Re: [Gramps-devel] Website changes / Re: Feature list, cont.

[Steve H. <dig...@mi...>]

From: Mitchell Ferschweiler, May 21, 2004 2:15 AM
>
> Alright, I've done a little more work on the about page
> (http://web.pdx.edu/~mferschw/gramps/about.html), but I need some
> more help. Stuff I've changed recently in blue, and I still need to
> do some work with bold to make thing look a little better.
>
> 1) What does a GRAMPS package contain? Anything other than the
> database itself?

Do you mean like blank printable templates?

[...]
> 4) Any additions to limitiations/weaknesses of GRAMPS? I currently
> only have the problem with large databases. Has any of this mail
> reached the user list (perhaps that's a better place to ask this
> question?)?

Here's a stab. (My comments in brackets "[]".):

Limitations in GRAMPS

The following items are known limitations in GRAMPS. The software is
undergoing continual improvement and refinement. If you know of fixes
or features you'd like to see, please contact us. [link]

o Slow performance with databases over 10,000 people.
o GRAMPS does not support LDS compliance. [Not that I've noticed,
  anyway. And is this something we even want to advertise?]
o Reports, charts and web page export format and flexibilities, while
  good and recently improved, can always be expanded. Special reports
  such as a family birthday calendar are not yet possible. [How about
  blank reports?]
o Import of non-standard GED files from other genealogy software is
  only as effective as the other party's quality of export. If you
  notice errors during the import of your data, please contact us
  [link] with the explanation of the problem as well as the details of
  your software such as the operating system, program name, version,
  and the type of export you performed (standard GED 5.5, LDS
  compliant, etc.).
o Intelligent merging of information from multiple databases is
  minimal. [Honestly, I've never tried this--is this currently an A+
  feature?]
o Duplicate person search is immature. [Again, never tried it; true?]
o Multiple individuals can not be opened at a time. [Dunno if this is
  true, I've never tried that I can recall, and I'm here at work on
  Windows ATM.]
o Information can not currently be Drag-and-Dropped between
  individuals or databases.
o Currently no way to view multiple levels of descendents without
  generating a report. [I'm talking about one of the most useful of
  features I've ever seen: http://rootsmagic.com/descview.htm. Ok,
  maybe this is more of a wish list item for me personally than a
  Limitation of GRAMPS. :)]


A few more random comments, unrelated to the above:

o What would you think about exchanging the current banner with a
  darker, more contrasty one (background color is "#897a62"):

    http://www.mindspring.com/~digitect/gramps-banner3.png

  Your first image had great tone--right now, I think it looks a
  little pale and washed out. 

o I think the "Releases are made numerous times a year (11 during last
  12 months period)." phrase from the Abbreviated Feature List should
  go at the end of the "Active development effort...." item.

o Revise "Media..." to 

  Media -- List all the media files referenced by the database. Can be
  graphic images, videos, sound clips, spreadsheets, documents, etc.
  [Is it really media, or general files? If the former, leave off the
  latter. :)]

o The question about "Export a GRAMPS package..." regards knowing
  exactly what is exported in a GRAMPS package. Can a developer detail
  this so a user reading the item will know exactly what would be
  included when exporting from the most featureful database?

o Like your new wording on "GRAMPS is written in...".

o I think Features in progress belong in News Headlines somewhere if
  they are actually underway. And hopefully, this list is changing too
  fast for us to document it. :))


My $0.02.

-- 
Steve Hall  [ dig...@mi... ]