Usability questions

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

On Sat, December 11, 2010 10:34 am, Talengix wrote:
> Thanks Derek,
>
> Your tip did indeed solve the second point on my list. Hopefully, somebody
> has an answer for my other comment. Cheers. Kevin

Sorry, no way to do that.  It wont scroll past the end of the list, and I
think it would confusing if it did.  Honestly, sometimes I HATE that when
I'm scrolling down a spreadsheet it just keeps going well past the end of
my actual data.  I HATE HATE HATE that, and I'm very glad GnuCash doesn't
do that.

A row is a row, and GnuCash will add and scroll for you to make sure the
whole transaction is visible (until you get so many splits that it gets
bigger than the screen).

-derek

> On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 6:55 AM, Derek Atkins <derek at ihtfp.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> On Sat, December 11, 2010 6:21 am, Talengix wrote:
>> > Greetings,
>> >
>> [snip]
>> > 2. The process of creating splits seems very unintuitive (if I'm doing
>> it
>> > right) to me. First I adjust the date and then add a description.
>> Next, I
>> > must go way up to the main buttons and click Split. Then I must go way
>> > down
>> > to the transaction and add the transaction amount for one account.
>> Then I
>> > must be careful to not hit enter or it wrecks the whole transaction
>> and I
>> > must cancel and start over. Assuming I don't mistakenly hit the enter
>> > button
>> > by habit, to get the next part of the transaction I must go way back
>> up
>> to
>> > the split button on the main bar and click not once but twice. The
>> first
>> > click collapses the first split line (why?). The second click finally
>> > opens
>> > them both up. Now, finally, I can choose the other account and finish
>> the
>> > split. Furthermore, I was unable to find any shortcuts to do splits
>> > quicker
>> > and more efficiently. I think this is a serious problem since in
>> double
>> > entry accounting probably 95% of all transactions involve a Split. Let
>> me
>> > know if I am doing this wrong.
>>
>> I think you're doing it wrong.
>>
>> First, I think 95% of all transactions are "Basic" transactions, meaning
>> they have exactly two Splits, one debit and one credit of equal value.
>> GnuCash is designed to make it extremely easy to enter in a Basic
>> transaction.  All you do is put the "other" account into the transfer
>> column.  Voila, you're done.  GnuCash will enter in both Splits for you
>> automatically.
>>
>> For that other 5% where you really DO have a multi-split transaction
>> (involved >2 accounts), then yes, you need to expand the transaction.
>> The
>> way I do it is to still put one of the other accounts into the transfer
>> account, put the transaction value into the debit or credit column, and
>> *THEN* go push the Split button.  At this point it will expand into two
>> Splits (the current account and the account you entered in the transfer
>> column).
>>
>> From this point you can move around and edit the values.  When you need
>> to
>> make a new blank split either change rows using the up or down arrow, or
>> just hit <TAB> until you tab off the end of the line.  Then it will
>> create
>> the new blank split for you.
>>
>> Hope this helps,
>>
>> > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>> > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>
>> -derek
>>
>>
>>
>