v2+Wrapper+Development

=Changes to Wrapper Appearance=

Top Menu Bar
Change Menu Titles to: Always have them look the same as each other. - Regarding this. The links don't look like each other because when the user is on a specific page, the link is not active. So, if they are on the activities list page, that link is not active (greyed out). Likewise, if the user is on the matrix page, the activities button should not be active because there's nothing on that page yet. Of course, they can all look the same but there will be no visual cue that a button is not active/available. Thoughts on this? //from GPC// - I think the gist of what we were getting at is the same font, and text type (ie - all Dynamic Text or all Static Text, and same font type and size and colour) - when you start mixing and matching Dynamic with other types, it starts to look icky. However, I suspect that having the inactive items grayed out is still desirable -though I could be corrected on this. Ross / Judy ? confirm ? - from RI - here's what I think we meant. Currently the home page gets a darker background stuck on it. I think that the menu items will be there if they make sense and not be there if they don't. We thought it was confusing to try and use this bar as a marker of your location. from JD - I agree with Ross Folks: This has been changed but I'm not sure it's the way you want it. The "stick" is gone but the nav only appears when you visit a page. For example, the you load the cluster list page, the cluster list button is visible and grayed out. None of the other buttons (clip list, activity list) are visible. When the user enters the clip list page, the clip list button appears but is grayed out. The cluster list button is then active. Would you prefer that all buttons are visible but grayed out when you are on the active page. For example, you always see the buttons but the only time the buttons are active is when you can return to the previous screen?
 * Cluster List - Changed - SVE
 * CLIP List - Changed - SVE
 * Activity List - Changed - SVE

Activity Page


Note that the top menu bar is not correct in the mockup above. Further: How do I set this? Or is this set in the bracket movies? (//from GPC// - what do you mean the bracket movies?) from RI - the variable is set in the activities. If it is undefined, assume that inDebugMode is false I'm assuming that this variable is set outside the wrapper. The buttons have been moved and await your command.
 * Next Activity and Previous Activity buttons will be displayed to the right and left of the play/pause button only when the activity's //inDebugMode// variable is true -
 * the Activity X of Y textbox is removed - Removed - SVE
 * The Cluster, Clip, Activity and Scene text boxes will be spaced much like they are above though:
 * The font will be the same for all of them
 * We can shorten many of the activity titles since the Cluster and Clip names always show

