Demes's avatar
Demes
Experienced Cover User
13 years ago
Status:
Open

Forms: Ability to set exact field size

After migrating my custom forms from V19 I had to do a lot of manual changes to get them to work and have found a number of very annoying problems with the form designer.

 

  1. As has already been pointed out by another user, the size and position only displays in 1mm increments although these appear to be adjustable in smaller increments making it very hard to align and position. A size properties box would be a help instead of just being able to view the inaccurate size as you drag the size handles.
  2. When selecting multiple items and repositioning them, they often move independently of each other.
  3. The arrange options don't always work, (or may be it never works) looks OK when editing but in preview and when printing the order is not the same. When printing it only recognizes the order in which they were created - whatever was created last is in front of everything else.

This is the view in customize, White Text was created first then the "Blue Box" then the black "SALE AMT:" 

This is what you get in print preview and this is the order when you print.

 

  1. You have no way of constraining lines so it is very difficult to get a straight line or a perfect square for that matter.
  2. The bounding box around a selected item is slightly bigger than the item itself making it extremely difficult to line up with other items. (obviously an idea copied from MS Office 2010 but I have to wonder if the programmers ever tried to use this feature - most frustrating!!) :smileysad:
  3. When resizing an item it doesn't appear to snap to the grid, as you drag a handle there is always a lag so precise movement is impossible. :smileysad:
  4. Add a field or table to the page and it always ends up at the top of the page, and now you must resize the table so you can even move it :smileysad:
  5. You have to click on an item twice before you can move it. :smileysad:
  6. Sometimes when an item is click on it moves from its current position.
  7. Shading option for tables no longer works since the last update. This may be broken for all reports!! :smileysurprised:

 

Oh, just found issue No. 11

  1. Some lines don't print, added a line to an invoice and it wouldn't print, deleted it and added it again and it printed - whats going on? I read others have similar issues!!

 

Well these are the issues I have found with the latest update applied, sure hope they will be fixed with the next update release.

 

Still waiting for an update that will improve the performance of MYOB - would love to feel the power of my i7 processor again instead of it feeling like its an old 286 when MYOB is running!!

 

Regards,

Duncan

 

"Issues with Form Design"

 

Setup
  • CSMI's avatar
    CSMI
    Cover User
    12 years ago

    I feel that the customised form section needs to be more user friendly. It is better than the previous but it still seems very fidly to use.

     

     - I noticed a change from v19.7 which actually worked and is not longer there. The sizes of text boxes by double clicking and entering a size and now you can't, you have to use your mouse and it just isn't quite acurate. Unless I am not doing it properly....

     

    - Should be able to change the decimal point to have as many as you need. At the moment my payslips are showing 6 decimals which is a bit overkill.

     

    - Everytime I reclick on a box it seems to move to a new spot which makes it very frustrating. Not sure of the problem there..

     

    - This might be there already and I just couldn't find it but I need an address field on the Payslips please.

     

    - I would like to be able to move my table headings to the side of the table if needed not just have the headings on the top. May not always work but in some situations it may.

     

    Thanks for listening to my rant but I have just spent 6 hours trying to get a customised Payslip to look the way I want it too!!!

    • CSMI's avatar
      CSMI
      Cover User
      12 years ago

      Also, a couple more of last minute ideas to make customising forms easier....

       

      - Dollar signs - There should be an option maybe with how many decimals you want asking if you would like dollar signs or not.

       

      - Commas, in between numbers preference

       

      - I would like all of the Payroll categories to come up on Payslips even if they aren't used. for ex, overtime, double time etc.

       

      - Maybe have an option where you can choose they way you would like the date shown on your customised form, not just DD/MM/YYYY.

    • Blastoise's avatar
      Blastoise
      Former Staff
      10 years ago

      As an idea, similar to word or publisher, could you add the ability to specify the length and width of fields in custom invoices in AR 2015. 

