Splash Screen: "Updated Preferences" Infobox #110425

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opened 2023-07-24 19:08:01 +02:00 by Julien Kaspar · 20 comments

Julien Kaspar commented

2023-07-24 19:08:01 +02:00

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For Blender 4.0 there will be various default keymap updates (#105298) that users should be aware of when loading their 3.6 preferences.
This task will become necessary once those patches are merged.

The idea is to add a popup to make users aware and point them towards resources to inform themselves. This will avoid frustration and many invalid bug reports.

Mockups

The addition of an info icon to the operator button that loads the previous preferences (As an indication that this will open a popup with more info).

A possible layout for the main popup.
This info might be very important for some users, so the popup can only be closed with an explicit button press.

This also includes a an operator button "Read more..." that links to the relevant release notes page without closing the popup itself. An added border would make this more recognisable as a button.

This popup could then be used for future releases and other important changes (only if absolutely needed).

For Blender 4.0 there will be various default keymap updates (#105298) that users should be aware of when loading their 3.6 preferences. This task will become necessary once those patches are merged. The idea is to add a popup to make users aware and point them towards resources to inform themselves. This will avoid frustration and many invalid bug reports. ### Mockups The addition of an info icon to the operator button that loads the previous preferences (As an indication that this will open a popup with more info). ![splash_info.png](/attachments/486a45a2-f8fb-4472-9d4b-a5590b09b5fe) A possible layout for the main popup. This info might be very important for some users, so the popup can only be closed with an explicit button press. This also includes a an operator button "Read more..." that links to the relevant release notes page without closing the popup itself. An added border would make this more recognisable as a button. ![splash_info.png](/attachments/d627adf6-b5c1-4f7b-abac-157e72d9678b) This popup could then be used for future releases and other important changes (only if absolutely needed).

splash_info.png

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splash_keymap_info.png

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Julien Kaspar added this to the 4.0 milestone 2023-07-24 19:08:01 +02:00

Julien Kaspar added the

Sculpt, Paint & Texture

labels 2023-07-24 19:08:01 +02:00

Julien Kaspar commented

2023-07-24 19:08:59 +02:00

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@pablovazquez Let me know what you think of the wording and layout.

@ideasman42 Would you ahve time to work on this task?

@pablovazquez Let me know what you think of the wording and layout. @ideasman42 Would you ahve time to work on this task?

Julien Kaspar referenced this issue

2023-07-24 19:10:06 +02:00

Sculpt/Painting Modes: Revamp Keymap #105298

Piotr Adamowicz commented

2023-07-24 22:11:11 +02:00

I'd suggest to make this a little bit clearer why it's been updated, like this:

"Many improvements have been made to the keymap for Blender 4.0. Follow the link below to see a list of what has changed!"

I'd suggest to make this a little bit clearer *why* it's been updated, like this: "Many improvements have been made to the keymap for Blender 4.0. Follow the link below to see a list of what has changed!"

Paul Kotelevets commented

2023-07-25 06:05:47 +02:00

"Keymap" seems to be a bette term than "Shortcuts", since it is similar to preferences naming

"Keymap" seems to be a bette term than "Shortcuts", since it is similar to preferences naming

Julien Kaspar commented

2023-07-25 10:57:32 +02:00

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Member

Yes the term keymap can be used instead of shortcuts 👍

For the "why" things are changed, people should read the release notes page. That one can go more into detail.
The important thing from this popup is that they are aware that they changed at all and that they should inform themselves.

Yes the term keymap can be used instead of shortcuts 👍 For the "why" things are changed, people should read the release notes page. That one can go more into detail. The important thing from this popup is that they are aware that they changed at all and that they should inform themselves.

Julien Kaspar commented

2023-07-26 15:30:04 +02:00

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I made some adjustments based on feedback and after talking with @pablovazquez.

@Harley Would you be interested in implementing this? Do you have any notes or ideas?

I made some adjustments based on feedback and after talking with @pablovazquez. @Harley Would you be interested in implementing this? Do you have any notes or ideas?

