. At present, if I want to refer quickly to a Wiki page during a sim, I can paste the whole URL into a sticky note. E.g., for Derby I can paste in Wiki:But to get Simsig to act on this I need to R-click on the note to Edit it, carefully copy the link without disturbing it, and paste it into my browser. How user-friendly if the same link could be displayed in blue underlined hypertext without having to open/edit it, like this: Quote: Wiki:I wonder how many other user members would find this an advantage. Last edited: 20/05/2015 at 07:17 by maxand Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 07:57 #72510 | |
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Danny252
1461 posts |
Does your browser not support bookmarks, custom homepages, link shortcuts on your desktop (or elsewhere), or keeping websites open between sessions? I don't see how this is a problem for Simsig at all, given that the only time an address will appear is if you've copied it in from your browser, which is far more capable and suitable when it comes to storing addresses. Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 09:23 #72515 | |
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maxand
1637 posts |
Quote:Does your browser not support bookmarks, custom homepages, link shortcuts on your desktop (or elsewhere), or keeping websites open between sessions?Sure, that's part of the problem. I usually have too many pages open on my browser, and my F2 list often extends off the bottom of the SimSig window where it obscures the Start bar. I would like sticky notes to recognize blue underlined hyperlinks to save copy-typing and thus save work and minimize error by opening the browser at exactly that page.. If the developers were smart enough to link headcodes to the Show Timetable window I don't think it would take much extra core code to extend this feature. Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 09:27 #72517 | |
Splodge
720 posts |
Can you not just press F1 which will take you directly to the Wiki, then a couple more clicks to the relevant sim manual? Even if hyperlinks worked you'd still have to navigate there to copy the link anyway.
There's the right way, the wrong way and the railway. Log in to reply The following user said thank you: maxand |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 09:28 #72518 | |
Steamer
3986 posts |
" said:Quote:Seriously- why not just close F2, learn to rely less on crib notes and operate the simulation as it comes? I think you're convincing yourself that all these things are necessary when really they're distracting you from the main job. It's easier than you're making it.Does your browser not support bookmarks, custom homepages, link shortcuts on your desktop (or elsewhere), or keeping websites open between sessions?Sure, that's part of the problem. I usually have too many pages open on my browser, and my F2 list often extends off the bottom of the SimSig window where it obscures the Start bar. I would like sticky notes to recognize blue underlined hyperlinks to save copy-typing and thus save work and minimize error by opening the browser at exactly that page.. If the developers were smart enough to link headcodes to the Show Timetable window I don't think it would take much extra core code to extend this feature. "Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q) Log in to reply The following user said thank you: Meld |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 11:12 #72523 | |
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maxand
1637 posts |
Thanks Splodge, I wasn't aware of that feature. However, all these links need to be kept updated. However, to get from the User Wiki page to even the Derby main Wiki page requires a lot of time-wasting scrolling and searching plus at least five clicks. What's more, under the Maps and Plans section, Derby isn't yet included - another frustrating WOT. Not all of us play all sims, so my request for this feature to be adder to sticky notes is pure customization. I can do it now simply by adding the data to, say, EditPad Plus, which immediately displays it as a blue underlined hyperlink which I can click and get taken directly to that page, no searching, no fuss. I'm sure there will be many others like danny252 who will go to great lengths to tell me why I should not be requiring such a feature at all, but I bet there won't be very many progressive mouths saying what a good idea it is and why it might benefit them too. Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 11:29 #72524 | |
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peterb
452 posts |
" said:I bet there won't be very many progressive mouths saying what a good idea it is and why it might benefit them too.No, because finding the wiki URL, and copying and pasting it into a sticky, is more of a pointless longer 'work around' than using F1. In any case it's pointless because you would already have the manual open in your browser having pasted the URL into a sticky. Additionally your next feature request is most likely to be for SimSig to automatically shorten URL hyperlinks in stickies because the URL makes the note so big it takes up half the screen. " said: Sure, that's part of the problem. I usually have too many pages open on my browser, and my F2 list often extends off the bottom of the SimSig window where it obscures the Start bar.It seems then by your own admission that the problem isn't with SimSig. It's your problem. Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 12:42 #72526 | |
