Is the description of "Common Accounts" in Account wizard accurate or confusing?

Wm wm_o_o_o at yahoo.co.uk
Fri Dec 2 17:01:59 EST 2016


On 01/12/2016 15:24, Tommy Trussell wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 12:18 PM, Dr. David Kirkby - Kirkby Microwave Ltd <
> drkirkby at kirkbymicrowave.co.uk> wrote:
> 
>> I was trying to set up some accounts using the wizard, or to give it the
>> name in the software "New Account Hierarchy Setup", and see "Common
>> Accounts", where it says
>>
>> "Most users will want to select this set of accounts. It includes most
>> commonly used accounts (checking, savings, cash, debit card, income, common
>> expenses).
>>
>> The fact it is already ticked, and ones told most users will want them,
>> sort of suggests they should be left. Yet, from reading the book "Gnucash
>> 2.4 Small Business Accounting", it says you don't need these for a
>> business. IMHO, it should be better if the description stated this.
>>
>> As a minor point, I thing there should be an "and" in the description too.
>>
>> "It includes most commonly used accounts (checking, savings, cash, debit
>> card, income *AND* common expenses)"
>>
> 
> I believe this wording is intended to represent GnuCash's "target user," or
> a fictional entity one imagines when designing the software. I think the
> target user has always been presumed to be an individual interested in
> managing her or his own personal finances.
> 
> Of course many of us also use GnuCash to manage small organizations and
> businesses, so the wording for the selection in that dialog might need to
> be expanded or reworded to specify its target more precisely.
> 
> I haven't been through the setup process in a long long time, but I believe
> one hurdle to a new user is to emphasize that although the software offers
> to create these suggested accounts, the user is not restricted to use (or
> even to keep) any of them. HOWEVER this very concept of account freedom
> might be too open-ended to express in the space given. (Because the user
> might be new to the software and doesn't know what it can do for them yet.)
> 
> While it's fresh on your mind, maybe you can help by suggesting a more
> exclusive (yet welcoming and informative) wording for the selection on that
> wizard so one of us might create a bug report? Something like:
> 
> "Most users managing their own personal finances will want to select this
> set of accounts. It includes commonly used accounts (cash, debit card,
> income, and common expenses)."

Eeeew, I dislike Oxford commas and would prefer it left as is.

-- 
Wm




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