Re: Ideal menu structure, was: Menu structure reorganized

[BeamEnds <..hidden..>]

On Tue, 2007-10-16 at 08:13 -0500, Charley Tiggs wrote:
> Chris Travers wrote:
> >> Please try it here and give us your opinion.
> >>
> >> You can login here:
> >> <http://pongraczistvan.homelinux.com/ledgersmb/login.pl>
> >>
> >> Username:  test
> >> Password: test
> >>
> > Looking at this, I like what I see.  But the question I have for all users:
> > 
> > What do people see as the ideal menu structure?  How would people like
> > to see the menu organized?  Is Istvan's idea optimal?  Are there
> > better ideas?
> 
> Personally, I'm a fan of drop down menus organized along the top that's 
> always available.  The reason being that menus on the side in an app 
> like LSMB where there's lots of nested goodness, too much real estate is 
> taken up vertically for companies that have older folks who prefer not 
> to set their monitor at higher resolutions.  They want to see larger 
> print text.  The end result is that they scroll from side to side and 
> they quickly get annoyed and say, "LSMB doesn't work!"
> 
> If the menus must be on the left side, then provide a way to easily 
> collapse them, gaining back that real estate temporarily and then expand 
> them when it's necessary to engage another element.
> 
> Charley

For me, a non-accountant, I'd like to see the menu's organised more
along the lines of daily use. I'm probably not going to explain this
very well, but 90% of my use is going to be issuing invoices and
purchase orders, and adding entries to expense accounts. What I'd like
is a menu entry (or a nice pretty button) on the left, or on the top,
that opens an invoice, for which I then select select a customer, and
then add the line items the invoice. That's not an awful lot different
from the way it is I suppose, except that "AR" doesn't mean a whole lot
to me - and a lot less to the staff!
As for purchases - well, probably due to the comfort zone of my current
system, if find the process most odd. I'd like to generate a purchase
order from a supplier based on minimum stock levels, i.e open a purchase
order, select a supplier, and then any parts below minimum stock levels
are added automatically to the order. Obvioulsy it's up to me to change
the minimum stock level of non-stock parts to make the system order
them, and a button to block the ordering of a part if I decide that I
don't want any at the moment (or simply, as currently, change the
approrite min stock and regenerate the order). 
The next bit isn't really anything to do with menus I suppose, but I
find the creating of of a supplier invoice by me (at least, that's how
it seems to work - I've not got my head round that yet) very strange.
Currently when a supplier delivery arrives at goods inwards I just go
through the purchase order "ticking off" the parts that have arrived and
adusting the quantities to those actually supplied - obvioulsy 0 if none
were available. In the process any price changes are made to the stock
record (reflected on the updated purchase order), the actual stock is
updated and the total added to the purchase ledger (which can be
adjusted, as different suppliers round VAT slightly differently - having
to generate a ledger entry for 1 or 2p on each order is going to be a
pain, as is where the the goods-inwards process is done against a
packing list and price changes may not be known until the real invoice
arrives later). There is a snag though, as I currenty have to note
back-order items manually - though presumably this could be worked out
from the original order being compared to the final order and parts
being noted as being on back-order (or not - often back-ordered parts
are cancelled immediately as the customer will go elsewhere).
Getting back to menus (at last I hear you cry), I think I'm saying that
it would be good if the accounty stuff was pushed into the background.
But then that's only for my business - I don't sell services, so I'm not
au fait with those users needs. I think I might be saying that if the
menus were configurable, i.e retail, service, manufacturing, etc it
would be good.

Just my 2p's worth.

Richard 

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