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maxand
1637 posts |
peterb wrote: Quote: No, because finding the wiki URL, and copying and pasting it into a sticky, is more of a pointless longer 'work around' than using F1. In any case it's pointless because you would already have the manual open in your browser having pasted the URL into a sticky.You've overlooked the important fact that this only needs to be done ONCE. Certainly once if a 3rd party text editor is used to hold the URL, and again once only if sticky note templates were importable, as I requested in an earlier thread. Quote: Additionally your next feature request is most likely to be for SimSig to automatically shorten URL hyperlinks in stickies because the URL makes the note so big it takes up half the screen. Not a bad idea at all, considering there are online services such as TinyURL that can reduce a long URL to a very short one indeed. But SimSig needn't have to do this, except maybe to hide the URL itself and display only its linkname. Quote: (maxand) I usually have too many pages open on my browser...The way you put it makes it sound as if I'm the only person with too many pages open on my browser. Anyway, that's NOT the problem, not even mine. All I want is to be able to jump straight to the one relevant page, whether it's already open in my browser or not. It's obviously not your problem, so you needn't bother continuing to criticize my suggestion. Last edited: 20/05/2015 at 12:45 by maxand Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 12:53 #72528 | |
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RainbowNines
272 posts |
" said:I bet there won't be very many progressive mouths saying what a good idea it is and why it might benefit them too.Maybe because no one thinks it's a good idea? I find that if I need to refer to something whilst doing anything (be it at work, at home, gaming or whatever) then I put aside anything else so I can concentrate. Maybe I could offer a piece of (friendly) advice: If you, as you've alluded to in the past, put all of your efforts and focus into using SimSig, then maybe you should close all of your other tabs, or have a new browser window just with the relevant parts of the manual in? What I do is hit P, open the browser, and there's the page - I don't see how that's all that much slower than clicking a link and waiting for the page to open (which it would have to). Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 13:14 #72529 | |
KymriskaDraken
963 posts |
Maxand may have a good idea, sort of. I don't think we need URLs on stickies, but the F1 Help button isn't very, er, helpful. When F1 is pressed in SimSig it opens a browser window with the User Wiki contents page, which is confusing and doesn't provide obvious help. If, however, the URL was changed to point to the list of manuals the individual sim manual would only be one click away, which I think would be much more useful. I suspect that the F1 URL is a Core Code thing, rather than being coded for each individual sim, so it should be fairly easy to change (at least for loader sims). Kev Log in to reply The following user said thank you: maxand |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 14:43 #72531 | |
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maxand
1637 posts |
My solution which, until new sticky features appear, works well enough is to pop up a single page in my plain text editor (EditPad Plus) which contains a precis of all that's relevant with that sim, along with clickable hyperlinks to the relevant manual sim pages in case more detail is required. I have said as much in earlier posts - just wanted to summarize this. Where I want to keep info right next to the location in the panel, e.g., exactly how to create a route to Matlock in the Derby sim, I am experimenting with pasting an abbreviated link (e.g., using TinyURL) into a sticky note positioned right next to that troublespot; only then I need to open it for Editing and carefully copy and paste the link into my browser without deforming it. That is why I thought being able to click on a blue underlined hyperlink in an unopened sticky note might be a good idea. However, the devs still haven't fixed the problems of unwanted space at the end of each line, nor inserting a completely blank line between entries, so I won't hold my breath here either. Nevertheless, stickies are a great improvement over having to drag out a pencil and paper each time one plays a sim. Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 15:21 #72532 | |
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Steamer
3986 posts |
