Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations  SOLVED

Forum for the PDF-XChange Editor - Free and Licensed Versions

Moderators: TrackerSupp-Daniel, Tracker Support, Paul - Tracker Supp, Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team, Chris - Tracker Supp, Sean - Tracker, Ivan - Tracker Software, Tracker Supp-Stefan

avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

Hi!

It's horrible enough that it changes to a new UI without any prompts but it also destroys my customized GUI.

Before it looked like this:
xe-before.PNG
After upgrade and return to Classic Toolbars:
xe-after.PNG
I don't know who would want to update to this when it destroys all your work you put in customizing the GUI.
User avatar
AndyK
User
Posts: 102
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 8:52 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by AndyK »

Have a look on this gif animation...
pdfxchangeeditor_gui.gif
GUI.png
User avatar
TheDecathlon
User
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2017 8:40 am

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by TheDecathlon »

Check here: "the old interface still available via a switch option in the windows's title bar"

https://www.pdf-xchange.com/forum3 ... 67#p118467
Spiff
User
Posts: 82
Joined: Sun Apr 18, 2010 11:41 am
Location: the Netherlands

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Spiff »

@AndyK,
I think that avada meant to say that with the upgrade to v7.0 customizations made in v6.0 are not successfully migrated to v7.0.
For that same reason, I will wait upgrading to v7.0.
After switching from Viewer to Editor, last January, I made many customizations in Editor 6.0, to fit it to my needs perfectly. It took some effort, but I liked the result very much.
I hate the idea that I would lose my v6.0 customizations in v7.0, and would need to make a lot of adjustments once again.
I'm fine with change, but not if it means I have to redo, or at least check, all my previous customizations.
Last edited by Spiff on Mon Dec 04, 2017 9:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

AndyK wrote:Have a look on this gif animation...

pdfxchangeeditor_gui.gif

GUI.png
This doesn't help... As I showed in my opening post I already switched back to the old UI. My custom toolbars/settings are gone.
You didn't actually read my post...
TheDecathlon wrote:Check here: "the old interface still available via a switch option in the windows's title bar"

https://www.pdf-xchange.com/forum3 ... 67#p118467
Same thing.
Spiff wrote:@AndyK,
I think that avada meant to say that with the upgrade to v7.0 customisations made in v6.0 are not successfully migrated to v7.0.
For that same reason, I will wait upgrading to v7.0.
After switching from Viewer to Editor, last January, I made many customisations in Editor 6.0, to fit it to my needs perfectly. It took some effort, but I liked the result very much.
I hate the idea that I would lose my v6.0 customisations in v7.0, and would need to make a lot of adjustments once again.
I'm fine with change, but not if it means I have to redo, or at least check, all my previous customisations.
Indeed.
Though I wouldn't get my hopes up. They should have done it in the first place. The fact that they didn't means they don't care about users' customizations.
Which is quite a horrible attitude when you have a program with so much customizability...

PS:
Most users will be screwed anyway, because there's no warning, and I doubt many of us will back up our settings and test in a different instance. And once it's lost it's lost...
Peter 123
User
Posts: 114
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:47 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Peter 123 »

avada wrote: and I doubt many of us will back up our settings and test in a different instance. And once it's lost it's lost...
I know that saying this won't help you (or other users in your situation): But testing in a different instance (some virtual environment) is always an advisable action when fundamental changes in a software are to come. (The same applied e.g. to the current fundamental change from Firefox 56 to 57.)

You can export your ("technical") settings from your old version (creating the .xcs file) but indeed I saw that when importing them into the new version the old customized interface (arrangement of toolbars etc.) is not kept. (I assume that something like that is not even possible because of the fundamental changes that took place in version 7 - but may be I am wrong.)

So I did the following (too late for you - I know, but perhaps it is useful for other users): I made screenshots of my customized interface as it looks now (in version 6) and when I will definitely upgrade to version 7 I will reestablish this interface manually (as far as it will be possible and on basis of these screenshots) by the way described in the above posting by AndyK.
User avatar
TheDecathlon
User
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2017 8:40 am

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by TheDecathlon »

You are right, I didn't pay enough attention and thought you were only complaining about the Ribbon interface which in itself would be totally understandable, many nice interfaces have been ruined this way. It'd be sad to see this happen here, too.

