[cjakeman]

I want to explore what can be done to keep users better informed and perhaps provide advice tailored to their installation of Open Rails.


Currently we have a very tidy mechanism for indicating what's new in a version update to Open Rails and for updating to that version using links in the Menu form:




At present, Menu.exe calls home (no more than once a day) to report the current version and find if there is a newer one. If we extend that to report the Windows OS and a notification id and perhaps a language too, we can provide a notification mechanism.


A typical update would look like this, which I think looks better but provides no extra features. Users click on the red "notification" icon to reveal the notify text.




When we published v1.4, Menu.exe was coded to not offer that update to users of Windows XP as it was incompatible. It would have been better to encourage users to upgrade their Windows OS, perhaps like this:





If we reach a point in Open Rails where we decide that a "breaking change" is necessary, then we can communicate that directly:





The same mechanism can be used to publicise news items. For example:




The content of these messages is intended to come from a web-based API, so new messages can be written at any time. The "What's New" and "Details" buttons also link back to website pages.


Any thoughts on whether this is worth doing and is this the best way to do it?

[cjakeman]

 Weter, on 27 December 2021 - 07:15 AM, said:

Maybe, as for types of update, there would be an option to turn them off.

You don't have to click on the Notifications icon but, yes, it would be tidier if there was an option to disable them. Enabled by default though, of course.

Along those lines, we would benefit from collecting a bit more information about the use of Open Rails. At present, we only know how many active users there are as their systems check back for the update information. (It's a huge number - 15,000 if I remember correctly.) There is a lot more information that could be reported, such as which Options are in use and how much memory users have installed. This would help us make better informed decisions.

Collecting of information has to be opt-in, so we could use the Notifications to justify opting in and encourage users to do so.

[xavivilla]

Can these notifications be in the language selected by the user in Options/General/Language?

[cjakeman]

 xavivilla, on 27 December 2021 - 09:33 AM, said:

Can these notifications be in the language selected by the user in Options/General/Language?

Good idea. Perhaps a better choice than trying to get the language of the operating system as we only have translations for about 9 languages.

[ebnertra000]

This sounds like a generally good idea, both the update notices/warnings, and the major content releases*. I assume this won't impact those of us whose computers are not on the internet?

*Would it be worth trying to regionalize content releases? I'm not sure how many in Europe are terribly interested in N. American content, and vice versa

[Genma Saotome]

I think it's a completely reasonable idea, probably useful. It doesn't seem terribly important tho.

[cjakeman]

 Genma Saotome, on 27 December 2021 - 02:20 PM, said:

I think it's a completely reasonable idea, probably useful. It doesn't seem terribly important tho.

We've managed pretty well without it so far.

But I can foresee a time when we need to warn our users about something, such as a "breaking change" or starting to collect their usage data.

[Weter]

Hello, Chris.
This looks more interactive. About other, I need some time to think.

Maybe, as for types of update, there would be an option to turn them off.
.
I've thought:
Yes, it looks more modern, interactive, verbose and allows users to be aware of recent news, critical changes, related to exact their own installation, and see possible recommendations. All those – without need to visit OR.org site. Not bad idea. But as it passes some sort of personal data, there would be a warning and an option to disable that.
The separate question is localization of such notifications.

[cjakeman]

Just to say that I've started work on this by submitting a Pull Request. So far all this does is provide an icon to click on: