simonbaker
Please straighten me out if I'm missing something basic. I'm an extremely new user.
My problem is that the interface for uploading files seems very non-intuitive. I have used CuteFTP and figured it out without much problem..
Here's how it seems from a new user standpoint:
I'm OK with the connecting, although a new user would probably expect a "File | New Connection" type of option, and a more intuitive way to save a connection and select a saved connection.
It is the upload that is really hard to discover. First, because of window placement, it was a long time before I even saw the ftp site folders. They were covered by another window.
Then, I'd expect to go to the transfer queue and see some way to load items into it. Like right-click to bring up a menu that included "Add file". Or an "add file" button. Either option should use the standard windows browser that let's you select one or more files, then click an "OK" button that would add the files to the queue.
Instead, it seems I need to open a new "local browser" (which is a somewhat ambiguous term to a new user), find a file, and then drag the file to the "temporary queue" (can't seem to drag it to the transfer queue). I can hardly remember what I did next. I think maybe I dragged the items from the temporary queue to my "ftp" folder, which then made them mysteriously appear in the transfer queue and start transmitting. I would have expected to right-click (or have a visible button) on the temporary queue to load the transfer queue with items that I could select from the temporary queue.
I'll need to read more on the need for a "temporary" queue, since it seems the transfer queue is all I'm interested in. I think in CuteFTP there was just one queue needed.
I think there must be a more direct way to do this. I uploaded some files some months ago and I don't remember it being that convoluted. But when I tried recently, I couldn't do it without searching the manual for a long time, and even then it didn't seem intuitive.
I'm sure once you become expert at SmartFTP it is easy to perform tasks. But I think SmartFTP developers would be wise to look at their program from a new user standpoint and see if they can design an interface that enables simple upload and download of files to be performed with virtually no reference to the manual, where the user can discover the functionality by right-clicking, exploring menus, or examining buttons. More powerful functionality can then be uncovered by reading the manual.
Just my two cents. It is hard to stay loyal to a program that requires head-scratching every time you come back to it after a few weeks doing something else.
My problem is that the interface for uploading files seems very non-intuitive. I have used CuteFTP and figured it out without much problem..
Here's how it seems from a new user standpoint:
I'm OK with the connecting, although a new user would probably expect a "File | New Connection" type of option, and a more intuitive way to save a connection and select a saved connection.
It is the upload that is really hard to discover. First, because of window placement, it was a long time before I even saw the ftp site folders. They were covered by another window.
Then, I'd expect to go to the transfer queue and see some way to load items into it. Like right-click to bring up a menu that included "Add file". Or an "add file" button. Either option should use the standard windows browser that let's you select one or more files, then click an "OK" button that would add the files to the queue.
Instead, it seems I need to open a new "local browser" (which is a somewhat ambiguous term to a new user), find a file, and then drag the file to the "temporary queue" (can't seem to drag it to the transfer queue). I can hardly remember what I did next. I think maybe I dragged the items from the temporary queue to my "ftp" folder, which then made them mysteriously appear in the transfer queue and start transmitting. I would have expected to right-click (or have a visible button) on the temporary queue to load the transfer queue with items that I could select from the temporary queue.
I'll need to read more on the need for a "temporary" queue, since it seems the transfer queue is all I'm interested in. I think in CuteFTP there was just one queue needed.
I think there must be a more direct way to do this. I uploaded some files some months ago and I don't remember it being that convoluted. But when I tried recently, I couldn't do it without searching the manual for a long time, and even then it didn't seem intuitive.
I'm sure once you become expert at SmartFTP it is easy to perform tasks. But I think SmartFTP developers would be wise to look at their program from a new user standpoint and see if they can design an interface that enables simple upload and download of files to be performed with virtually no reference to the manual, where the user can discover the functionality by right-clicking, exploring menus, or examining buttons. More powerful functionality can then be uncovered by reading the manual.
Just my two cents. It is hard to stay loyal to a program that requires head-scratching every time you come back to it after a few weeks doing something else.