VueMinder Layout Idea to Maximize Monitor Space

[Big.Moe]

Hello,
I need to show numerous daily appointments on the calendar month view. Thanks to VueMinders ability to show just three weeks instead of a whole month, each day is stretched out that much more and allows me a couple more slots per day. However, I could use even more slots and due to my scheduling needs I cannot show less than 3 weeks on my the monitor. I also would like to avoid having to jump back & forth from various views. The full screen mode is not an option either since it makes my Windows task bar disappear along with the VueMinder toolbars.

So, to this end, I thought of a way the software could minimize the non-calendar space used while still allowing users to see the toolbars/commands. I am not a programmer, so perhaps this idea is not feasible but here goes:

My basic idea is to compress all toolbars, the tab row, and the calendar header into one customizable 'tabbed' row. The calendar header would now be the first tab on that row, then would come the tabs from the tab group row, then there would be a 'toolbar' tab where you could add whatever command icons you desire.

Since I have a 24" monitor pretty much everything I could ever want fits along that one row. However, if someone had a smaller monitor, they could include less icons on the 'toolbar' tab, reduce the font size on 'calendar' tab, or omit unused selections from the 'tab group'. The attached jpeg is a photoshopped VueMinder layout I generated to better illustrate my idea.

Thanks for reading my long-winded suggestion.

[VueSoft]

Hi Big Moe, welcome to the forums and thank you for the suggestion. There are some other things you can currently do that will help increase the amount of horizontal space. On the View menu, uncheck "Main Toolbar", "Appearance Toolbar", and "Status Bar".

If you want to keep the toolbars visible, right-click one of the toolbars and uncheck "Lock the Toolbars". Next, click and drag each toolbar to the left or right edge of the VueMinder window. This will dock the toolbar along the edge of the window instead of taking up horizontal space at the top. You can also drag the main menu (File, Edit, View, ...) to the left or right edge of the window. When you click the main menu bar to drag, click the empty area to the right of "Help".

The end result will provide even more horizontal space than your prototype screenshot. The Day/Week/Month tabs will be right below the window title bar, with no empty space.

I hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions or suggestions.

[Big.Moe]

Hi Dan,
Thanks for those suggestions. Yep, I've already played around with unlocking & moving the toolbars to the side, but it just robs the space from the side to make room on top. ;o) Now don't get me wrong, so far, VueMinder is by far the best I've seen, I don't know how I struggled with Outlook and the like for so long.

Actually my idea to combine space with the various bars/headers originated with Internet Explorer, which I loathe now. It could be the way software is coded but I find that many programs layer bars on top of one another, when they could easily combine many function into one bar. In the Internet Explorer case, I always wondered why there wasn't an option to combine some of these bars since each of them had a large amounts of empty space either in the center or the side. In Vueminders specific case, I simply saw all that open room between the calendar header and the command icons off to the right, I figured it would be nice to put that real estate to use.

But, maybe my best solution is to just get a bigger monitor, although I thought my 24" was huge when I first got it. One problem is that monitors get wider and wider, but what many business PC users really need is the old 4:3 format for their applications. On top of it, my eyes must be getting worst because I just can't handle the smaller fonts like I used to. Too much computer I guess.

Anyway, love the way you are so responsive and open to suggestions. Keep up the good work.

[VueSoft]

Hi Big Moe, thank you for the feedback. Actually, the type of control layering that you suggest isn't as easy to implement as it sounds. It would require redesigning a big chunk of code and breaking compatibility with a lot of current users' customized toolbars and window layouts. It also wouldn't scale very well onto smaller monitors or when the main VueMinder window is sized smaller. What looks great on a 24" monitor won't look so great on a 9" tablet.

Also, the tabs in VueMinder can be arranged for side-by-side viewing (drag a tab to an edge of the window to see what I mean), so putting the date left/right navigation bar on the same row as the tabs wouldn't work because there often wouldn't be enough space. I think as you explore how VueMinder's main window is designed and the things it can do, it might become more clear why the window is designed the way it is.

Personally, I have a dual monitor setup. I often put VueMinder on my second monitor and switch it to full screen mode. This doesn't cause the Windows task bar to be hidden because the task bar is on my primary monitor. The VueMinder toolbars will still be hidden in full screen mode. I'll add an option to keep the toolbars from being hidden and will post a reply when this is completed. That's something that would be a lot more do-able.

Thanks again for the suggestion. Please let me know if you have any other questions or suggestions.

[avnerk]

As it is now, in week view there are always two extra slots on the 'all day' events area as shown in the attached image. Is there a way to shrink the 'all day' event area so it contains only the events. or even only one extra slot. that will add half an hour of visible space.

155.jpg (77.04 KiB) Viewed 5733 times

Thanks

[VueSoft]

Hi avnerk, welcome to the forums and thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately, there isn't currently a mechanism to reduce the size of the All Day area of the Day and Week views. I've added this to my to-do list and will let you know when it's completed.

In the meantime, if you want the space to be reduced because you're printing the calendar using the Day or Week layout, you could check out my other product, PrintableCal. It provides a "Max all-day rows" setting that can be used to reduce the size of the all-day event area, much like you suggested.

[avnerk]

Thanks