Harley Acheson commented

2023-07-26 17:28:40 +02:00

Member

@JulienKaspar - Would you be interested in implementing this? Do you have any notes or ideas?

Yes!

Do you have any notes or ideas?

Not yet, but I might once I see how this feels.

> @JulienKaspar - Would you be interested in implementing this? Do you have any notes or ideas? Yes! > Do you have any notes or ideas? Not yet, but I might once I see how this feels.

Yevgeny Makarov commented

2023-07-26 18:58:20 +02:00

Member

As an indication that this will open a popup with more info.

An ellipsis is used for this purpose in the UI, e.g. "Load Settings...".

Accept new default shortcuts and preferences?
This version of Blender includes new shortcuts and preferences that may override the previous ones.

It's very confusing. What happens if I don't accept it?
I don't care about the "new default", I'm trying to load my own settings.

It's not clear what you want to say; that Blender has new hotkeys or that your custom ones won't work anymore.
If you're talking about hotkeys, why mention "Preferences" in general.

The correct way this can work is after loading the user's hotkeys, if there are any, you warn users that some of those custom hotkeys have been overridden. And it is better to specify which hotkeys, otherwise what the user should do with this knowledge.

This should work more as a warning of incompatibilities (such as file versions) than as a just a notification of changes in a new version of Blender.

This "Quick Setup" is already a bad design. When you offer a new user to make preferences, he/she just doesn't understand what it is and what to select. If the user is old, he wants to migrate the old preferences, or if he wants to customize from scratch he will still go to Preferences. You can reset the settings to default at any time if you change your mind later, there is no need for the "Save New Settings" button.

> As an indication that this will open a popup with more info. An ellipsis is used for this purpose in the UI, e.g. "Load Settings...". > Accept new default shortcuts and preferences? >This version of Blender includes new shortcuts and preferences that may override the previous ones. It's very confusing. What happens if I don't accept it? I don't care about the "new default", I'm trying to load my own settings. It's not clear what you want to say; that Blender has new hotkeys or that your custom ones won't work anymore. If you're talking about hotkeys, why mention "Preferences" in general. The correct way this can work is **after loading** the user's hotkeys, **if there are any**, you warn users that some of those custom hotkeys have been overridden. And it is better to specify which hotkeys, otherwise what the user should do with this knowledge. This should work more as a warning of incompatibilities (such as file versions) than as a just a notification of changes in a new version of Blender. This "Quick Setup" is already a bad design. When you offer a new user to make preferences, he/she just doesn't understand what it is and what to select. If the user is old, he wants to migrate the old preferences, or if he wants to customize from scratch he will still go to Preferences. You can reset the settings to default at any time if you change your mind later, there is no need for the "Save New Settings" button.

Julien Kaspar commented

2023-08-08 11:42:18 +02:00

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Member

The message this popup is trying to communicate is that the default shortcuts changed and there is a link to find out more.
This affects anyone who already knows Blender from a previous version.

So having this only pop up if you load your previous preferences is actually the wrong way to do it.
Because this doesn't affect user preferences at all. Only unedited shortcuts will be changed.
Some Blender users also stick very close to the defaults and don't load their preferences (because they switch workstations a lot for example).

Therefore I'd suggest to put this info directly above the quick setup info. Then it's less disrupting and anyone could to see it. And again, this should only notify users of very disruptive changes to avoid frustration.
Here's an idea. But I'm also open for alternative ways to communicate this.

Shortcut changes are a prime use case for this. Other UI changes are at least still discoverable but too many shortcuts are not shown anywhere in the UI other than deep in the keymap editor.
And finding them there is unreasonably hard if you can't search for them by keybinding anymore.