However, I think you're being a bit unfair to the developers. If they didn't care for user customisation they wouldn't still offer it in the first place. Not being able to restore the exported settings is indeed an issue and hopefully it'll be fixed soon.

Can you more or less re-create your previous configuration from scratch or are the new "ClassicToolbars" downgraded? I haven't tested v7 yet. If not possible, then that indeed would be a significant regression.
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

Peter 123 wrote:So I did the following (too late for you - I know, but perhaps it is useful for other users): I made screenshots of my customized interface as it looks now (in version 6) and when I will definitely upgrade to version 7 I will reestablish this interface manually (as far as it will be possible and on basis of these screenshots) by the way described in the above posting by AndyK.
Actually, I did make a backup and test v7. But I surely won't be upgrading to spend half a day re-creating the old UI. (If it's even possible, there doesn't seem to be a custom toolbars section anymore. Anything's just added to the main toolbars)
User avatar
David.P
User
Posts: 1510
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:16 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by David.P »

Hi @all,

I just tried and upgraded to version 7, and indeed all toolbar customizations are gone.

This is indeed rather unfortunate at least for users who have extensively customized the toolbars to their needs.

In my case, my years-long (space-saving) customization looked like this:
Image

…and is completely gone now, which is why I'll stick with v.6 for the time being, until I find the time to re-create the customization in v.7.

I'd issue a big warning to all users to be sure to export the current settings from v.6 before upgrading to v.7. Otherwise it could be that there is no way back (other than trying to extract the old settings from a registry backup, or by performing a system restore).

Regards
David.P
David.P
PDF-XChange Pro
User avatar
Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team
Site Admin
Posts: 2352
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:11 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team »

Hi All.
It's horrible enough that it changes to a new UI without any prompts but it also destroys my customized GUI.
We are sorry that you lost your toolbar customization when you moved from V6 to V7 and we appreciate that it must have been a frustrating experience for you. The development team discussed this issue at length and ultimately decided that we would not support V6 customization in V7. The main reason for this is because there is a significant difference in the coding that implements the customization features between the two versions. Additionally, the customization data is stored differently in V7, in comparison to V6, which further complicates the issue and makes any kind of ‘auto-import mechanism’ impossible. We are always striving to improve our products, and the old method of customization that was used in V6 had a couple of fundamental issues that had to be addressed. It was not possible to fix these issues without changing the manner in which customization data is stored, which in turn meant editing a significant portion of the corresponding code – and this process had the unfortunate side-effect of toolbar customization from V6 losing its compatibility with V7.
However, we can guarantee you that, from this version forwards, the current manner in which toolbars are customized will always be supported – as we have now resolved some long-standing issues and we are satisfied that the current system is optimal. Therefore it will not be necessary to make such significant changes again, and you can rest assured that your customized toolbars will always be compatible with the software moving forwards.

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

Best
Regards.
Vasyl Yaremyn
Tracker Software Products
Project Developer

Please archive any files posted to a ZIP, 7z or RAR file or they will be removed and not posted.
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team wrote:Additionally, the customization data is stored differently in V7, in comparison to V6, which further complicates the issue and makes any kind of ‘auto-import mechanism’ impossible.
This is a huge stretch. The data is there, it could have been converted to the new format. Anyway, thanks for the update.
User avatar
Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team
Site Admin
Posts: 2352
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:11 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team »

Ok, we may change it from 'impossible' to 'very difficult' to satisfy you. ;)

Also, to be clear, in some cases where there is a large amount of customization in the old standard toolbars - it might well be impossible to import all of them correctly, as some of the standard toolbars were refactored/reorganized in V7, and a couple were removed.

As far as custom toolbars are concerned, it is a simpler process to simply import them - but the customization of toolbars also includes their layout, location and size. This creates some difficulty as the stored customization information represents the only difference between standard commands/toolbars layout and the visible customized layout. In cases where the standard layout was also changed/refactored in V7 (even in the classic UI) – the stored customization information becomes partially meaningless, as it is referencing elements that do not exist or have been modified, and so ‘impossible’ is not such a stretch after all.. :)
Vasyl Yaremyn
Tracker Software Products
Project Developer

Please archive any files posted to a ZIP, 7z or RAR file or they will be removed and not posted.
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

Okay.
I'd like to add one thing though. Tracker Software's dumb way of releasing updates without (and far before) the changelog is particularly noxious in cases like this.