       

      I know you can resize with the mouse by selecting the circles on the outsides of the field, but creating fields and trying to make them all the same size can be very difficult with that approach. It would save alot of time if you could manually specify the size. 

       size.PNG

  • Tazter's avatar
    Tazter
    Super Partner
    13 years ago

    Hi Duncan,

     

    Please accept my congratulations on your well presented issues list; it is both clear and concise.

     

    I've got a few observations & tips that I'd like to share with you:-

     

    Arrange:

    In the example you gave make sure 'arrange' each object in the collection. There's a 'blue box' shape and 'SALE AMT:' text box using the same real estate, make sure you arrange each object like so:-

    1. Click 'Send to Back' for the 'blue box'
    2. Click 'Bring to Front' for the 'SALE AMT:' text box

    It does not matter the order they were created in but it does matter whether you have created an 'arrangement' for each one as indicated above.

     

     

    Add a field or table:

    This is identical to the way in which AccountRight V19 worked so my question is why is it an issue now?

     

     

    Shading Option:

    The shading is still there when it is turned on though it is fainter than before; perhaps there had been a request to make it lighter, I really don't know but it is still there, at least I can see it for the 1st three lines of an invoice.

     

     

    Lines:

    Are a 'flippin floppin' mess at the present time.  MYOB should bring back the horizontal and vertical lines it had in V19; the single line option is not working out for us.  Also include the ability to point size the line, that is provide an option to make it thinner or thicker just like in V19.

     

    I reckon your lines were still there only they turned white on the printout.  Do yourself a favour and arrange them; click each one, select 'Arrange' then select 'Bring to Front', it has worked for me :smileyhappy:

     

    Making a box fully square is an art form within forms customisation at present because the 'size handles' are limited to 1 decimal place (ie 1mm).  If you need a box that is exactly 3 cms then after making a box drag each side handle until it just clicks from 2.9 to 3.0 then stop.

     

     

    Once again thank you for your contribution :smileyvery-happy:

    • Demes's avatar
      Demes
      Experienced Cover User
      13 years ago

      Hi Tony,

      Thanks for the quick response to my list of issues.

       

      Arrange

      I'm not sure if I tried to arrange other items so they are sent to the front of the stack, off course this is very confusing as it displays correctly in the customize tab but not in the preview tab or when the form is printed so this is a programming glitch in any case. All the other programs I use sent the selected item to the bottom (back) of the stack allowing everything else to sit in front of it automatically - from what you are saying, clearly this is not how MYOB operates ??? Please can we have some consistency with the rest of the world to save us, the customer from having to retain our brains every time we use MYOB?

       

      Adding Tables & Fields

      With regard to adding a field or table, I don't think comparing it's functionality to V19 is a complement, form creation in V19 was like using a Windows 3 program that had been badly ported from DOS - MYOB needs to bring the ease of use up to date - off course some things have improved and that's a step in the right direction.

       

      Shading

      Oh you are right, there is an extremely faint shading when the invoice is printed, it is not possible to see it at all on the screen and it is so faint when printed it may as well not be there!! I thought the level of grey shading was very functional before. :smileysad:

       

      Lines, squares and circles

      I agree, may be the programmers should be forced to create 20 complex forms before releasing this sort of thing on unsuspecting customers, they might then understand our frustration. Again the standard is to hold down the shift key while dragging which snaps the line to 15 degree increments or maintains equal length / width for other shapes - (what's so difficult about that)

       

      Performance

      I notice you didn't comment on the still woeful performance of MYOB, well it takes 3 - 4 seconds just to save changes to a form and the i7 processor in my notebook jumps from 1% to 25% usage.

       

      Anyway, thanks once again for your response and helpful tips, keep up the pressure on MYOB to get these issues fixed.

       

      Regards,

      Duncan

      • lb77's avatar
        lb77
        Experienced User
        13 years ago

        I am also still finding that the form design is not working right (in SP4).

         

        When customising a Pay Slip I have an image that I'm trying to 'Send to Back' with the Arrange button.  On the design screen it looks correct (i.e. other fields are shown in front of it) but when printed only some fields are visible in front of it.  The print preview screen also shows it incorrectly, the same as the printed version.

