There are two panels titled "Categories" - will lead to confusion

[ubacher]

See screen shot. There are two windows/panels with the same title Categories but with different functionality.
To avoid confusion ( and for precise references in help file) we should have them labeled differently.

My suggestions:Category (Select by)    and Category Assignment.

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[Mario]

There is the Category View and the Category Panel.
We had similar discussions a year ago during the Alpha test phase.
I think users are able to learn that they have both a category panel and a view.

[ubacher]

Sure, users will learn. But until they get there I am sure many will get confused.
There is no (significant) visual difference in the appearance of the View vs. Panel.
So to distinguish the two the user will already have to know which does what.

[manfred_a]

I support this!
Especially for new users (and hopefully Imatch will get many of them due to the localization) it is difficult to understand if there is no difference.

[Mario]

I may look into this if many users report problems.

As for now, the cost to change it would be to high:

- Reading and updating all help texts which may refer to the Category View and the Category Panel (many!)
- Re-doing many screen shots
- All translators must read all potentially affected resources and update them.

It's cheaper to wait for how many users really have a problem with that devision. I think that once you have read the help about categories, it's a no issue.

[Carlo Didier]

I find it generally confusing to have different panels/tabs/windows with the same title, anywhere. I wouldn't have programmed it that way in the first place. Maybe not a high priority change for a 5.0.xxx version, but in a next 5.x release, it would be welcome.

[BanjoTom]

I don't think of myself as a very sophisticated user, but this is not a problem for me.  A Category VIEW and a Category PANEL with different  functionalities is okay.  It's not hard to learn the difference.   

[Richard]

Well said Tom, I agree fully with your point of view.

[JohnZeman]

So do I.
It took me a while to learn the basic functionality of IMatch 5, but once I did, it made perfect sense to me why Mario named the different sections what he did.

[ubacher]

We must not forget that we, who are familiar with IM, will not see this the way a newcomer will.
What is proposed here is intended to make it less confusing for the newcomer.

[sinus]

We must not forget that we, who are familiar with IM, will not see this the way a newcomer will.
What is proposed here is intended to make it less confusing for the newcomer.

But until you did mention this, no one person has described this as a problem ... and you did it very late.

From my point of view, this is not a big problem for new users. They have to lern a lot, and this one is not a big step to lern. It is more important to bring out IM5 than changing such minor issues - I am sure, IM5 has a lot of other things, what could be better, but Mario cannot make a program perfect, once it must go out.

[Menace]

When I start with IM I was first confusing about panels and windows, but once understood it is a very good decision. Maybe it must be shown in the beginning introduction:

Window - to navigate an search
Panel - to manipulate and work with it

[Richard]

Mario cannot make a program perfect

Absolutely. It can be like purifying water. It is one thing to make water safe to drink but it is very hard and very expensive to make it 100% pure.

I agree with Menace. It is important that a user understands that a window is used to navigate and search while a panel is used to manipulate and work with files. The fact that the word "Categories" is used to label both a window and a panel should not be confusing if the user understands the difference between a window and a panel.

Would an apprentice mechanic be confused if both a wrench and a chisel are labeled as "Steel"? Possibly but that confusion would be gone as soon as the apprentice knows the difference between a steel wrench and a steel chisel.

[JohnZeman]

Maybe it must be shown in the beginning introduction:

Window - to navigate an search
Panel - to manipulate and work with it

Good idea.  And we also have a tips and tricks section here on the forum, one of us could write up a little getting started page and include this and other basic things in it.  I'll be happy to do that but I'm heading out the door to work for the rest of the day.