" said:Six of one, half a dozen of the other on that- while changing it to 'Simulation Manuals' would help if you were looking up simulation-specific information, it would be less useful if you're looking for something generic that would be covered in the Glossary or General Information. " said: What's more, under the Maps and Plans section, Derby isn't yet included - another frustrating WOT.I've added a link to the Derby map on that page. " said: exactly how to create a route to Matlock in the Derby sim, I am experimenting with pasting an abbreviated link (e.g., using TinyURL) into a sticky note positioned right next to that troublespotSurely after following the instructions for the first one the method sinks in? I honestly think you need to bin all the crib sheets and just play the simulation. That way you learn what you have to do and don't keep having to look up the instructions every time. I honestly think you're swamping yourself with information and procedures that you think are helping but are actually distracting you and making the whole thing a lot harder than it needs to be. Taking the effort to learn the simulation means that you can start to fly more on instinct and not hit a brick wall every time you hit something unfamiliar. "Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q) Last edited: 20/05/2015 at 15:22 by Steamer Log in to reply The following users said thank you: JamesN, Dick, Danny252, John, BarryM, Temple Meads, lazzer, TimTamToe, headshot119, peterb |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 20/05/2015 at 19:34 #72536 | |
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John
884 posts |
" said:I honestly think you need to bin all the crib sheets and just play the simulation.One piece of sage advice is worth any amount of multicoloured, url enabled stickies. Log in to reply The following users said thank you: JamesN, headshot119 |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 21/05/2015 at 04:12 #72544 | |
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maxand
1637 posts |
What Steamer and John and all their acolytes may have overlooked is how often a particular sim gets played, particularly if that player is older and memory is not as good as it used to be. If I return to a sim in three, or six momths, will I remember at exactly which sidings a phone call is needed to get a train in? If I forget even where on the drive or in a drawer I keep my crib sheet for that sim, will I still want to play it knowing I have to recompile a sheet? The fewer stickies I begin with, the less user-friendly the sim appears, which leads to a vicious cycle. QED. We don't all play the same sim day in, day out every day. Some of us even get so bored and sick of not making the progress we expect in one sim, we go onto bigger and better games, only to return later when the thought of a a relaxing evening overcomes our fear of self-flagellation. Last edited: 21/05/2015 at 04:24 by maxand Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 21/05/2015 at 04:53 #72545 | |
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Muzer
718 posts |
If I don't know whether or not to put in a phone call, I start making the call and see if the siding appears in the list of possible things to call. If it doesn't, clearly I don't need to make a phone call, and if it does, I probably do ;) Having said that, I don't really see an issue with having URLs in stickies. I suppose it could occasionally be useful. My only concern is that if implementing it is anything more than trivial it'll take away time from more important features. Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 21/05/2015 at 08:43 #72547 | |
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kbarber
1743 posts |
" said:What Steamer and John and all their acolytes may have overlooked is how often a particular sim gets played, particularly if that player is older and memory is not as good as it used to be. If I return to a sim in three, or six momths, will I remember at exactly which sidings a phone call is needed to get a train in? If I forget even where on the drive or in a drawer I keep my crib sheet for that sim, will I still want to play it knowing I have to recompile a sheet? The fewer stickies I begin with, the less user-friendly the sim appears, which leads to a vicious cycle. QED. I'd have no difficulty remembering the working at Finchley Road (post-reframing but before the remodelling that eliminated the fast/local lines junction). Conversation elsewhere shows that I only forgot one aspect of the working pre-reframing (and I'd have picked that up if I'd had a glance at the SBIs), and I only ever saw it once in that condition. Just to put it in context, Finchley Road was reframed in 1978 and remodelled in 1979, before total abolition in 1980. As for Junction Road, Latchmere, Kensington South Main, North Pole, Acton Wells, Marylebone, I could probably go back in there and take over this instant if I needed to. If any of 'em still existed, that is. Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 21/05/2015 at 09:08 #72548 | |
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Steamer
3986 posts |
" said:If I forget even where on the drive or in a drawer I keep my crib sheet for that sim, will I still want to play it knowing I have to recompile a sheet? The fewer stickies I begin with, the less user-friendly the sim appears, which leads to a vicious cycle. QED.Alternatively, if you learn to operate the sim without the crib sheets in the first place, you have no fear of losing them because it's been learnt and will come back to you. Like riding a bike, you'll wobble for the first ten minutes and then it's as if you'd never stopped. I think you're relying on the crib sheets to such an extent that you're just following instructions, and you're not actually learning and understanding the simulation. Once you get the understanding in, when you approach a new simulation you can fly by instinct and be much less fazed by the oddities. Quote: We don't all play the same sim day in, day out every day. Some of us even get so bored and sick of not making the progress we expect in one sim, we go onto bigger and better games, only to return later when the thought of a a relaxing evening overcomes our fear of self-flagellation.Neither do I- I generally play a day on one sim and then go somewhere else and not return for a good while. On return, I'll either find I remember (I enjoy SimSig, therefore my memory for it is good) or a quick look through the manual brings it all back. To be honest, I think you're the only person who sees SimSig as some kind of pain to be endured... "Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q) Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 21/05/2015 at 10:25 #72552 | |