People will just update and get screwed, and some weeks after it happened they might see the warning in the changelog about customizations being lost. (If you bother to mention it.) Not much use...
User avatar
David.P
User
Posts: 1510
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:16 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by David.P »

...yep, and if you were to use a slightly less offensive language with the world-class Tracker Support team, you might be heard even better ;)
David.P
PDF-XChange Pro
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

David.P wrote:...yep, and if you were to use a slightly less offensive language with the world-class Tracker Support team, you might be heard even better ;)
I don't think there's a need to sugarcoat here. It plain sucks that you don't get the changelog with the update. It's nonsensical
Last edited by avada on Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
David.P
User
Posts: 1510
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:16 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by David.P »

Geniuses like the Tracker developers can EITHER deliver incredibly brilliant software OR up-to date changelogs, but not both ;)
David.P
PDF-XChange Pro
TerraD
User
Posts: 26
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:34 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by TerraD »

I do not see any overoffensive Language in the above complaints. I think those people were even kind in the way they expressed their frustration.

Fact is: You rolled out a new version that destroys the customers manual optimization. An optimization in which he likely invested many trials (and many hours) until it was optimal. If something is really offensive, it is such behavior.

As a software developer I do understand, that you sometimes have to get rid old stuff. But it would be nothing but polite to inform people in advance when you make such severe changes. This would allow us to take a screenshot and maybe even postpone the upgrade to a moment we are not under pressure. I for myself was working on some timecritcal documentation and got delayed now severely by installing this upgrade where I can find no command in the place it used to be.

As always: ribbons are great for newbies but a horrible lack of efficiency for power users. It is a pity Tracker jumped on that wagon.
User avatar
Bhikkhu Pesala
User
Posts: 1776
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 9:29 am
Location: East London
Contact:

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

I exported my settings and installed version 7.0 to see what the fuss was about. I have already uninstalled it, and reinstalled version 6.0.322.7.

This may be the end of the line for my promotion of PDF-XChange Editor. If I don't use version 7.0 myself, I can hardly review the changes or recommend the upgrade to others.

I don't use a fraction of the features myself, mostly I use it for viewing PDF files, and occasionally for OCR or adding some annotations. Customising the workspace to suit my personal needs was a major reason for me liking the product and recommending it. No doubt I could learn to do it again for version 7.0, but there is no incentive to do that.

I also think it is vital to publish the History of Changes and the updated Help System, before or at the same time as releasing the update so that upgraders know what to expect, and where to find help on what's new.
Windows 10 Home 64-bit • AMD Ryzen 5 3400G, 8 Gb
Review: http://www.softerviews.org/PDF-XChange.html
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:I also think it is vital to publish the History of Changes and the updated Help System, before or at the same time as releasing the update so that upgraders know what to expect, and where to find help on what's new.
It's even better if the update prompt of the updater includes the changelog. (Same for the download page. Which has a link to the version history page, but which is of course outdated.)
User avatar
Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team
Site Admin
Posts: 2352
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:11 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team »

Hi guys.

Ok, I understand what you mean. In conclusion, currently we have two problems:

1. When you migrate from V6 to V7 you will lose your current toolbar customizations.

However, it should be noted that it is possible, in two clicks, to switch from the Ribbon UI to the Classic UI – and the classic UI can be customized in a manner very similar to any customization that existed in V6 in most cases, and especially if there was only simple customization.

However excessive customization may well lead to a clumsy and difficult to navigate UI for the reasons outlined in my previous posts. We are currently investigating the possibility of offering some kind of auto-import feature for customization data from V6 to V7 – but we have to stress that this is a very complex process. Additionally, unfortunately in cases where V7 has already been installed, any old customization will have been lost and cannot be recovered. We regret and apologize for not having anticipated the potentially extensive customization that some users may have performed and not providing a means to retain this.

We will endeavour to ensure in any future version we give greater consideration to a means to retain customization etc to ensure users do not face such issues ever again if at all possible.

If you have not already installed V7, then we advise you to export your current settings to file before installing V7. It is our aim to add an auto-import feature for settings and customization from V6, due to the responses that we have had from our users. We feel your frustration keenly and we are doing everything we can to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. However, it should again be noted that the huge differences between the builds are likely to mean that this process will not be an exact science – but we will do the best we can.