The message this popup is trying to communicate is that the default shortcuts changed and there is a link to find out more. This affects anyone who already knows Blender from a previous version. So having this only pop up if you load your previous preferences is actually the wrong way to do it. Because this doesn't affect user preferences at all. Only unedited shortcuts will be changed. Some Blender users also stick very close to the defaults and don't load their preferences (because they switch workstations a lot for example). Therefore I'd suggest to put this info directly above the quick setup info. Then it's less disrupting and anyone could to see it. And again, this should only notify users of very disruptive changes to avoid frustration. Here's an idea. But I'm also open for alternative ways to communicate this. ![splash_keymap_info_v2.jpg](/attachments/7063ed8f-25fa-4fde-974a-0eb08974c539) Shortcut changes are a prime use case for this. Other UI changes are at least still discoverable but too many shortcuts are not shown anywhere in the UI other than deep in the keymap editor. And finding them there is unreasonably hard if you can't search for them by keybinding anymore.

splash_keymap_info_v2.jpg

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Paul Kotelevets commented

2023-08-08 12:56:17 +02:00

Looks clean and straightforward.
But not sure for how many versions it should be kept - changing keymap is pretty common for blender last years.
For example, we sort of never expect them to be the same, and resetup them from scratch each time to avoid unexpected losses because of collisions during keymap migration.

Looks clean and straightforward. But not sure for how many versions it should be kept - changing keymap is pretty common for blender last years. For example, we sort of never expect them to be the same, and resetup them from scratch each time to avoid unexpected losses because of collisions during keymap migration.

Julien Kaspar commented

2023-08-08 13:00:58 +02:00

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It should be reconsidered to add and update this for every release. Most releases will not have any big changes like 4.0 so often this message will simply not be there.

It should be reconsidered to add and update this for every release. Most releases will not have any big changes like 4.0 so often this message will simply not be there.

Harley Acheson referenced this issue

2023-08-09 20:14:41 +02:00

WIP: Splash Screen Preferences Warning #110978

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2023-08-11 14:23:59 +02:00

Owner

I hadn't seen this proposal before. Personally I don't think we should do this. I don't see why these shortcut changes are more notable than many other changes we make. Every time we make some part of the UI louder, it's competing with something else, and then over time the UI gets louder and louder. So I think we should be very careful with warnings like this that are shown to everyone.

Maybe a message like "Read more about important changes in this release" would be ok, with less emphasis on it than the current design. But even then, I personally would not.

Was this approved by @pablovazquez as the UI designer? I didn't see a reply in this issue.

I hadn't seen this proposal before. Personally I don't think we should do this. I don't see why these shortcut changes are more notable than many other changes we make. Every time we make some part of the UI louder, it's competing with something else, and then over time the UI gets louder and louder. So I think we should be very careful with warnings like this that are shown to everyone. Maybe a message like "Read more about important changes in this release" would be ok, with less emphasis on it than the current design. But even then, I personally would not. Was this approved by @pablovazquez as the UI designer? I didn't see a reply in this issue.

Julien Kaspar commented

2023-08-11 17:42:17 +02:00

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Member

Yes we need to wait for @pablovazquez to reply to this once he's back from Siggraph.
He was ok with this in the context of it being an additional popover when loading the previous preferences.
The issue with that approach was that it failed at communicating the right message.

I agree that there are also other noteworthy changes in the release notes. But shortcuts are currently hard to discover and documentation is sparse or non existent. Many shortcuts have no menu entries so changes are invisible. And searching the keymap preferences is often done by searching for the keybindings.

I'm in favor of not bringing this message box back for future releases unless big keymap changes are made again and we haven't agreed on an alternative.
This isn't a slippery slope as long as everyone is aware why this was done.
This should not be a loud alarming message but a helpful link.
In that case we can also go for something smaller.

I'm also fine with exploring a more generic message and linking to the general release notes page. Or a page specifically about backwards-incompatibility changes?