         

        Also every time I go to the Print / Email Pay Slips screen the order of the pay transactions is way out.  It is not in date or cheque number order.  Each time I have to order it by date but that is not remembered the next time it's opened. 

         

        Are these issues already known / being fixed?

         

         

        Liam.

  • d-roc's avatar
    d-roc
    Experienced User
    12 years ago

    Object arrangment still does not work properly in AccountRight v2013. :smileysad:

     

     

    Send an object to the back, it appears correctly on the customise screen but appears in front of other items on the print preview screen, when printed or when sent to PDF.

     

    No matter how many times you send the object to the back or bring the other items to the front, still it appears on top of everything else.

     

    Two years since AR 2011 was released, still something as simple as this doesn't work properly in the latest version - not to mention all the other ongoing issues and the still dismal performance. I am disgusted with this software - it is a disgrace.

  • EXSKerry's avatar
    EXSKerry
    Contributing User
    12 years ago

    I've recently downloaded a trial version of AccountRight Plus and thought this would be a good time to revamp and modernise my forms, I expected that MYOB would have the basis of a very professional form that would require little tweaking to personalise it?  NOT!!!  Very disappointed as it takes absoluely ages to personalise a form!

     

    I have 2 points (further from above) that I hope may be considered:

     

    1.  Please introduce forms that are professional in appearance?  Existing forms are out of line; text boxes are too small for text etc...

     

    2.  Once I've personalised and saved an item invoice (for example), can I then 'save as' an item purchase?  It would reduce the workload considerably, and then we'd have continuity of form appearance

     

     

  • Matthew_W's avatar
    Matthew_W
    MYOB Staff
    12 years ago

    Hi EXSKerry, thank you for your feedback.

     

    The default forms are designed to be basic templates that can suit a wide range of business types, because of this they are very basic in their design and layout, the customisation process allows you to add the look and feel that best suits your business needs.

     

    Because the different Layouts pull different information from a separate area of AccountRight the forms cannot currently be brought across to use other layouts than what they were created as. This is something that could possibly be looked at the be changed in a future.


    Thank you again for your feedback and suggestions.

    Kind Regards,
    Matthew - MYOB

  • Colleen's avatar
    Colleen
    Valued Partner
    11 years ago

    The form 2013 Live form designer processes are far too slow to create anything efficiently.  My standard time was an hour to design a form from scratch, it can now take me two or three times that depending on what I am doing.    Not cost effective and I can't recover my time.  

     

    I need the measurement boxes back.

     

    I need to be able to magnify the screen so that I can line boxes up - the latter being almost impossible. 

     

    Adjusting column sizes is painful when the system decides to slow for its own reasons.  One minute the columns are whizzing around, the next, they refuse to budge.  

     

     

  • Colleen's avatar
    Colleen
    Valued Partner
    11 years ago

    Also, I can't find the setting for the default fonts for the headings and the body text.   To much work changing every field individually.

     

     

  • Barry_C's avatar
    Barry_C
    MYOB Staff
    11 years ago

    Hi Colleen 

     

    Can you confirm which version of AccountRight you are using? 

     

    You can zoom in on the customised form when it is displayed by moving the slide bar down the bottom left hand side of your screen.  You can also add grids to your custom form which should assist you in aligning the boxes.  This can be accessed by selecting Grid options towards the top right.  Grids along with zooming in should make it a lot easier to customise your forms. 

     

    In regards to changing the font sizes, are you meaning the text inside of the main table where your transaction details show?  Unfortunately these can only be modified one at a time currently.  For all other fields, if you hold the control key and click on each field, you can modify all font sizes and types at once.  I hope this helps. 

  • Colleen's avatar
    Colleen
    Valued Partner
    11 years ago

    AccountRight Live - 2013.4

     

    Currently locked out so will have to try yoru suggestions tomorrow.  

     

     

     

     

  • Colleen's avatar
    Colleen
    Valued Partner
    11 years ago

    Tried the magnifier and that resolved quite a few of my problems.  Trouble with being half blind is that you don't see things like the magnifier.