2. The PDF-XChange Editor's changelog has not updated.

We apologise for the delay in updating the changelog for PDF-XChange Editor. This has been a huge build that involves all of our major products – since the release there have been a higher than usual number of issues to resolve which – amongst other things – have taken priority over the changelog. I’m sure you can appreciate that when major changes take place in complex products, new problems arise and we are obliged to make those issues the main priority. However, we also appreciate how important the changelog is to our users and we will get it published for all of our products as soon as possible – and apologise again for the delay.
It's even better if the update prompt of the updater includes the changelog.
Good idea - we will try and add it to the update prompt.

Best
Regards.
Vasyl Yaremyn
Tracker Software Products
Project Developer

Please archive any files posted to a ZIP, 7z or RAR file or they will be removed and not posted.
User avatar
John - Tracker Supp
Site Admin
Posts: 5219
Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2004 10:34 am
Location: United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations  SOLVED

Post by John - Tracker Supp »

Hi all and specifically you Bhikkhu ...

Many of you have been with us a long time and we have valued your support and feedback along our journey ...

All major new releases of any product are important to any company and indeed its clients - change is rarely welcome as it requires a learning curve for users and regrettably can and often does lead to unforeseen issues with initial products released.

We have resisted introducing a 'Ribbon' interface for a long time - many users made it obvious to us that it was not their preferred UI model and being frank - it wasn't ours either. But as time has passed the Ribbon offered in many mainstream products has improved and now is the more common model by far - to the point where we have been under increasing pressure from more and more clients to conform, to the point where it was no longer feasible to continue without offering this option.

So rather than ditch the Classic UI offered we wanted to make the switch optional - our biggest error with hindsight was not to offer a means to retain a clients existing customizations - and for this we apologize and are endeavouring to include, though regrettably for some this will not be possible as once installed V7 removes these from the registry if they have not been exported prior to install.

We are intending to add an automatic export of these historic settings so that in a future build a means to re-import them is included.

We have dropped the ball here and it is our fault - I assure you we will learn from this and do all we can not to repeat the error in the future - sometimes our enthusiasm to get new releases and features out and available gets the better of us and no doubt in this instance it has proved to be a significant error.

We hope you will bear with us and keep the faith - because we do ALWAYS LISTEN and whilst we accept that no one likes change - often that initial reluctance does wear down and the benefit of making the effort to make the switch pays dividends in enhanced productivity and features - but where users are adamant they want to continue with the classic UI we will work hard to ensure that they can continue to do so as productively as possible.

Thank you

John Verbeeten - CEO.
If posting files to this forum - you must archive the files to a ZIP, RAR or 7z file or they will not be uploaded - thank you.

Best regards
Tracker Support
http://www.tracker-software.com
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

Vasyl-Tracker Dev Team wrote:This has been a huge build that involves all of our major products – since the release there have been a higher than usual number of issues to resolve which – amongst other things – have taken priority over the changelog. I’m sure you can appreciate that when major changes take place in complex products, new problems arise and we are obliged to make those issues the main priority.
It would help to consider the changelog as part of the release and not release it until it's ready. It's the only thing that makes sense to me.

Also providing the changelog in the updater, with the new version notification.Otherwise people using it might miss or not know about it.
User avatar
Paul - Tracker Supp
Site Admin
Posts: 6835
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:37 pm
Location: Chemainus, Canada
Contact:

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Paul - Tracker Supp »

Hi avada et al,

we are listening and this is going to change - starting with 7.0.323.1
Best regards

Paul O'Rorke
Tracker Support North America
http://www.tracker-software.com
Peter 123
User
Posts: 114
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:47 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Peter 123 »

I simply want to say a very big Thank you to all the team of Tracker Software for their excellent work they do all the time; and - concerning this thread - a special thanks to John and Vasyl for their statements: I hardly know any other company respectively developer who communicates in such a honest and straightforward way with the users in case that "something has gone wrong" with a new version of the software - and this moreover combined with the announcement to correct (and to avoid) the "mistakes" in future builds.