Yes we need to wait for @pablovazquez to reply to this once he's back from Siggraph. He was ok with this in the context of it being an additional popover when loading the previous preferences. The issue with that approach was that it failed at communicating the right message. I agree that there are also other noteworthy changes in the release notes. But shortcuts are currently hard to discover and documentation is sparse or non existent. Many shortcuts have no menu entries so changes are invisible. And searching the keymap preferences is often done by searching for the keybindings. I'm in favor of not bringing this message box back for future releases unless big keymap changes are made again and we haven't agreed on an alternative. This isn't a slippery slope as long as everyone is aware why this was done. This should not be a loud alarming message but a helpful link. In that case we can also go for something smaller. I'm also fine with exploring a more generic message and linking to the general release notes page. Or a page specifically about backwards-incompatibility changes?

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2023-08-11 18:10:29 +02:00

Owner

I expect > 99% of users will not have customized these sculpting shortcuts, and > 90% of users will never notice these shortcut changes. To me this seems more like something to cover ourselves. Because even the majority of users this affects will ignore the message, or not bother to learn about the new shortcuts because they just want to get on with things.

We have a Release Notes link in the splash. Perhaps that could be given more space and attention when we detect that the user has just upgraded. "Find out about important changes in Blender 4.0 ..." or something.

I expect > 99% of users will not have customized these sculpting shortcuts, and > 90% of users will never notice these shortcut changes. To me this seems more like something to cover ourselves. Because even the majority of users this affects will ignore the message, or not bother to learn about the new shortcuts because they just want to get on with things. We have a Release Notes link in the splash. Perhaps that could be given more space and attention when we detect that the user has just upgraded. "Find out about important changes in Blender 4.0 ..." or something.

Harley Acheson commented

2023-08-11 19:00:51 +02:00

Member

I am happy to work on anything (#110978), but if this were put to a vote I would vote against as is.

With this dialog the user is in the midst of being asked a number of questions, the most important choice being whether to load old settings or use new ones. This warning and linked details could be seen as a way of helping with decisions, but it doesn't really. This is a warning that the program you just launched might cause you pain regardless of what you choose.

Having a notice about the changes to shortcuts might make sense as a very prominent part of the release notes?

Perhaps this warning section could instead be a link to the release notes and becomes a permanent part of the dialog?

We have a Release Notes link in the splash

But curiously not on this initial "Quick Setup". We also don't have a link to the Release Notes on the "Help" menu. Which might be my fault, because when putting together the "About" dialog it was going to be on the "Help" menu. There isn't much appetite for moving "About" to the "Help" menu, but we should consider adding "Release Notes" to "Help"

I am happy to work on anything (#110978), but if this were put to a vote I would vote against as is. With this dialog the user is in the midst of being asked a number of questions, the most important choice being whether to load old settings or use new ones. This warning and linked details could be seen as a way of helping with decisions, but it doesn't really. This is a warning that the program you just launched might cause you pain _regardless of what you choose_. Having a notice about the changes to shortcuts might make sense as a very prominent part of the release notes? Perhaps this warning section could instead be a link to the release notes and becomes a permanent part of the dialog? ![image](/attachments/640e3d4d-70cc-4d91-836e-288f08b20b5f) > We have a Release Notes link in the splash But curiously not on this initial "Quick Setup". We also don't have a link to the Release Notes on the "Help" menu. Which _might_ be my fault, because when putting together the "About" dialog it was going to be on the "Help" menu. There isn't much appetite for moving "About" to the "Help" menu, but we should consider adding "Release Notes" to "Help"

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Julien Kaspar commented

2023-08-12 14:16:31 +02:00

Author

Member

I'll work on a short YouTube video do demo the changes and how they are useful.
This can then be embedded into the release page further down and the release notes page if we like.
If there's a feature roundup video that could also mention that shortcuts changed.

I see the issues with this dialogue ... if the release notes make that visible enough instead then we can just not go for the dialogue box and at most have a general Release Notes link there.

The "Release Notes" buttons in the UI also are currently linking to the blender.org release notes instead of the wiki. That should probably change too. One is more informative than the other.

