Windows 10 x64, RootsMagic v10.
I don’t want my genealogy database in D:\Documents. I have it on a more secure drive in a folder several levels down. To which I must navigate every single time that I create a backup or new database version.
The obvious thing (to me) is that RM should, at least as an option, default to the last folder used; or offer it as an immediate choice. Even MS apps - notably disdainful of the user - will do this.
In Settings, change the Folder Location to what you.
Sounds like you have the Backup set to D:\Documents
Thanks! Actually, I didn’t set “D:\Documents” because I never saw the little icon for “Folder Settings”, so I only ever found the “Program Settings”. The folder settings could be MUCH less obscure (or just in with the Program Settings) but you’re right - once found it solves the problem.
Maybe you would prefer something vaguely like the following so that the Program Settings and the Folder Settings were on the same screen. That might make them easier to find.
However, be careful what you ask for. The options for reports are all on the same screen in RM10. And I think that some of the report options are some of the hardest things there are to find in RM10. That’s because some of the most important ones either scroll off the screen or else are labeled in a very confusing way. The report options were all much easier to find in RM7, they were not all on the screen at the same time in RM7.
I would have succeeded had there been a big tab labeled “Folder Settings” - like most programs - instead of an inscrutable little icon that someone may have thought was elegant, which is the only reason I can imagine for it being so obscure.
What they ended up with is standard for changing the view of content already on the screen e.g. a list vs a tree or some such. The brain ignores those if view isn’t an issue.
Thanks to you too for your thoughtful replies and trying to make the program better.
One of the most striking aspects of the new design of the RM user interface starting with RM8 is the use of icons everywhere instead of words. I don’t like the icon approach to user interfaces, but nearly all software seems to be going in that direction. So I don’t think it’s quite accurate to say that most other programs have big tabs that are clearly labelled. Rather, I think it’s accurate to say that most other programs used to have big tabs that were clearly labelled. The whole software world is going crazy with icons instead of text that you can read. In fairness to RM, most if not all of the icons support a “hover over” feature where you can hover over the icon to see what it does, but that is not the same thing at all as actually being able to see the text on your screen without taking any other action.
I wish that the new RM user interface had rejected this trend. But all the other children jumped off the icon bridge, so RM did as well. At a different level than just not being able to see the options clearly, the new RM design also forces the user to make heavy use of the mouse or other pointing device. A good user interface allows to the user to do all their work from the keyboard without forcing them to switch constantly back and forth between the keyboard and the pointing device. This feature is especially important for users with accessibility issues. RM8/9/10 is one of the least accessible programs I have ever seen.
