>>Sorry if I'm giving too many suggestions.
It's not a problem. I find the best ideas often come from fresh eyes.
>>I miss having the shortcut "page up, page down" to move to the next partner. Maybe there was a good reason to remove that ability?
Actually, I thought it was in there! I don't use it, so I never noticed that it wasn't working.
I have working in the next update which will be out later today (build 74 or later).
>>Can the process of inputting manual donations be quickened by putting in a shortcut key combination or making the "Record this gift" button the next tabbed button after inputting the amount?
Good suggestion. Done.
>>Can the single envelope options include a customize envelope option similar to the bulk envelope option?
Tell me more what you would customize here. The single envelope option runs an internal routine (very fast) to produce the envelope. The bulk envelope runs the envelopes out to Word for printing. That gives you all of the power of Word for formatting the envelope, but with a significant speed penalty. The trade off is worth it for a lot of envelopes, but I'm not sure it is worth it for the "one off" envelope.
So, tell me more about what you would like to customize.
>>I am also curious why you changed the custom lists (if I remember the correct term) to the Groups function?
The custom lists was limited (by screen space) to 10 lists. The groups feature is totally open ended.
So, it is far more flexible. If the implementation is cumbersome, that can certainly be looked at.
But the main reason was simply some users have a very detailed segmentation strategy, and 10 lists (which worked fine for me) simply didn't work for them.
But I'm open to suggestions on how to make this easier to use.
>>It would be nice to have an option to choose where the PartnerNames data stored. I was installing and storing DM and data on an encrypted TrueCrypt drive, but that is pointless if all of the address/donation info is stored in My Documents!
This one is already "in the works." It will come within a week or so (it's been on my "do list."
>>Can a password be built into the program? I think simplicity and automatic default backups are very good for ideas, but I also feel some responsibility to try to protect my partners' information if my computer gets stolen, which is a very real possibility with so much traveling.
A password can be implemented, but let me tell you why it isn't there right now.
Some time back a group of us were discussing this very issue. A password simply isn't enough ... there must also be data encryptation.
The DM uses an open data structure. You can open the DM files with Excel, Open Office, ... all kinds of things.
That is both good and bad. It is fast and it makes the data easily usable by other programs.
But the tradeoff is security.
So the consensus of that discussion was that password protection was needed at a higher level, and that putting things on a TrueCrypt drive is much more comprehensive solution.
>>The installation notes could instruct not to use Program Files, along with the explanation you gave, for those of us who don't always go with the default installation path!
Very true. I was hoping that the "install dm data in any folder you want" feature in this update, but it just didn't make it.