v2 Draft


Changes required: > //From GPC// - there is an entry in the CLIPSinfo.txt file for Activity Type - use that type to choose the coloured circle colour. The values are MindsOn (green), Action (red), Consolidation (blue), Show (orange). In fact, the easiest solution would be to have a coloured circle movie clip object with multiple frames, each labelled differently, one frame with a blue circle labelled "MindsOn", a red circle in the next frame labelled "Action", and so on, then, as you bring on that movie clip with attachMovie, you can follow that up with a command to gotoAndStop ( CLIPSInfo[ ActivityType, _currentActivityNumber] ); (I know the syntax is different, but that's the concept I'd use. Done - SVE > //From GPC// - I'd prefer that the names be just names in the text file, and that we add the 1.3 on programmatically by keeping track of counters in the loops when they appear in the activity list. That way, rearranging activities in the text file is not as problematic. From RI - or reusing one in a different location in another Cluster; JD I agree - Done SVE >> //From GPC// - I'd have to see the two ways to comment - but perhaps Ross / Judy have a better sense of what they want here. From RI - Judy was more interested in consistency than I was. I could buy your argument that visited lists and menu items are different From JD - as per GPCs comment - I'd have to see the two ways - I am tending toward the bolding effect but you have probably already chosen one of these ways and it will be good to have something that happens on rollover Currently, the bold happens onRollOver in the list. The menu shades. > //From GPC// - This could probably be handled by setting a variable in the DoActivity superfunction. I'm thinking that we could setup a ShowStartButton array for each CLIP, and initialize them all to be true - in the loop where the CLIPS are being read in and enumerated. Then, in the DoActivity superfunction, once the CLIP is pulled off the name, then that CLIP's "ShowStartButton" variable can be set to false. (Doesn't matter if this actually happens every time an activity is clicked, as long as it happens the first time for sure) SVE - I'm curious about this button now. Is it even necessary? I only ask because in the previous two screens (cluster list, clip list) we've established a pattern of clicking on the list to move to the next screen. Why is this additional navigation widget required on this screen? As I understand it, the activities can be done in any order so why encourage starting with the first one when it's already clear which is the first one from the list. Just a thought. This may be adding navigation complexity for not a whole lot of payoff considering it only appears once. Removing the button after they select one will also add complexity because it was there and then it's gone. What will the user think then? Sorry for the long-winded message here. It just seems like the payoff is small (a single click) for a significant hit on the user experience side. RI - upon reflection, I tend to agree that the Start Button is unnecessary clutter. If they have got this far, they will know what to do. > //From GPC// - After going through the loop and determining the number of Activities (or CLIPS later on), I'd calculate the optimum vertical spacing (dividing available height by # of activities (or activities - 1), then use that spacing amount to modify the _y value of activities # 2 --> n > I think, again, seeing how it looks from a busy CLIP to a simple CLIP and comparing may be necessary before making a final decision. From RI - Greg's suggestion is what I thought - in our mind the titles are too close when there aren't 10 to jam in. From JD - there should probably be a max amt of space between titles so if there are just 2 CLIPS or Activities, then they are reasonably spaced > //From GPC// - don't know - Ross/Judy ? From RI - If it reads the same font, size and color then I wouldn't fuss with CSS. From JD: I agree with SVE and much prefer the original font
 * the items in the menu bar should all look the same - See above
 * drop the small green arrows in favour of the coloured circles identifying the type of activity (with no bounce-in effect) - Any suggestions on how the colour can be tied to the list items?
 * Add numbers i.e. 1.3 in front of activity names - Is it OK if this is done in the text file?
 * Activity names in standard link blue, will turn to standard visited link magenta when visited (no boldface) - Surprisingly, onRelease does not change the text colour though onRollOver and onRollOut does. Investigating.
 * When activity names are rolled over do one or the other of the following:
 * shade a la menu item rollovers
 * bold the text (if you choose to do this, make the menu items behave the same way) - Done this way. Should the menu items be the same. I can see the connection to the web inside the main area but the menu strikes me more like desktop menus hence the shading. Comments?
 * Move the Start Button back to its original position. Don't show the start button once any activity is the clip has been visited. Would it make more sense to add a function to the bracket movies to remove this?
 * put title "Activity List" at top of list - Done - SVE
 * space out the activity names so all the available space is used - i.e. the more activities there are, the less space between them
 * - Curious how you would tackle this. Also, standard line spaces would probably be better from the users perspective as the hit areas will be in consistent locations throughout. Thoughts?
 * prefer the font in the original title to the one in the v2 draft - Original fonts were dictated via CSS. In the interest of keeping the text file HTML-free, this has changed to less flexible coloured dynamic text boxes. Should this be switched back to HTML text and CSS?

v2 Draft


Changes Required: RI - Title reads Clip List and should be CLIP List. I think the title needs to be evenly spaced between the movie and top - currently it sits too low for my liking. Also the move frame is very wispy on the top and left - it almost looks like underlining for the title. I can't get the movie to start again after I have paused it, gone to an activity and come back to the CLIP List.
 * prefer font and colour of original title - See above comment.
 * need title "CLIP List" at top of list - SVE - done
 * remove green arrows (you might want to comment the code, since Greg still has a warm spot for them) Green arrows gone for good or replaced with bullets? JD - since they are numbered we don't need bullets SVE - Done
 * add numbers e.g. 1. OK in the text file? - //From GPC// - prefer not From RI - ditto JD - ditto SVE - Done
 * same blue/magenta/rollover as decided for activity list - See above comments about onRelease.
 * space out clip names to make full use of the space available - See above comment

Cluster List


Changes: From RI - the scrolling issue was one we were concerned about - once there are enough clusters or once there are more topics than will fit on the screen. For now, neither of these is the case. Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. RI - If the user clicks on a title with no clusters, like Gr. 8, should she get a message in the list like "No Clusters Found"? I forget about where we ended up on the happy face asterisks but I prefer ">" or ">>".
 * Add title "Cluster List" in same font, colour etc as titles in CLIP and Activity List
 * Move matrix to right of screen - Done SVE.
 * Below title give instructions "Click on a topic, grade, or cell to narrow the list of clusters displayed." - SVE - Done.
 * Below instructions put the list of clusters - originally with all the elements (as if they had pressed index), subsequently according to what is clicked in the table - Not sure about this one. Do we have the facility to scroll a list generated dynamically? Thoughts appreciated.
 * make bottom of table show up (and not chop Patterning row) - Mac vs. Win (rather webkit vs. IE/Win ugliness) HTML rendering problems here. Table fits perfectly on the Mac side. Moving it up is not a problem but be aware that the table will be higher for Mac users. From RI - lets remember who has 95% of the market... JD to Ross - majority rules? SVE - Done
 * use the circle character (\u25CF) in the cells as the linkable element (without underline, je pense) -
 * Question: If there are more topics eventually, will the table be able to scroll? - Not sure. Will investigate. May be possible with some movieclip scrolling magic.