I haven’t done one of these for a while but to be honest there wasn’t much to talk about. There have been a few “point” releases of QW since version 2.5 but nothing major to discuss.
However in version 2.6 some big changes are coming.
The two most requested features I get asked for nowadays are:
- More configuration, i.e. customizable fields, for assets (characters, locations etc).
- A dark theme for nighttime usage.
Item 2 won’t be happening (probably) until I can do version 3 of QW. Version 3 will be built on a completely new technology called JavaFX and will support a slew of new features. It will also be a very big change that is going to take some time and certain other things need to be in place before I can even think about moving, but it is coming. As a side note native Linux and Mac versions will be possible when I move to JavaFX.
Version 2.6 will deal solely with item 1. At first glance it seems like an easy thing to do, just allow users to add new fields, but the implications of doing so are huge. I would add that an ancillary feature request often tacked onto the request for new fields is the ability to arbitrarily group and order items.
With the preamble over, here’s the 10,000ft view of what will be new in version 2.6.
Drag-n-drop of sections in the project sidebar
Currently the sections in the project sidebar (the panel that shows the chapters and characters and so on) can’t be customized very much. You can either open or close a section and that’s your lot.
Version 2.6 will allow you to drag and drop the sections around, reordering things to how you would like them to be displayed, so if characters are the most important to you then drag them to the top, or if you are in the middle of getting feedback from your editors, drag those to the top. The choice will be yours.
Adding/removing sections in the project sidebar
So you can drag-n-drop sections but what about if you never use a section and don’t care about it? Well in version 2.6 you’ll be able to hide sections (and reshow them) whenever you like. If you are not using “Research Items”, then why not hide it and save some space.
New object types
You’ve now removed all the things you don’t need in the project sidebar, you’ve moved things around to fit how you like them, but what about if you have something that isn’t an “Item” or a “Location” or a “Character”? What about if you want to be specific and have a list of Cheeses or Spaceports or Books or Candlesticks? In 2.6 you’ll be able to create new types of objects and each type will become its own section in the project sidebar, which you can hide or show as you wish.
Customizable object fields
So you’ve created your “Cheeses” object type, now you want to record some information about them, maybe stuff like “Smell” or “Color” or “Consistency”. In 2.6 you’ll be able to add as many new fields as you’d like and record as much information as you like. Here’s a list of the types of fields you’ll be able to add:
- Text – a line of text
- Multi-line text – err, multiple lines of text
- Files
- Select an item from a list of possibilities (think drop down list)
- Number
- Date
- Web link
- Another object – for example you might want to associate a character with their favorite cheese
Layouts
Your object is created, your fields added but now you have a different problem, how should the information be laid out and displayed? A number of possible layouts will be available. Some possibilities are shown below.
BTW, if you eat cheese that has pickled onions in it (yeah I’m looking at you Mersey Valley) then there is something wrong with you. Seriously go see your Doctor, you are either pregnant or mad.
Tagging
But wait! There’s more. I’ve sometimes been asked to allow sub-groups or sub-types of objects to be created, or to allow arbitrary groupings of objects together that have some sort of commonality. If we stretch our cheese example a little more, how would we group together characters, locations, chapters, notes and whatever-else-you-can-dream-up into a single easily identifiable group? The answer I propose is tagging, that is you apply the same tag or label to each of the relevant objects.
So if you have a character that is obsessed with Wensleydale (let’s call him “Wallace”) and his location may be “62 West Wallaby Street” and you’ve created a new type of object called “Dogs” and you have a dog called “Gromit” and you have chapters called “A Grand Day Out”, “The Wrong Trousers” and “A Close Shave”. You might give each of these objects the tag of “Where’s the Wensleydale Gromit?” to group them all together. You’ll then be able to see the tagged objects in their own section in the project sidebar.
It will look something like this.
Cheeeeese Gromit!
The advantage here is that you can group items together without having to nestle them within a sub-branch of a tree, they remain accessible at the top level and can be dragged and dropped around like any other section.
To add new items to the group you just drag them from another section… which leads me to…
Drag-n-drop items within a section
The final new feature deals with moving items of a particular type around in their section. You can already drag-n-drop chapters around to order them, so why not characters or locations?
When will it all arrive?
Not sure yet. I’ve already done the drag-n-drop and hiding of sections and I’ve started on the customizable fields and layouts, but I won’t deny, it’s a huge piece of work that impinges on a large number of areas and that means time. Christmas is also in the way as is the unforgiving Brisbane summer, where you often feel like mother nature is lurking behind every ominous looking cloud with a piece of 2 by 4, just waiting for you to drop your guard so she can smash your head in with it.
Sometime in February 2017 is a realistic date but it could take longer. My wife starts a new job (and career) in February and my son starts a new school then too so it will be hectic time and little may get done. Life finds a way of getting in the way.
