Pro-Gramer (Customer) asked a question.
We just updated from V6.72 to V9.0 and I noticed a visual downgrade of the frame type 3D4.
On V6.72, the frame had nice, rounded corners that we really liked. It was the only frame we liked for buttons. All other are very meh.
Somewhere along the software versions, it's been downgraded!
See the screenshot below for a comparison:
Can you bring this back on the next version?
Ideal case would be to design and introduce a new generation of modern, clean frames and other visuals. Congrats on the release of V9.0 BTW, this is a great update! Nice to see that you are pushing this HMI platform forward!
I have another suggestion while I'm here:
In the Panel information, in Error List, please make the Error Message colomn wider by default.
@Pro-Gramer (Customer) We appreciate the feedback.
This frame changed all the way back at V8.0 from what I can tell. There are several reasons related to the OS on the changing from Windows to Linux and the development environment changing also. I don't think this will be changed back.
I hope one of the other frames works for you. You can make a global change on the frames in the Panel Manager by changing the default frame.
The error list is good call. This should be true for every dialog with a table. White space needs to be utilized automatically.
Every other frame have a dated look. I don't mean to be rude, just my honest opinion. New frames or a modern update to the frames look would be a great update along what V9.0 brings!
It's not rude, you make a good point. It is not something we concentrated on.
Can you give us an idea of what a "modern look" would be? We are just a bunch of wire heads and not creative at all😶.
Thanks for the feedback. We appreciate all we can get.
I'm an engineer as well, so not that creative either, but I'll get back to you with ideas when I get some time!
While I'm here, I may have come across a bug with the new Find and Replace.
The "Within Selected Objects" does not work.
Here's what tags in the grid I have before doing anything:
All 33 tags are for Line 2
Now if I select the objects in Column 1, I want to replace them for Line1:
So, 11 tags for Line1 Column, Within selected Objects, Control tags, when I press Replace all, it should only replace those selected, right?
Well now everything line2 on the screen was replaced by Line1:
EDIT:
It's more than that.
Instead of pressing Replace all; if I press the "Replace" button once, the all 3 objects containing the Line1 will be replaced. 2 objects of which are outside of the Replace list.
Thank you very much for being responsive!
We made a last minute change to this function and apparently something broke. Sincerest apologies, we'll get that fixed right away
Actually a little more testing I think I figured out what's happening. Notice the "Save as new tag when replaced" check box next to the "Replace" option.
If the tags you are updating to don't exist, it will simply change the name of the existing tags. -without creating new tags
Since each column uses the same 10 tags, changing the name of the tag, impacts all of them.
If you either Create all the tags up front - which is recommended because you'll need to set your PLC Address and device for each tag
or
Save as "New Tag when replaced" - which creates a copy of the existing tag and updates the name - You'll then need to open the tag DB to adjust the PLC adrress for the new tags
The replace works fine when it knows what to do about new tags.
Give it a try and please confirm if you see any misbehaviour
I can confirm that all my tags exist before the replace. I can show you. If you would like, I can send a copy of the program. But in private by email if we can.
I would be happy even if the buttons and things were updated back to the old v6.72 look. So instead of being very square looking, they have short rounded corners. And instead of a wide shadow/highlight gradient it was changed back to a shorter and sharper shadow. Right now, your current design is very reminiscent of Windows 98:
https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2015/10/19/media_1d6e1483aa59434cedeb486909e6545b328b2771d.png?width=2000&format=webply&optimize=medium
Look at the similarities: square everything. Top and left have highlight, bottom and right have shadow, when pushed in these invert positions.
At its most basic level, rounded corner objects just tend to look more modern than square corner objects, and gradients that take up less space make things look more organized and lower "visual load" compared to larger gradients. Balance a minimalism look with still having depth.
