MultiBit

[jim618]

Today I have started on the rework of the Send Bitcoin / Request Bitcoin panels:



The introductory text has been moved to the tooltip of a new 'Context sensitive help' button.   Click this and you get sent to the appropriate page in the 'Help Contents' tab.

Implementing context sensitive help is like eating Ryvita.   You know it is good for you but it is not exactly exciting stuff.   :-)

I have not finished it yet, but the QR code/ Swatch display panel will be in a little 'more' / 'less' panel on the right hand side that you will access with the 'More >', '< Less' toggle button.

[CrownCloud]

Today I have started on the rework of the Send Bitcoin / Request Bitcoin panels:



The introductory text has been moved to the tooltip of a new 'Context sensitive help' button.   Click this and you get sent to the appropriate page in the 'Help Contents' tab.

Implementing context sensitive help is like eating Ryvita.   You know it is good for you but it is not exactly exciting stuff.   :-)

I have not finished it yet, but the QR code/ Swatch display panel will be in a little 'more' / 'less' panel on the right hand side that you will access with the 'More >', '< Less' toggle button.

Looks cool and neat !

[jim618]

@speedbus - thanks!

Today I have got the send screen working with:
+ just show the send form
+ show qrcode
+ show swatch

There is also a "zoom" option for point of sales usage (requested by bitcoinspot.nl).


Here is the send panel with "neither qrcode nor swatch":



Here it is showing a QR code:



And here is a swatch:



It remembers your settings for show/ hide the side panel and the combo box setting.
For new users it starts off just showing the basic send form to keep it simple.


There is also now a zoom icon in the bottom right of the send side panel.  Click that and you get a "super zoomed" QR code / swatch that fills the MultiBit screen, as shown here:

http://multibit.org/postImages/qrCodeZoom.png

You can scan that with a mobile from at least a metre away.

[bitcoinspot.nl]

I like the zoom button

[jim618]

@bitcoinspot.nl - glad to get it coded up for you.   :-)

[CrownCloud]

New versions screenshots look amazing !  Can't wait for the new version !

[jim618]

Thanks speedbus !  Yes it is a much cleaner layout than the current release.

I have also converted it to use the system colours of the installed machine (for things like window borders etc) so it should blend in with the desktop a bit better.

Today I have got the "Request" screen (= the old receive bitcoins screen) to use the same layout as the send screen:




There are a few more days of work to do yet but hopefully I will get it all finished, tested and released around the middle of next week.

[CrownCloud]

After seeing every new screenshot, I really really can't wait for the new version ! Its just AWESOME !

[MaxSan]

Multibit wont connect.. Anything gone wrong with BitcoinJ atm?

[jim618]

Anything in the logs directory ?

The log directory is decribed here:
http://multibit.org/help_troubleshooting.html

It could be something to do with new v0.6 nodes appearing possibly.

Edit: I just tried versions v0.3.0beta6, beta5, beta4, beta3 and they could all connect (on a mac) but maybe it is peer node specific.
Edit: Resolved by PM - it was a pre-Feb20 copy of MultiBit being run.

[jim618]

We are looking for a Greek translator for MultiBit.

If you are a Greek speaker or have a Greek friend that would be interested please sign up at:
http://translate.multibit.org

Motivation ?
http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-mainmenu-26/europe-mainmenu-35/11265-greeks-adopt-alternative-currencies-as-economy-implodes

[jim618]

3Phase on this forum has started the Greek translation - thanks !

A couple of minor things have gone in today:

+ more "horizontal-ness" in the wallet detail panel (suggested by da2ce7)
+ drill down help on the "available to spend" text to a more detailed explanation.





Help wanted with screen layout on Windows.   
As you have probably noticed, all my development is on a Mac and I test Linux and Windows on relatively old OSes on virtual machines.   It would be nice to get rid of some of the inevitable layout glitches on a "proper" Windows system so I will post an early Windows EXE over the weekend.   Most of the MultiBit downloads are on Windows systems.

If someone could try it out on Windows 7 and have a look at the layouts it would be appreciated.  If you spot anything wrong, post or PM me a screenshot and I will try to iron them out early.   It is things like bad colours, text truncation, whether the gradient fills render, odd grey panels that should not be there, things like that.

[3phase]

Hi Jim,

I came across several capital English letters among the strings. Not sure what I'm supposed to translate there. I understand they are shortcuts of some sort, but I can't see what they do in the client.

Any hints?

[jim618]

Hi 3phase,

They are the mnemonic keys (shortcuts within menus).

You get a good hint as to what the action is from the name of the string being translated as I have pretty universally stuck to the convention:

someActionName.text=[The name of the action]
someActionName.tooltipText=[A more detailed explanation of the action]
someActionName.mnemonic=[X]

where X is a letter in the action that you want to use as the mnemonic.

For instance "Zoom" might have the mnemonic "Z" and then the OS typically underlines the Z and you can select it with a shortcut.

I normally choose the "best" letter in the action name.
They are supposed to be unique within what is available on the screen but this is practically impossible to do at translation time so do not worry about this.


P.S.   I am sure "mnemonic" is a transliteration of a Greek word !

[jim618]

I have put a Windows EXE of the current state of my code on github at:

https://github.com/downloads/jim618/multibit/multibit-0.3.1-windows-for-screenshots.exe
Edit: now removed

Can someone with a Windows 7 machine download it and post a couple of screenshots of MultiBit running please ?
I am mainly after screenshots of:

+ MultiBit showing the "Send" screen
+ One of the screens with the horizontal gradient fills e.g. "Export private keys"


Of course if you spot anything "bad" let me know.

Due to the way Java draws components (especially the tabs) differently on different OSes it is quite tricky to get something looking reasonable on all of Mac/ Linux/ Win simultaneously.


Note that this code is not finished yet (e.g. not properly tested, "Delete Wallet" just pops up a TODO message etc).  By all means have a play but do not start using it for real just yet.

[HostFat]

+ MultiBit showing the "Send" screen
+ One of the screens with the horizontal gradient fills e.g. "Export private keys"

https://www.wuala.com/Slyck/multibit/?key=A0VU5nmIyw8U

Are they right?

[jim618]

Cheers HostFat.   That is exactly what I was after.

Yes they look pretty similar to what I see on my XP virtual machine (though obviously XP is a bit "clunkier").
It is good enough for a first release using this look I think.

[jim618]

Today I have wired up the 'Delete Wallet" button.
It has the obligatory warning screen as follows:




In a similar way to the 'Send confirmation' screen, the user gets feedback on the screen as to whether the delete was successful or not.   If not successful (for instance if the files were read-only) they get a message in the space just under the buttons.

Oh: and because MultiBit does not 'like' having zero wallets, if you delete the last wallet it autogenerates a new empty one.

[bitcoinspot.nl]

I was just wondering, will it be possibel in the new version to import private keys without having to import a file?, so by just typing in the key?

and offtopic:
Is it possibole to send a (private) message with a btc transaction?

Greetz!
Roland.

[bitcoinspot.nl]

o, and another question.. sorry

but: the browser integration, that should be integrated in version 0.3 if im correct?
previsously you had to download the multibit snapshot to get it working, but its not functioning in version 0.3 on my computers....

Greetz~!