Things I miss in Inspire which are in V3 (Part 1, probably!)

[cmansell]

Hi All,

Just getting to grips with Inspire - I like it, but miss several things. Here are the first few...


1. In V3, I set my default flipchart to 1024 by 768, with 1 page wide by 4 pages long. This means I can scroll down the page like an old fashioned roller board. When I click "New flipchart" up pops that default page. In settings, I had "Page Panning" and "Page Frame Guidelines" checked meaning I could grab the edge of the screen and "Scroll with it". In inspire, I can't do this. I can open a new flipchart, set it to custom, set the multiple pages, but this is long-winded, and there's no page panning. Using the scroll bar on the side of the screen is slow and jerky by comparison.

2. Dock and Roll up the toolbar. Loved this in V3. Can't do it in Inspire.

3. Changing the pen cursor. In V3 I had the pen cursor as a little dot. When writing on the board, the pen cursor didn't obscure things. In Inspire, the pen, although a lovely looking pen, obscures my writing. Can I turrn it off?

Until next time...

Thanks

Craig:)

[cmansell]

I've thought of a couple more as I've been using Inspire - Not sure that these have been mentioned in the forum before - sorry if I am repeating others:

1. Snap to grid - doesn't seem to work.

2. Arranging windows. I have used up to 4 flipcharts on the IWB at the same time, putting things in each as necessary.

3. When outputting to flipchart from the dice tool, it just adds them. Could there be options to output different things, such as the "raw" numbers, the difference, the product, etc.

Thanks.

Craig

[mhartman]

What I really miss is the ability to search in the Resource library!

[kvaughn]

What I really miss is the ability to search in the Resource library!

I have heard that this will be fixed and we will once again have the ability to search the resource library!

[MrSparks]

I have previously posted about snap to grid in Inspire and have been told that it is returning in the next update.

Good to hear that searching the resources is also coming back, so awkward without it!

As far as I can tell you can dock and roll up the toolbar in Inspire, just use the 3 little buttons right at the top of the toolbar. The pin keeps the tools displayed, the arrow rolls it up and the little menu allows you to change the dock position.

[JanP]

Hi Craig,

Not sure what you mean by can't 'dock and roll up the toolbar'. I can do this in Inspire. Are you using Mac or PC?

I have had quite a few customers ask about the scroll bar flipchart as well. My Maths and Science teachers seem to be the ones that like this best! I remember reading another thread where someone offered a 'work around' but of course I can't find it for looking!

I understand what you mean about the pen curser. I too am hoping this will be in the next build. I know that my Infant teachers tend to like this as it makes modelling handwriting so much better as the pencil icon does not get in the way. I did try deselecting 'show pen with indicator' in the settings but this did not seem to change anything.

Throughout the forum there have been some updates from staff about fixes and additions for the next build. It might be worth looking back to see if any of these are covered!!;)

Janice

[John Simon]

I agree about the Resource Lib. I would like to see a larger search window. I can't seem to drift through as easly as I once did. I often found things in my Resource Library that I did not even know I had.... What fun!

[cmansell]

Hi all,

Thanks for ther feedback...

About the roll-up toolbar - in V3 it can be set so that when you move the toolbar to the top, side, or bottom of the window it AUTOMATICALLY rolls up out of the way. It's a very quick thing which can be accomplished with a "flick of the wrist". In inspire, you have to click on the little button to roll it up. I know it's only one click, but it is a little button so it's not so easy...

Cheers

craig

[John Simon]

How about changing the size of the view window in the Resource Library? I'm sure I'm just missing something.

[Daniel Bunker]

Have you tried just dragging at the edge of the browser window?

The property browser window can resized vertically and even horizontally.

The page resizing issue is more of a poblem. If I want one page at say 1024 x 3000 to vertically scroll down my page, but the next page I want is 1024 x 768 then the scroll bar stays on and when I turn to that page it doesn't take to me to the top of the page but leaves me at the same depth i.e. lost in th world view.

In V3 having different page sizes was altogther a neater solution than the present situation with Inspire.

[cmansell]

Speaking of pages that "scroll", when I set up a custom size page (say, 1 page wide by 4 long) and then select the XY Origin Tool, perhaps to do some rotation work, the XY Origin is placed in the middle of all 4 pages, rather than in the middle of the page currently in view. This is quite annoying...:mad:

Thanks
Craig

[gastonreese]

In ActivStudio there is a grid tool that can be placed in the Toolbox allows the teachers toclick and drag to instantly add a grid to your flipchart. In ActivInspire, in Profile Settings, Commands, there is a Add Grid Tool that can be added to the Toolbox, but does not work. I can not find any documentation on this tool. Can anyone help? I know I can get grids out of Resource Packs, but my teachers are looking for a Tool in the Toolbox that allows for quickly adding a grid.

[Westlake]

Try 'Edit > Grid' to create a custom grid on the fly.

Hilary

[Westlake]

oh - and I am still grieving for the Notes (and Pointers, but I don't miss the Pointers option) from v3
There are some great threads on the Forum about all the uses for these.

Hilary