That's indeed something very fair and friendly from your side, John and Vasyl (an from all the team you are speaking for). :D

And I think that with these steps and statements Tracker Software did already much more than it would be (morally) obliged to do. That's why I wrote above the words "mistakes" and "something has gone wrong" under quotation marks:

That the old toolbar customization is lost with the new version may be annoying for some users. And that the changelog of the new version was not published earlier may be annoying for them too.

But on the other hand every user had to expect that the change to a higher version number (from 6 to 7) itself would obviously imply some fundamental changes too.

So, all of the users who criticize so hard now the team of Tracker Software should - at least a little bit - criticize their own behaviour too:

a) If you read the forum you will have seen already many weeks ago that this upgrade would lead to bigger changes - and reading in the forum now (after the release of the upgrade) you have the possibility to learn that there are various (smaller) bugs and that the issue with the lost customization exists.

b) Moreover Tracker Software offered already several days before the release on its homepage two videos about version 7: one about the "New Ribbon Interface" (14 November) and another about the "New Features" (27 November). You can find them directly on the starting page (under "Latest News"): https://www.pdf-xchange.com/

Some users complain about the missing changelog. But did they watch these videos (before installing the new version)? They had the possbility to inform themselves at least about the basic changes.

And I really do not understand: Why are some users so impatient in installing immediately the newest version of a software? No one obliged you to do it so quickly. If you had followed the above mentioned steps a) and/or b) you would have had a quite good basis to decide if you are already now willing to install the new version or if you decide to wait (e.g. until an update with certain fixes will be released or until you have taken some precautionary measures concerning your existing customization [screenshots etc.]).

c) Finally there is the possibility to test a software in a virtual environment. Of course this requires some additional software (I use "Shadow Defender") but using it can be very helpful because you can see the advantages and the shortcomings of the tested software before you definitely install it on your computer.

Concerning version 7 of the Editor I made use of all the three described measures (a to c). As conclusion I decided to do the following 2 things:
- To take a screenshot of the user interface as it is in version 6, according to my customization. So reestablishing it in version 7 will be no big deal, I think.
- To wait a little bit until I will upgrade to version 7, perhaps until its first update will be released.

So for the time being I remain a happy and satisfied user of version 6. And I am confident that this will not change with version 7 too. :wink:

To my mind, here in this case some users demand very much from the publisher of the software but they neglect their own co-responsibility in dealing with it. And I say "here in this case" because I am by myself a quite "conservative" user and often annoyed by the changes that happen in a software upgrade (e.g. just recently in Firefox). But concerning the PDF-XChange Editor, as far as I can see until now, such a harsh criticism as it is expressed in this thread is not justified and not fair.

Once again: I appreciate very much what all the staff of Tracker Software is doing for us. :D
Last edited by Peter 123 on Wed Dec 06, 2017 11:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Paul - Tracker Supp
Site Admin
Posts: 6835
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:37 pm
Location: Chemainus, Canada
Contact:

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Paul - Tracker Supp »

Thanks for your input Peter, it certainly made my day a little brighter. :-)

Thanks for your ongoing support - we do try our best.
Best regards

Paul O'Rorke
Tracker Support North America
http://www.tracker-software.com
Peter 123
User
Posts: 114
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:47 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Peter 123 »

Paul - Tracker Supp wrote:it certainly made my day a little brighter. :-)
That's good to hear. To say some words of gratitude and encouragement is the least we owe all of you at Tracker Software. :wink:
User avatar
Paul - Tracker Supp
Site Admin
Posts: 6835
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:37 pm
Location: Chemainus, Canada
Contact:

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Paul - Tracker Supp »

:D
Best regards

Paul O'Rorke
Tracker Support North America
http://www.tracker-software.com
Arnold
User
Posts: 869
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:53 am
Location: Florida

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Arnold »

I think what you guys have done with Version 7 is really nice. I like it. Business wise I am sure you needed to add the Ribbon UI.

I had version 6 customized quite a bit, and had always exported and saved my settings. I saved my settings because I changed everything, shortcut keys, toolbars & menu items. I really empathize with those who have lost their settings with no way to get them back.

Going forward, when you release 323.1 I will leave version 6 and begin using version 7, even if my settings cannot be imported. I messed around with version 7 enough to know I can customize most of it for how I work pretty quickly. It will be an ongoing thing, just like it was with Version 6.

