Hey All,
So I understand a “UI Overhaul” has been asked for in the past for many without any regard to how much work would be required for such changes. I would like to request one change that is not necessarily a change to the UI - but instead a reorganization of the pages that are already evident within Mission Planner. Now - I have NO experience with making GUIs and the effort that goes behind them - so I apologize if this post comes across as unappreciative of the work that goes into Mission Planner. Regardless - hopefully my recommendation will spark some conversation and can either be written off due to the amount of work or integrated in future Mission Planner versions.
Now to the actual post…
Over the past years we have continued to add several pages to the Setup and Configuration tabs on Mission Planner which (in my opinion) have lead to congested lists that are a bit confusing to new users. I believe re-naming the tabs and organizing the pages in a slightly different method may lead to better organization and hopefully lead to a better understanding of setting up an aircraft. I understand that any UI changes would require re-writes of certain documentation - and I would be completely open to helping out with this!
The Data and Plan tabs can stay exactly the same - no needs there.
However, I believe that the Setup and Configuration tabs should be retired and replaced with the following three tabs: Setup, Tuning, and Advanced.
Setup would remain mostly the same with two categories: Mandatory and Optional. Some pages (such as those under the Advanced category under the Setup page would be moved over to the new Advanced tab.
As per the Tuning tab, I think it would be best to break down the singular page called “Advanced Tuning” into separate pages under this tab. Some examples of pages could be the following:
- Initial Tuning
- Notch Filtering
- PID/Attitude
- Flight Characteristics
- FFT
- etc.
Lastly, the Advanced tab would have certain advanced features (terminal, MAVFtp, etc.) and the full parameter list and tree.
For a quick overview on where I think pages would be best fit relative to their tabs - please see the following sheet that I have made: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fUvbveqNKnzOSWDlNud3AIo2q4_y-1iivtzI-z3tZT4/edit?usp=sharing
Some of the pages recommend combining stuff from two pages that already exist - so feel free to ignore those if it would be too much work. Since all the tuning pages would be pretty new - I have added some quick ideas about what would be on those pages. Feel free to ignore those or comment on those as you see fit. Lastly, there is one new page called “Failsafes” that I have under Setup - which is basically just inspired by QGroundControl’s safety page. A quick and easy overview of all the failsafes that are set - since as far as I know most of them can only be set through the parameter list at this time.
Once again - please don’t see this post as a slander against the current work that has been put into MP. I love MP over all other GCS’s and will continue to use it regardless of if any changes are made.
Looking forward to hearing back and hopefully sparking a conversation of how pages could be slightly improved.