https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/674703d2af36853f65da67e0/68f087281edf546f2ad94c20_91%20Button%20UI%20Design%20%20Types%20to%20Explore.avif
https://cdn.dribbble.com/userupload/5766524/file/original-89647904850bb2af6ea8c8e848cf28ab.png?resize=2040x1116&vertical=center
If you really wanted to go all out with a huge overhaul you could pay a few graphic designers to create 2-3 new entire theme libraries of object looks and have both a glass type look like Apple is pushing lately (though probably not quite as much transparency please) or a sort of holographic type of style like modern vehicle dashboards use:
https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/format:webp/1*T-ls-x3S2fO-F87XaemPHQ.jpeg
https://cdn.dribbble.com/userupload/43706659/file/original-c0a1df52ccc41eead16747c887398c0d.png?resize=1024x679&vertical=center
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fios-26-liquid-glass-theme-v0-idt3h7qysmif1.png%3Fwidth%3D1080%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3Dfbb1ea73ef31f8ec40a6b0a25631f17a0ce43d2d
https://www.veethree.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Process2-Concept1.jpg
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fhmi-design-inspiration-v0-hnnt3dj1hezc1.png%3Fwidth%3D1366%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D09dad25be553d983bcfa0d2c143c9fcb83ad2c39
https://hmi-project.com/en
Here are some more examples of a modern, colorful, yet minimal design style. As you look through them, notice how they all tend to have rounded corners to object, or just circles or ovals for buttons themselves, typically a flat sort of design style but with certain areas of color to give depth and draw attention. High contrast text. line graphs with color fills instead of a plain line.
https://hmi-project.com/media/pages/projects/e-hmi-connect/762141f228-1717768744/hmiproject-erlenbach-sustainablity-1400x.png
https://hmi-project.com/media/pages/projects/e-hmi-connect/41bb7c03f2-1687250761/hmiproject-erlenbach-header-2880x1170-crop-50-50.jpg
https://hmi-project.com/media/pages/projects/kaishan/6d416305ac-1755856288/hmiproject-kaishan-header-2880x1170-crop-50-50.png
https://hmi-project.com/media/pages/projects/kosme/0ef8fd20d0-1768228532/hmiproject-kosme-header-2880x1170-crop-50-50.png
https://hmi-project.com/media/pages/projects/kosme/02e4733393-1768228980/hmiproject-kosme-uielements-1400x.png
https://hmi-project.com/media/pages/projects/reifenhaeuser/8353440275-1759996873/hmiproject_reifenhaeuser_evoos3.0_header-2880x1170-crop-50-50.png
https://hmi-project.com/media/pages/projects/t-system/d9ff01ca98-1769616985/hmiproject-t-systems-list-1400x.jpg
https://hmi-project.com/media/pages/projects/t-system/07b58e3091-1769700914/hmiproject-t-systems-screen-1400x.jpg
https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66a13ae9848e673f2362b735/69bb0757b85e6e3cad244b4e_Digital-Twin.jpg
Maybe you could even do a neumorphic design style set, which is a style characterized by a flat sort of color scheme as well with splashes of color similar to the other modern styles, but the depth is done in a way where buttons and objects seem to almost extrude out of the background:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Neumorphism-fixed.jpg/1920px-Neumorphism-fixed.jpg
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fis-neumorphism-the-next-era-of-design-development-after-v0-alxxlm0wo5ae1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1080%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D324b77e2b628149d7ccc314a1ffb2e89c2c53499
https://www.magnific.com/free-vector/gradient-user-interface-kit-collection_20824861.htm#fromView=keyword&page=1&position=22&uuid=cf5ba89f-f1e7-4956-84a2-d799af120e65&query=Skeuomorphism
https://www.magnific.com/free-vector/neumorphic-design-user-interface-elements_12427645.htm#fromView=keyword&page=1&position=0&uuid=ee6717e9-af71-4db1-86fc-d1f45ca73fcb&query=Neumorphic+design
https://www.magnific.com/free-vector/realistic-neumorphic-design-user-interface-elements_11797306.htm#fromView=keyword&page=1&position=1&uuid=ee6717e9-af71-4db1-86fc-d1f45ca73fcb&query=Neumorphic+design
I agree with the OP.
With the newer tools, your software developer went overboard with the 3D effects, and that steals real estate for text. Also, look at the text of V6.72, seems cleaner and more legible to my 65-year-old eyes.
I checked as far back as 6.73 and the corners were squared off in that version, but in 6.52 (way back) they were rounded. So it appears the change was made in 6.72.
The good news is 9 allows for some customization of the buttons using the new Studio and applying images to any button. Check out the Studio function and I'll look into improving the frames.