I would not dream of switching to another program. I think you guys write excellent software, and your support is top notch. You guys are not going to get rid of this pain in the rear that easily.
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

Paul - Tracker Supp wrote:Hi avada et al,

we are listening and this is going to change - starting with 7.0.323.1
Great!
User avatar
Paul - Tracker Supp
Site Admin
Posts: 6835
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:37 pm
Location: Chemainus, Canada
Contact:

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Paul - Tracker Supp »

You guys are not going to get rid of this pain in the rear that easily.
Good.

Thanks to all of you for the patience and your support of us.
Best regards

Paul O'Rorke
Tracker Support North America
http://www.tracker-software.com
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

Is the 'Auto-Import Old Customization' feature mentioned in the 7.0.323.1 release notes still going to happen, or should I start re-creating my customizations if I want to upgrade?
User avatar
TrackerSupp-Daniel
Site Admin
Posts: 8436
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

To my knowledge it is already implemented, as always I recommend exporting your settings between major version updates, and the tools changed so drastically between V6 and V7 that most tools and shortcut associations were broken during the update, making those specific version of settings incompatible.
But between v7 builds the settings should automatically carry over.
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
User avatar
David.P
User
Posts: 1510
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:16 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by David.P »

TrackerSupp-Daniel wrote:To my knowledge it is already implemented
Hi @all, I don't think so -- for example, custom keyboard shortcuts are still not imported, and I think the same goes for toolbar customizations.
David.P
PDF-XChange Pro
User avatar
Tracker Supp-Stefan
Site Admin
Posts: 17824
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:07 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hi David,

I think from the second build of V7 we had (so almost immediately after this discussion started) we added an option that will for now preserve your V6 settings when you install V7 on a machine that already had our products installed, however those settings are still not getting used for restoring what can be restored in V7 itself. I believe on the last meeting one of the devs mentioned that it can be done, but will take out quite some resources from our team for several days - that we have currently assigned to fixing some other issues. While we have not given up on implementing this feature it is still not fully completed!

Regards,
Stefan
User avatar
David.P
User
Posts: 1510
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:16 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by David.P »

OK thank you Stefan for the update on this.

Looking forward for the implementation (I'm still on v.6).

However, if this feature should not be requested anymore by (many) other users, it probably would make more sense to invest one or two hours from my side to manually restore whatever settings are still missing, instead of using up several days by several developers -- which rather should be spent on new features or fixing bugs.

Best regards
David
David.P
PDF-XChange Pro
User avatar
Tracker Supp-Stefan
Site Admin
Posts: 17824
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:07 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Glad I could bring in some new info David!

And many thanks for the understanding!

It will be implemented eventually, but if you consider moving from V6 to V7 now - it will indeed be best if you can do the modifications yourself! And I believe it should take quite less than two hours if you have a plan of all the things you need changed!

Cheers,
Stefan
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

Tracker Supp-Stefan wrote:Glad I could bring in some new info David!

And many thanks for the understanding!

It will be implemented eventually, but if you consider moving from V6 to V7 now - it will indeed be best if you can do the modifications yourself! And I believe it should take quite less than two hours if you have a plan of all the things you need changed!

Cheers,
Stefan
The problem is with keeping in mind (and remembering the in the first place) every little thing that I changed. I can only search through everything to find the same command for a shortcut or button, because why would I remember what a command was called months/years ago when I configured a hotkey/button it.
User avatar
Tracker Supp-Stefan
Site Admin
Posts: 17824
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:07 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hi Avada,

Yes - we understand that if you have made extensive customizations - being able to copy those over quickly is the most convenient solution!
We will get to it as quickly as we can!

Regards,
Stefan
pedro henrique garcia
User
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2016 11:24 am

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by pedro henrique garcia »

Seeing the progress in this discussion, I'm now sooo glad that I did not upgrade from v6 to v7. It seems that v7 completely destroys all the interface layout customizations that I made!
User avatar
Tracker Supp-Stefan
Site Admin
Posts: 17824
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:07 am
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello Pedro,

Yes the new version brought in quite some changes - so we had to do a lot of them internally as well - and this affected the settings and their compatibility.
I am certain that if you give the new version a try - you will like it and it should not be too hard to get your settings done again (and this will be a one off operation).

