Usability questions

Talengix kj at talengix.com
Sat Dec 11 10:34:17 EST 2010


Thanks Derek,

Your tip did indeed solve the second point on my list. Hopefully, somebody
has an answer for my other comment. Cheers. Kevin

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
>
>
>


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