Will's "Expression Web" Feature Request List

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Will's "Expression Web" Feature Request List

Postby Will Fastie » Mon Jan 14, 2019 9:47 pm

I know that Expression Web is a dead product (and used by hundreds of thousands still) but it has many excellent features that would be good improvements to the Blumentals editor. Of course I'm only interested in Rapid PHP, but these features are not specific to PHP or any other language. They are mostly relevant to project management and editing.

File Explorer
  • Allow an arbitrary selection of files and folders in the File Explorer list.
  • Make the context menu options for folders the same as those for files (i.e., allow the Shell Menu to be turned off), with some exceptions.
  • Include "Add New..." in the context menu for folders but not for files.
  • Include Publish options on all context menus in File Explorer. Selecting a publish option applies to all folders/files currently selected.
  • Include a Search option on the context menu that brings up the Find dialog (see below) configured to search the selected folders/files.

Find
  • Integrate the Find and Find in File dialogs into one, retaining all features.
  • Add a "Selected Files" option to the Find dialog. If chosen, search only the files/folders selected in the File Explorer.
  • After a Find/Replace operation completes and the results are displayed in the message area, allow one or more results to be selected and provide a context menu for logical operations, such as Publish. Alternatively, use the Expression Web method of causing the selected results to select those files in the File Explorer.
  • For maximum clarity regarding search results, place them in a different tab in the messages area. Expression Web has two such tabs, allowing the results of two searches to be visible at the same time. (I think messages should be separate from search results anyway.)
Note that the integration I'm suggesting here requires that the dialog offer the various options needed - All Files, Selected Files, This File, Selected text in This File. I think the general organization of the Expression Web find dialog is pretty good.

Publish/FTP
  • Improve the publishing environment by mimicking the design of the Expression Web publishing panel (side-by-side local/remote display). Although the Expression Web FTP system is not as sophisticated as a full product like FileZilla, it is competent. It is also very handy.
  • Allow basic operations to be performed in the Remote panel, most especially delete.
  • Denote differences between the local and remote copies. Expression Web does this well for files but not for folders.
  • When configuring an FTP/SFTP connection, use overkill to make clear what sort of value should go in each configuration field. Do not assume FTP experts in this dialog.

User Interface
  • Allow toolbars to be locked.
  • Integrate the themes and colors settings so they work together smoothly.
  • Clean up theme/color setttings for printing listings of files. Do not assume a black background. Facilitate color printing.

Environment
  • Allow multiple instances of the IDE.
  • Allow folders/files to be copied from one instance to another.
I am sure I am annoying in my repeated requests for multiple instances, but I often work on more than one project at the same time. As useful as PMK65's Project add-in is, I need the real thing.
Will
WebDesignBuild.biz, Fastie.com
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Will Fastie
 
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Location: Timonium, MD USA

Re: Will's "Expression Web" Feature Request List

Postby Aivars » Tue Feb 12, 2019 4:00 pm

Thank you for the suggestions.
Blumentals Software Programmer
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Aivars
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Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2002 1:40 pm
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