So I’ve been using this software since FO3. I like the way it looks. The main screen I’m seeing here looks like familysearch’s family tree with boxes instead of lines. I HATE that look. Are there enough appearance options for RM8 for me to make it look just like the screen I’ve been using 20+ years? I like the idea of new features but I can’t deal with a whole new look. And the menu options taskbar on the left edge is nothing but in the way. Hopefully it can be closed along with the equally obnoxious left edge index bar like on the current version.
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I know what you mean. I’ve been using the “cloth” background for a long, long time, because it’s pretty neutral while still contrasting visually with the pedigree/whatever screens. (I can’t find half the stuff I normally use because it’s not on the main screen, while the stuff I set-and-forget is right there whether I want it or not.)
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The menu options side bar can be closed smaller.
The box look of FamilyView can’t be changed. There are other views, just click on them to see how they look.
Look under 3 dots in all screens for options in each area of the program.
Look in the Command Pallet for more options
Watch Bruce’s first overview video.
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I haven’t actually bought the new program because of my distaste for its appearance. If I get RootMagicEssentials and give it a test drive, will it have all the appearance options? I watched several videos as they came out but that seems like eons ago.
Yes, you can give Essentials a test drive and expect that it looks the same as the full release.
left sidebar with home etc can be closed to only icons with the right triangle at the top. RM8 is covered with obscure icons and you have to press anything to figure out what it does.
the 2nd left column of person chosen and people list can be switched to right side and or the people list can be pulled down to nothing by the 3 dots. pay very close attention to any icon or tiny symbol.
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I also don’t like the NEW LOOK, all those boxes just makes everything look cluttered, PLEASE get rid of the BOXES.
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Which “boxes” are you referring to?
All the boxes round all the people in Family View
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Looks fine to me - PLEASE don’t get rid of the BOXES. 
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How about an option so we can get rid of the boxes if we don’t like them?
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That’s certainly an option. (Pun intended). Only thing is , if we had an option for everything that people want an option for it would take a couple of years to get the program setup before we did any research!
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Well, I have been trying for the last week to ‘like’ the boxes, I still do not like them, the screen is too full with boxes round everyone, so it is back to RootsMagic 7 for me. I have been using RootsMagic every since the UK edition came out and have loved it, now I don’t think it is very good.
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I’d prefer if RM allowed moving the menu options to the top as a menu bar with sub-menus like in other applications.
I am OK with the black left bar. Clear and handy. When reduced to just icons it doesnt take much space.
What I struggle with is the odd array of menus at the top of boxes. Usually on the right, sometimes left. 3 dots or icons. Or the Command Palette. Or the editing pencil. No consistency, which I thought was the point of Windows programs - that they have windows with predictable standard dropdown named or icon menus in a row at the top from left to right.
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I do love programs with a classic text menu. They work great.
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I’m there with you, as a former user of complex government databases, I’ve disliked inconsistent menus.
I understand the problem to stem from programmers who are given a portion, or module, of a database to write code for, which they accomplish. But the may not have been required to or just ignored that all the pieces of software that go into a large database structure need to adhere to a standard set of rules, making the user comfortable with an expected presentation of menu choices.
The professional term that applies here is: User Experience or UX.
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This is not so. “An option for everything” has not been suggested. If the RM8 developers merely provided a toggle that changed the appearance to a “classic appearance” as well as invoking whatever settings were previously used in an RM7 file that affected appearance, I think it would go a long way to pleasing the most customers.
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Hollis - it was a light-hearted comment that you took too seriously. I have been hearing people ask for an “option for this” and an “option for that” since the start of the community preview back in January.
Thank you Hollis, I have gone back to using RM7 as I can not get use to a cluttered screen with all the boxes, if an option to change to a “classic appearance” comes about then I will use RM8.
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