I'll work on a short YouTube video do demo the changes and how they are useful. This can then be embedded into the release page further down and the release notes page if we like. If there's a feature roundup video that could also mention that shortcuts changed. I see the issues with this dialogue ... if the release notes make that visible enough instead then we can just not go for the dialogue box and at most have a general Release Notes link there. The "Release Notes" buttons in the UI also are currently linking to the blender.org release notes instead of the wiki. That should probably change too. One is more informative than the other.

Paul Kotelevets commented

2023-08-13 02:16:53 +02:00

Making videos is a nice explicit tool.
For example we use it during workflow design process for practical analysis - detecting flaws and solutions comparisons.

However.

Making a short Youtube video is good for clarity, but only if you don't plan to make sufficient changes in further.
For example, my channel is already flooded with questions about functionality of a useful shortctus that has been cut out (for some unknown reason).
It is quite common Blender tutorials problem as well.
Maybe it makes sense to clarify in the video that it is not a tutorial, but some kind of a vlog that is relevant only for the current date/blender version.
A format which is something in between a tutorial and Blender today.

Making videos is a nice explicit tool. For example we use it during workflow design process for practical analysis - detecting flaws and solutions comparisons. However. Making a short Youtube video is good for clarity, but only if you don't plan to make sufficient changes in further. For example, my channel is already flooded with questions about functionality of a useful shortctus that has been cut out (for some unknown reason). It is quite common Blender tutorials problem as well. Maybe it makes sense to clarify in the video that it is not a tutorial, but some kind of a vlog that is relevant only for the current date/blender version. A format which is something in between a tutorial and Blender today.

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2023-08-14 15:28:26 +02:00

Owner

Perhaps we can leave the dialog unchanged for first time users, and then when there are existing settings that can be transferred it could show something like this. Basically add two new links, and move the button to transfer settings up. I would not show a big info/warning icon.

Release Notes           Important Changes
                        [ Transfer 3.6 Settings ]

Fresh Setup
        Language    [    ...   ]
        Shortcuts   [    ...   ]
                        [   Save New Settings   ]

Perhaps we can leave the dialog unchanged for first time users, and then when there are existing settings that can be transferred it could show something like this. Basically add two new links, and move the button to transfer settings up. I would not show a big info/warning icon. ``` Release Notes Important Changes [ Transfer 3.6 Settings ] Fresh Setup Language [ ... ] Shortcuts [ ... ] [ Save New Settings ] ```

Harley Acheson commented

2023-08-14 18:43:10 +02:00

Member

Could be like this for new users:

And this for returning users:

Could be like this for new users: ![image](/attachments/f39ced4d-0ad4-4ed7-9b9d-b12413fdb245) And this for returning users: ![image](/attachments/f4555bea-f5ac-4254-87b4-2b231d23ea8b)

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~~Harley Acheson referenced this issue 2023-08-14 20:44:59 +02:00~~

UI: Splash Screen Changes #111123

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2023-08-15 16:07:07 +02:00

Owner

Nice, I would suggest some layout changes:

"Import Your Existing Settings" -> "Import Existing Settings"
"Create New Setup (Ignore Previous Settings)" -> "Create New Settings"
Right align "Load 3.6 Settings" and "Save New Settings buttons"
Change Read the Release Notes into "Release Notes" with the same link/globe icon on the left as on the splash screen and without embossing. Maybe put it on the left of "Load 3.6 Settings"

Nice, I would suggest some layout changes: * "Import Your Existing Settings" -> "Import Existing Settings" * "Create New Setup (Ignore Previous Settings)" -> "Create New Settings" * Right align "Load 3.6 Settings" and "Save New Settings buttons" * Change Read the Release Notes into "Release Notes" with the same link/globe icon on the left as on the splash screen and without embossing. Maybe put it on the left of "Load 3.6 Settings"

Pablo Vazquez referenced this issue

2023-09-22 20:16:56 +02:00

UI: Splash Screen Changes #111123

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2023-10-05 17:42:55 +02:00

Owner

The PR was committed, I believe this is done.

The PR was committed, I believe this is done.

Brecht Van Lommel closed this issue

2023-10-05 17:42:58 +02:00

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