GSoC 2018: Beginner Mode and Tutorial Creation
Original Blog Post: https://musescore.org/en/user/1190941/blog/2018/04/26/gsoc-2018-beginne…
Hello there! My name is Joshua Bonn and I'm participating in GSoC 2018 with the project of Beginner Mode and Tutorial Creation. I need some more feedback on my project before I start work on it. To see the original blog, click the link at the top of this post. I will just be giving a description of the items found in the "New Scope" section.
New Scope
Action Limiting
The user can set actions (macro or list style selection) that can be performed on the score. This is saved to the score file and can be selected upon file load. The user can revert back to the full selection of actions by deselecting the option in preferences. An example of a restrict action set is a "read-only" mode by restricting any action that changes the score and only allows playback actions.
The macro style action setting would go as follows: the user presses a "record" button, any action used is recorded, the user presses a "stop record" button, the actions are saved and any unused actions are disabled.
The list style action setting would give the user a list of all actions (similar to the shortcut setting). The user can manually select which actions may be enabled or disabled.
On Screen Help:
By integrating the MuseScore handbook back into the application, the onscreen help will assist beginner users by: informing them of the current edit mode, linking the handbook accessed by the existing shortcut "F1" into an onscreen window (the F1 shortcut exists but not as help within the application), and allowing offline use of the handbook. The onscreen help would be a small, minimizable, movable window that can be closed. Onscreen help can be turned off by closing the window or turning it off in preferences (or in a menu bar item).
Please take a moment to comment on these items. If you have extra time, my original blog post has a lot more ideas that were in my project proposal.
Thanks!
Joshua Bonn
Comments
I was wondering if you are thinking of adding an option to edit macros in the "The macro style action setting" This could allow the user to add variables to the macro so the next one or more key presses would be passed to the macro. For a specific example, someone wanted a shortcut to make a dotted 1/4 followed by an 8th note. I suggested something such as /5ab to make the dotted quarter a followed by an eighth note b. This would require 3 variables for the macro to work. I even suggested allowing macros in the discussion to make this work.
In reply to I was wondering if you are… by mike320
Within the scope of this project, the idea of macros was to simply record the actions taken. Then, the actions would become the only actions available upon loading the score (and selecting the restricted mode). This is with the concept of tutorial creation in mind. By simply restricting what the user is capable of doing, more focused learning is possible.
Example of macro setting use case:
1. Press Record
2. Build the score to be the tutorial
3. Press Stop
Then the program would create a restricted set of actions saved to the score.
That being said, I would definitely be for full macro creation and actually made my first GSoC 2018 proposal on it. It got denied for a different reason unrelated to macros, however.