[pbean]

Hai,

I like the Minion so far, as it basically does what the Curse client does (which I have used in the past and still use) and enables those extra features for unpaying customers (or rather, not limits functionality).

However, here are a few points that came to my mind while installing & using this application, maybe these points are useful for you for improving your product in the future:

- First of all, the installer installed the application and then just quit. While the application was installing, I was doing something else so when I came back I was confused and thought it had crashed. Then I reinstalled and spotted the installation directory, went there and opened the application. It was a long while later I noticed the icon on the desktop, and was enlightened. Perhaps it's an idea to either install a shortcut on the start menu as well (that's where I personally, and a lot of other people, look for installed programs). In addition to that I think it would be a very good idea to show a pop-up at the end of the installation indicating how the application can be started (eg. "An icon has been placed on your desktop"), after which the installer closes.

- Upon running the application, it showed that several addons were out of date, while in fact they were up-to-date. These addons were previously installed with the Curse client, which also reported they were up to date. In fact, it showed that version X (eg. 1.14.1 for Atlas) was available, while that was the version installed. Perhaps this is a bug, or perhaps this is intended behaviour?

- The donate icon is hideous and very vague. I didn't understand what the icon was at first, so didn't dare click it. Only after I clicked it out of curiosity, it showed me the donate window. I recommend a different icon (for example one with a coin on it, or a dollar sign). A tooltip wouldn't hurt either.

- For some addons, the description in the search window is garbled. One example of this is "Fubar AmmoFu". Not sure what it shows, but it's really weird.

- I am not sure how you implemented the search in that same window, but in my eyes it's kind of dodgy. For example typing "vampwatch" will not yield "FuBar_VampwatchFu" as a result, while typing "ammo fubar" does (probably because it searches for ammo OR fubar). I guess it's self evident that this needs some tweaking.

- Are the ads that appear screened? I just got one with a white background and red text, with some kind of red bar moving over it like crazy. Also several other ads with heavy animation have appeared. This is very annoying, and in the case of the red moving one, I was unable to normally use the application as it drew the focus of my eyes all the time.

- Sometimes the progress bars of certain addons are visible (in the main window), while not displaying any progress. I am not sure why they are visible and what their purpose is, so it's kind of confusing.

- As with most Java applications, this application doesn't fit 100% into my Windows (XP) environment. Some stuff just looks a bit out of place, a bit weird compared to native applications, etc. Perhaps some work could be done to ensure greater integration, for example by using standard UI elements (the vertically aligned tabs on the Options dialog is just weird).

- Talking about the Options dialog, it would be handy to display a number of how many update threads I have actually chosen. On the slider it says 1 and unlimited, but the slider is halfway now... how many threads have I specified? :-)

- Also the "Display Totals" caption should just be what is in the tooltip, as that would fit in the dialog and explains it way better (making it more clear more easily, without having to hover over it).

- On the "MMOUI - WoW" tab it has some login information, but it's unspecified what this login information is for (I suspect for the WoWinterface website, but I am unsure). Also using the OK button is no different from using the close button of the window ("X" in the top-right corner on Windows), so perhaps it should be called "Close" (I had expected that closing the window wouldn't apply the changes, while pressing the "OK" button would).

- The Options dialog has no window title, while it says "MMOUI Minion Configuration" in a label in the window itself. ;-)

- After closing the Options dialog, the addons always re-check for updates. I am not sure why this happens. It happens even after no changes have been made.

- Which brings me to another point... there's no way to manually check for updates? No refresh button or something similar? (Only Update All, but nothing to check for updates without actually updating them).

- The "OK" button in the Manage Ignored Interfaces dialog doesn't work. Also this dialog doesn't close with the ESC button on the keyboard.

- Perhaps it's neat to put it am internet browser window which would appear when you click More Info, to display the page in that browser.

- As with many applications, the "File" menu only contains the "Exit" action, while the keyword "File" has nothing to do with exiting the application whatsoever. Perhaps you should drop the "File" menu, and just let "Tools" be the first menu item. Then extend it with a separator and an "Exit" action on the bottom.

Well this is my extensive list of feedback that I have for your little application. I hope you can use some of these points to improve your product.

Please don't get me wrong, I totally love your initiative and think the application is already great in Beta and can only get better for the final release, above points are just my feelings about it. Good luck with further development!