3.0 Feature Request List

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riccardo
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Joined: 2005-05-30 09:09:28
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Feature Requests

Post by riccardo »

NWE 2.5 is a very nice improvement. A really nice, basic work processor that does most of what I need, albeit sometimes with a bit of frustration. What else would I like?

1. Everything that was in Nisus Classic, just for starters. I realize that NWE is a complete re-write, but your users shouldn't have to be so frustrated for so long just because you needed to re-invent the wheel.

2. Document Navigation. While I appreciate the comments of those who don't want a full-fledged outliner (and based on their enthusiastic recommendation, I've just downloaded OmniOutliner to give it a trial), there still needs to be some way to navigate through large, book-length documents. A navigator based on headings, say, mights appear like an outliner, but what I need here is really a navigation tool. Mellel is the benchmark for me on this, although OO.o is not bad, either.

3. Open a previously-edited document to where I left off (I guess this is, in effect, an internal bookmark).

4. Macros remain frustrating. Such a powerful tool, but so nearly inaccessible to the non-technical user that it's almost useless. Might as well be using ... Mellel!

5. Integration of tables at the cursor level. Why should the cursor skip over a table and it's content? From a user's point of view, this is stupid.

6. An XML file format, perhaps even ODF. I know, I know, I've read the rationale from Nisus. I still disagree. What will your Massachusetts-based users do in 2007 when MA government requires docs in ODF? How about Europe? Just a thought. (BTW, as Microsoft now moves toward XML, how long before they decide that RTF is "so last century" and orphans it? You think MS cares what happens to Nisus?!)

All in all, you guys do a great job. Just keep making NWE greater.
jonlink
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Joined: 2004-10-09 15:48:24

Post by jonlink »

rtf may get outdated, but ms can't orphan it anytime soon; it's a standard that goes well beyond ms.
cgc
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Post by cgc »

You are right about .rtf, but I think the advantages (if any) of the .xml standard need to be looked into. There are many more things that could be improved besides the file format.
Ryan
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Post by Ryan »

The whole file-format debate frankly kinda confuses me. RTF is an open format, supported by every major word processor and many of the smaller ones, and is fairly robust in its features.

XML isn't even a word processor document format. It's just a structure. There are many competing XML-based formats, none of which has anywhere near the support of RTF.

What would be the advantages of switching to another format? I can only really see two:

Layout: RTF has pretty much everything a writer would need, but it doesn't do graphical layout. NWE is targeted toward writers, for whom compatibility and text features are most important.

Being on the Cutting Edge: It sure would be cool if Nisus embraced format XYZ, because there was a cool report at www.everyoneshouldusexyz.com that said it would be the next big standard, and this would give NWE some real street cred.

Now I think the Nisus engineers have already examined this, and decided that the advantages wouldn't be worth it anytime soon. I agree with cgc, that there are quite a few other things that would bring immediate and noticeable advantages to actual writers.
midwinter
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Re: Feature Requests

Post by midwinter »

riccardo wrote:2. Document Navigation. While I appreciate the comments of those who don't want a full-fledged outliner (and based on their enthusiastic recommendation, I've just downloaded OmniOutliner to give it a trial), there still needs to be some way to navigate through large, book-length documents. A navigator based on headings, say, mights appear like an outliner, but what I need here is really a navigation tool. Mellel is the benchmark for me on this, although OO.o is not bad, either.
I tend to think that this is where there's room for some serious innovation. I'd like to see some kind of bookmarking, too, which seems to me to also be a way to integrate some kind of outlining feature. If there were some kind of "set points" that the user could define (and they'd just appear in a list in the tooldrawer), that would be fantastic.
4. Macros remain frustrating. Such a powerful tool, but so nearly inaccessible to the non-technical user that it's almost useless. Might as well be using ... Mellel!
Agreed. It would be v useful if the good Nisus folk would set up some kind of "macro depot" on the site where perl kiddies could dump them or make requests for macros. The real problem with the macros as they are, in addition to not being scriptable, is that the ones that are included need to be integrated into the other menus (date stamp? In insert, for example). They also don't seem particularly "writerly"; that is, they don't really seem like the kinds of things I need or would ever use (aside from a superior date stamp). But to each his own, I suppose. The problem, of course, is that you don't ever really think about what kinds of macros you need until you need one. And in Word, you just make the thing. I have no idea how to begin scripting in Perl, and frankly, I don't particularly want to have to learn.
midwinter
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Post by midwinter »

And one last thing: PLEASE change the Normal template so that the 6 pt spacing after paragraphs is 0 pt. Really. Annoying.
Ryan
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Post by Ryan »

Yeah, I'll agree with that. Easy to change, but still irritating. And when you first dive in, it takes awhile to figure out how to fix it permanently.
seitanguy
Posts: 5
Joined: 2005-11-28 21:15:14

Post by seitanguy »

My requests:
Ability to import NWX files in inDesign
Fix the damn rulers
Support OpenDocument

If NWX had these, it would be the perfect wp for me.
foobar
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license

Post by foobar »

Apologies if this has been asked before, but I can't find the answer. Will 3.0 be a free upgrade for 2.5/2.6 licensees? Will future versions also be, or when/how is it decided to require license renewals?
Ryan
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Post by Ryan »

seitanguy wrote:My requests:
Ability to import NWX files in inDesign
Fix the damn rulers
Support OpenDocument

If NWX had these, it would be the perfect wp for me.
The InDesign issue has been worked around in the 2.6 beta (it was Adobe's problem, but Nisus got around it).
dave
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Re: license

Post by dave »

foobar wrote:Apologies if this has been asked before, but I can't find the answer. Will 3.0 be a free upgrade for 2.5/2.6 licensees? Will future versions also be, or when/how is it decided to require license renewals?
Sorry to take so long to reply. It's been almost 2 1/2 years since Express has been released, and we haven't charged for an upgrade. It will happen at some point, I would think, but I don't know when that will be. We haven't thought about pricing for 3.0 yet.

Sorry, that's the best answer I have at the moment.

Dave
midwinter
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Post by midwinter »

I think the larger question is whether there will be a charge for the NWE 2.9b999 release. ;)
dave
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Post by dave »

midwinter wrote:I think the larger question is whether there will be a charge for the NWE 2.9b999 release. ;)
Yes there will. It will cost you two cases of Duff Beer and a Krusty Burger with cheese.
Ryan
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Re: Helpful I thank you for this contribution. It helped me

Post by Ryan »

Brooke97 wrote:
Ryan wrote:5 has many of the things I've hoped for, and keeps up the tradition of total coolness that 2.
Huh. I like being quoted. I think.

Wait a minute...
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martin
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Re: Helpful I thank you for this contribution. It helped me

Post by martin »

Ryan wrote:Huh. I like being quoted. I think.
hehe, are you denying the "total coolness that 2"?

Anyways, I've deleted the spammer's account. Hopefully this isn't a new trend.
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