Quick start wizard changes

[old_death]

Our quick start wizard should be much more powerfull, I think. And even if there is ATM noone willing or able to code a new one, maybe we should start thinking about what it should be able to do and in which order the steps should be performed.

I think, there should be two modes for the wizard: At the first page, the user should be given the choice whether he wants to use the simplified version (default) or an advanced version. The advanced version would differ from the standard version by adding a small list viewer showing all changes to the advanced settings or registry performed while giving the user the possibility to modify them by hand resp. removing some of the changes.

As for the features, I think the wizard should perform the following operations:
* select a language (set RTL/LTR respectively)
[first section: networking and connecting]
* Ask the user to enter his internet speed (on this page, links should be provided for at least two differnet speed testing sites, such as speedtest.net)
* A page asking which networks to enable.
* Choose a port (choice between automatic (=random; =default), user input and 6346 (old default)) as well as automatic router setup (UPnP), including a note on whether it was successfull
* A page asking to perform a connection test and giving information on how to set up router and firewall correctly (wiki links)
[second section: GUI]
* Ask whether links and .torrent files should be handled by Shareaza while displaying the application that does handle them ATM (if present)
* On the same page, there should be given the choice whether to use Shareaza as download manager (if set to true, IE browser helper should be setup & registered). There should be a link to the wiki page describing how to set up Shareaza as a download manager for firefox.
* A page on which the GUI mode can be chosen (simplified, tabbed (default), windowed), as well as simplified progress bars for downloads, advanced BT options/interfaces, show/hide the download hashing window, use high priority hashing, the number of days to keep in history (library)
* Enable/Disable P2P chat, edit profile, IRC Chat settings
* Select a media player/configure the media plugin
[third section: Down-/Uploading]
* Share files and folders. Set download path, Collection path and .torrent file path (only download path in simplified wizard view) This should have a notice that not sharing any files my reduce download speeds drastically.
* Set number of parallel BitTorrent downloads/prefer BT sources/clear percentage (this page should only be shown in advanced wizard mode)
* Select the look and feel of the search window, switch to transfers on download (this page should only be shown in advanced wizard mode)
* edit the upload queues/upload settings (this page should only be shown in advanced wizard mode)

Is there anything important I've missed? Anything that is aditionnally required?


mfg,
Old

[ailurophobe]

It is probably better not to include queue settings or BitTorrent parallel downloads or clear percentage here. They are already simple enough to find if you actually need them (and few first time users do) so there would be little benefit.

[old_death]

[ailurophobe]

The wizard has basically two purposes: to help a new user to get reasonable defaults for their system and needs and to do a repair install over an old installation that got corrupted. For everything else we should just make the settings easier to find, understand, and use. So IMHO a separate advanced mode is not useful. But that is just me. (So I am not really a useful person to ask what should go to the advanced mode...)

[old_death]

I think advanced users do require other defaults (or a more sophisticated method of determining their defaults) than regular users do. There are people who are much into filesharing but are new to Shareaza. And these people should also be satisfied by the quick start wizard, just the same as bloody n00bs should be, IMHO.

Also, the advanced mode as I described it would make it possible to rerun the quick start wizard at a later time on an already configured version of Shareaza without resetting everything (as the list view of what's going to change on each step could be cleared manually of changes that the user decides to leave as they are).

[acerswap]

Just add a link to the main options window and a little area that explains each option for noobs.

[zigozag]

[ailurophobe]

zigozag has a point. People do respond to computer asking questions they do not understand by hitting "cancel", so the "quick start wizard" should probably be as quick and simple as realistically possible. Adding a prominent link to a tutorial should be enough for new users. (Maybe even more useful than a wizard.) For old users, improving the settings UI would be more useful. Like adding tooltips to the settings dialog.

[acerswap]

[old_death]

[old_death]

How about adding a prominent question mark button to each wizard page linking to a Wiki page describing the Wizard page in question?

[old_death]