Dick
387 posts |
" said:What Steamer and John and all their acolytes may have overlooked is how often a particular sim gets played, particularly if that player is older and memory is not as good as it used to be. If I return to a sim in three, or six momths, will I remember at exactly which sidings a phone call is needed to get a train in? If I forget even where on the drive or in a drawer I keep my crib sheet for that sim, will I still want to play it knowing I have to recompile a sheet? The fewer stickies I begin with, the less user-friendly the sim appears, which leads to a vicious cycle. QED.I find this constant reference to age patronising. I am in my sixties and have no problem with Simsig whatsoever, I have yet to find a Sim that I can't manage single handed and that includes Kings Cross 1955 steam timetable!! Oh, and I never use ARS on any sims I play either although I do admit to using ACI and slowing busy sims down at peak times. I can go back to a sim months after having played it and pick it up straight away. Last edited: 21/05/2015 at 10:27 by Dick Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 21/05/2015 at 12:11 #72556 | |
northroad
872 posts |
I find this constant reference to age patronising. I am in my sixties and have no problem with Simsig whatsoever, I have yet to find a Sim that I can't manage single handed and that includes Kings Cross 1955 steam timetable!! Oh, and I never use ARS on any sims I play either although I do admit to using ACI and slowing busy sims down at peak times. I can go back to a sim months after having played it and pick it up straight away.[/quote] I fully sympathise with you on that one Dick. Also being in that age bracket it seems to me that people seem to think that you are old and hard of hearing and loosing your marbles. Mind I must admit that loosing your hearing comes in very handy sometimes, especially when her in doors is having a rant about me spending too much time on Sim Sig. Yes dear....are you listening to me....yes dear......what did I just say......is the 1N12 from Kings Cross late again.....yes dear. Geoff Last edited: 21/05/2015 at 12:18 by northroad Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 21/05/2015 at 12:36 #72557 | |
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delticfan
476 posts |
" said:I find this constant reference to age patronising. I am in my sixties and have no problem with Simsig whatsoever, I have yet to find a Sim that I can't manage single handed and that includes Kings Cross 1955 steam timetable!! Oh, and I never use ARS on any sims I play either although I do admit to using ACI and slowing busy sims down at peak times. I can go back to a sim months after having played it and pick it up straight away.I fully sympathise with you on that one Dick. Also being in that age bracket it seems to me that people seem to think that you are old and hard of hearing and loosing your marbles. Mind I must admit that loosing your hearing comes in very handy sometimes, especially when her in doors is having a rant about me spending too much time on Sim Sig. Yes dear....are you listening to me....yes dear......what did I just say......is the 1N12 from Kings Cross late again.....yes dear. Geoff[/quote] Yep, I agree also with you Dick and Geoff. I'm in the 60s too and enjoy Simsig for what it is. I certainly don't have the inclination to delve into the level of technicalities that I see on some threads. I have quite a few sims and if I have problems with anything I've always received speedy and detailed assistance. Unfortunately I no longer have a 'her indoors' to distract me, but when she was around I'm sure she would have become an avid Simsigger. Cheers, Mal. Log in to reply |
| Sticky notes to carry live URL hyperlinks 21/05/2015 at 14:19 #72568 | |
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TimTamToe
664 posts |
It does seem that you are overloading yourself with too much information / too many sticky notes obscuring the screen which are actually hindering rather than helping you / crib sheets at a time and getting more confused by some things. Yes each sim has its quirks that you need to know (or just look at the sim manual) but the majority of processes that are required to be done are the same between all sims. Know the process for one and you have it for others. If you get stuck; pause and only the wiki on your browser, seems a lot more straight forward than more sticky notes with URLs. Out of interest I can't remember which member it was now, but did you take up the offer of going on a multiplayer to help learn processes and see how others do things? Gareth ps age is just a number, it's what you do with it that counts! Last edited: 21/05/2015 at 14:20 by TimTamToe Log in to reply |