05-31-2018 , 12:37 PM
For as long as I can remember, customers have been asking for an option to compress their files and replace the original files with the reduced versions. They wanted a simpler a process which avoided creating extra files that they had to clear away afterwards.
We totally understood why but for years we resisted. Thoughts of what could go wrong kept us from committing to the feature.
It can be tricky to decide when it is appropriate to add features. Is it better to protect users with clever UX design and in-application education or to leave features out (that may be easy technically to build) which you fear may cause some users issues whilst using your software?
But people kept asking, so with version 8 looming we finally committed to tackle this head on and try to design a solution that would give users the feature they wanted with as good a safety net as we could manage.
There are two main components to our “safety net”:
Firstly we’ve added a warning message at the point you choose to replace originals, so you have the chance to change your mind.
![[Image: Replace+original.png?format=750w]](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56ea9cdf2fe131ff80e46dee/t/5b0597ea88251ba56f82f56f/1527093237052/Replace+original.png?format=750w)
When you click “Optimize” with the “Replace original” option selected, the software will display the above warning letting you know that you’re replacing your original files. If you click “No” here you aretaken back to the main dialog so that you can alter your choices before clicking “Optimize” again.
Secondly, when replacing originals NXPowerLite will try to put the original files into the recycle bin, rather than permanently deleting them. This way if you do find yourself regretting deleting your originals, you should be able to restore them from the Recycle Bin. To avoid you accidentally restoring the original over your new optimized/resized versions we add "_nxpl" to the filename of files placed in the recycle bin.
Recycle Bin’s can be disabled by the user and there isn’t usually one available on network drives, so this won’t work in 100% of cases. As these things are out of our control, we also show you the warning before doing anything permanent.
Now that I’ve explained how we’ve implemented this great new feature, it’s time to show you how to use it. We’ve given you a couple of option so you can pick whichever is more convenient depending on your situation.
1. From the main application window:
2. From the right-click menu:
SOURCE
We totally understood why but for years we resisted. Thoughts of what could go wrong kept us from committing to the feature.
It can be tricky to decide when it is appropriate to add features. Is it better to protect users with clever UX design and in-application education or to leave features out (that may be easy technically to build) which you fear may cause some users issues whilst using your software?
But people kept asking, so with version 8 looming we finally committed to tackle this head on and try to design a solution that would give users the feature they wanted with as good a safety net as we could manage.
There are two main components to our “safety net”:
Firstly we’ve added a warning message at the point you choose to replace originals, so you have the chance to change your mind.
When you click “Optimize” with the “Replace original” option selected, the software will display the above warning letting you know that you’re replacing your original files. If you click “No” here you aretaken back to the main dialog so that you can alter your choices before clicking “Optimize” again.
Secondly, when replacing originals NXPowerLite will try to put the original files into the recycle bin, rather than permanently deleting them. This way if you do find yourself regretting deleting your originals, you should be able to restore them from the Recycle Bin. To avoid you accidentally restoring the original over your new optimized/resized versions we add "_nxpl" to the filename of files placed in the recycle bin.
Recycle Bin’s can be disabled by the user and there isn’t usually one available on network drives, so this won’t work in 100% of cases. As these things are out of our control, we also show you the warning before doing anything permanent.
Now that I’ve explained how we’ve implemented this great new feature, it’s time to show you how to use it. We’ve given you a couple of option so you can pick whichever is more convenient depending on your situation.
1. From the main application window:
2. From the right-click menu:
SOURCE