Regards,
Stefan
User avatar
David.P
User
Posts: 1510
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 8:16 pm

Re: V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by David.P »

OK I finally made the complete switch over to v.7 also on my work/production system -- and it is amazing. Maximizing workspace like never before, thanks to the possibility to put almost every tool into the titlebar.

PDF-XChange Editor truly is one of the greatest pieces of software ever.

Keep up the fantastic work!

Best regards
David.P
Image
David.P
PDF-XChange Pro
User avatar
TrackerSupp-Daniel
Site Admin
Posts: 8436
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello David, Glad to hear you like it!
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

I see this in the changelog
Implemented functionality to import and export presets. (T# 4125)
Does it have anything to do with this? What are presets anyway?

Also, why is this marked solved when there's no way to recover you customized toolbars?
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

Never mind... I did a test. Nothing has changed.
David.P wrote:OK I finally made the complete switch over to v.7 also on my work/production system -- and it is amazing. Maximizing workspace like never before, thanks to the possibility to put almost every tool into the titlebar.

PDF-XChange Editor truly is one of the greatest pieces of software ever.

Keep up the fantastic work!

Best regards
David.P
Image
How did you do that? It doesn't let me put anything in the titlebar. Not a command, not a toolbar, nothing.
Also it's thicker so it ends up wasting space.

Also:
The titlebar is ugly and out of place. It's pale white and the buttons are grey.
The titlebar should match the os theme and shouldn't just monkey the horrible Windows 10 theme (I'm on windows 8 ).
Or at least let me use the OS titlebar since it's not customizable anway...

Not only this it's also functionally inferior, you can barely tell whether the program has focus or not.
Here's how the new looks versus the old:
Image
Attachments
xe-new-old.png
User avatar
TrackerSupp-Daniel
Site Admin
Posts: 8436
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello Avada,

Customizing the toolbars is detailed in the below KB article, and is a very short process if you know exactly how you wish to have it setup (personally I tweak it a little each day to my liking).
https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowle ... the-Editor

You can also remove the tab bar when only a single document is opened, I believe these combined features are how David accomplished what you see above.
Image
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

TrackerSupp-Daniel wrote:Hello Avada,

Customizing the toolbars is detailed in the below KB article, and is a very short process if you know exactly how you wish to have it setup (personally I tweak it a little each day to my liking).
Except that it doesn't let me put anything in the titlebar as David.P. showed.
And apparently I can't change it having an alien look on my system.
User avatar
TrackerSupp-Daniel
Site Admin
Posts: 8436
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello Avada,
I wanted to clarify, what tools are you trying to place on the title bar? as david said, "Almost all tools" can be placed on the title bar. below ive linked a gif of myself adding the about button to the title bar for demonstration.
http://bit.ly/2qKZYzF

If you find that even the about button cannot be added then we may need to look into other options for you. Possibly a remote session for debugging.
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
avada
User
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by avada »

TrackerSupp-Daniel wrote:Hello Avada,
I wanted to clarify, what tools are you trying to place on the title bar? as david said, "Almost all tools" can be placed on the title bar. below ive linked a gif of myself adding the about button to the title bar for demonstration.
http://bit.ly/2qKZYzF

If you find that even the about button cannot be added then we may need to look into other options for you. Possibly a remote session for debugging.
That doesn't work either. But I notice you use the ribbon UI, which won't touch.
So if it might be that it's restricted to that... Though it's pretty nonsensical replacing the system titlebar in classic toolbars view with this ugly, out of place white one if you don't even let it be configured.
User avatar
TrackerSupp-Daniel
Site Admin
Posts: 8436
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Can you please verify, are you using the latest build? Even in the Classic UI in the latest version, you should indeed able to place tools into the title bar.
Image
As for the appearance of the title bar, I am sorry you see this as alien on your system, but I am curious to see what your other program title bars look like that cause this discrepancy for you.
Could you please provide a screenshot of them?
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
User avatar
Ovg
User
Posts: 461
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 4:56 pm

Re: Horrible V7 switches to ribbon and destroys GUI customizations

Post by Ovg »

2avada
At first you should enable Quick Access toolbar
Last edited by Ovg on Wed Apr 18, 2018 9:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
It's impossible to lead us astray for we don't care even to choose the way.
PDF-XChange PRO, 10.1.1 (Build 381) / W7 SP1 x64
Locked