Just released New TILE Views

[Jerry Medved]

Look at Display options on the VIEW tab of the Portfolio window.  You can get stuff like:

 

 

and 

[zenlando]

Very cool indeed. This was totally unexpected, and appears to be a very useful feature. I was just playing around with it and especially like the different tile choices, dynamic color idea, and ability to drag the tiles around.

 

Some comments:

 

One thing that might be pretty useful is the ability to be able to set any of these new display choices as “unique to portfolio/ watchlist”, meaning one might be able to choose specific ones for specific portfolios, instead of a choice of one becoming the new default for all.

 

And seems it also might be nice to preview what the new tile style choice will look like in the portfolio before selecting it. If that can’t be done, then maybe just getting rid of the need to click “OK” after selecting, thus eliminating the extra step.

 

Also, don’t know if it’s intentional, but it appears that clicking on a tile opens a new chart instead of charting the symbol in a symbol link group as it does in the standard grid.

 

Thanks, Dave

[Jerry Medved]

was thinking of how to do indices, and just figured I would kill a whole bunch of birds with one stone

 

Unique per portfolio - yes, I was thinking of that. Right now it is stored per window, so if you set it on a particular window, it will always come up that way. If you change portfolios within the window, the tile view remains.   Will see about that. 

 

Preview - that would be way more trouble than its worth. You can just set the tile view, and change it back to trid or whatever other tile view.  We do offer the picture of the tile for each view as the preview.

 

As for the need to hit OK after selecting - note that you can also double click.  This is actually consistent with the other selection options that use this same selection type (Backfill for example).  

 

Click on a tile - With tiles I have a bit less flexibility for various actions. There is no click vs double click, or click on "Symbol" as would occur on a grid. So right now the default action on click is a chart. Exceptions are:

1) if you click on a news bulb, news opens

2) if you click on an alert indicator, alert editor opens

3) (NOT RELEASED YET) on another view where there is BID/ASK sections on the tile, clicking on the section initiates the corresponding trading options (if you have clicking on bid/ask to initiate trading enabled in your trading settings)

 

Not sure how to handle the linked symbols when charts are selected. 

[snowtiger1]

Jerry:      I rarely find mysellf so far behind the curve as I am when I view these tiles.   I brought them up on my page,  and immediately found myself stupid.   for one thing, I cannot make ahe ? on any page bing up anything!   So here I am questioning the master.  Second.  what are those lovelly colored backdrops under the text/numbers at the top of each chart?    

               I am so used to the huge complete instruction s that were right there in   QT, that I am 

basicly lost in MT.   I've onlly been at this about 4 hours since you gave me the beta, and I am trying desperatley to make my setup like the QT layout on my other computer.  but to partial avail so far.

 

ANy help you can give will be greatlly appreciated.   If y ou could teach me to fish.....etc.

Eldon L  of QT fame.

[Jerry Medved]

Eldon,

 

help is not implemented yet. Being worked on right now. that is why the ? doesn't bring up anything. 

 

if you want a display comparable to QT, just use the regular GRID View.  The tile views are new to MT.  

 

if you use tiles and set it to dynamic coloring, then the background of the tile becomes different shades of green or red, depending on how much the stock is up or down.  If its 0.2% up, it will be a very dark shade of green. If it is 1.0% up, it will be brighter green. If it is 1.5% or higher, it will be bright green. Same thing on the negative side with red.

 

Note - you can set one portfolio to use GRID view, another to use one of the tiles. So for example, you can setup one portfolio with index symbols and set them to use the simple tile view and hide the ribbon, then set your main portfolio for the regular Grid View (similar to QT)

[texar]

Hi Jerry,

 

Just found the tiles option while searching to see if the indices panel was on its way.

 

Will be trying the tiles out over the next day or two.

 

Looks like a great addition / innovation.

[DavidE]

Jerry,

 

Have been using the Index tiles and they work as a great replacement for the QT indices panel.  However, the direction arrow shown in the in the View / Display / Tile selection panel is not being displayed in the active tiles.  Is there a optional display setting to turn the arrows On/Off?  I'm not sure where to look.

 

Thanks

[Jerry Medved]

the arrow is the BID TICK arrow - it shows the direction of the last BID change. Indices do not have bid/ask, thus no arrow. I will look to see if I can kludge it

[DavidE]

Thank you for looking at this.  The arrows in the QT Indices panel provide a quick visual clue of direction.

[Jerry Medved]

emailed you

[texar]

Hi Jerry,

 

I've bene trying out an "indices panel" based on the tiles. Is it perhaps possible to change the font size within the tiles? I don't see an option for this in the "View" menu.

 

I normally set Indices fonts larger than other symbols, if I can, partly because they are way off at the top of a non-central monitor and partly just for general noticeability. 

 

Thanks.

[Jerry Medved]

Tile fonts cannot be changed dynamically. that would really screw up how they are laid out

[texar]

OK I didn't think of that!

[texar]

Follow up to my previous post  --- would it be possible for the purposes of an indices panel to include an option to scale up the whole tile (i.e. all tiles in the indices grid), leaving the relative layout unchanged, but making the tile as a whole bigger?

[Jerry Medved]

No. Basically the only thing I can do is create another tile layout to choose from, which will have everything larger.

[texar]

No problem.

 

The tile-based indices panel in MT is, as it is, comparable in size with the indices panel in QT.

[zenlando]

Hi Jerry –

 

Regarding this discussion relating to a tile view being a replacement for an index panel: I’m still assuming that at some point you will be adding a “real” index panel feature that will be seamlessly integrated to function as part of a portfolio window – essentially the same location, simplicity and look as in QT, and with the ability to link to charts with a mouse click on a given index. Is that correct?

 

Thanks, Dave.

[Jerry Medved]

Sort of. I plan to add a tile panel to the top of the portfolio, where you will be able to pick different tile types. And it would also have the built-in index list for each data speed. For now the portfolio with a tile view does the job

[zenlando]

Roger that. Guess I'll just look forward to seeing what you come up with. I've tried playing around with the tile views as some kind of index panel in a separate narrow horizontal window, but even if I overlooked the inability of the index tiles to link to charts (which to me is a necessity) that solution was just way too clunky and would eat up too much screen real estate for me to consider as a permanent solution. So integrating it as a tile panel at the top of the portfolio sounds good...

[Jerry Medved]

If you hide the ribbon, wouldn't the window be pretty compact?

As for linking, embedding a tile panel into the portfolio window wouldn't change anything. The problem is I don't have away to link stuff from a tile. Click is taken. Right click is taken. How else can we initiate linking? Suggestions welcome

[zenlando]

Hmmm… to me I wonder if that's just trying to force something into being what it’s not, since unfortunately what I’d like to see for an index panel is pretty much exactly the way it looks and functions in QT. Meaning – you’d have to make the tiles smaller with more length, have the index value also show as red or green, maybe have the time on the tile, allow for the ability to scroll the tiles horizontally, and get rid of the gap below the QAT. Then on top of all that have the ability to somehow “hide” both the QAT and the lower scroll bar band so that all four window borders are the same… and at the absolute minimum width.  

 

Even that as a separate window might seem like a bit of an ungainly solution compared to my current “interim fix” that you had recommended – a separate mini-portfolio window in the upper right corner of one screen using the quote grid with a half dozen indices, and columns showing “change”, “last”, and “% chg”. Maybe it won’t be interim after all :-).

 

And I’m sure I’m probably missing something, but I guess I’m still not clear on the issue with linking to charts. Since the left click on a tile now brings up a new chart (which I personally don’t really see a need for), couldn’t that be handled as a contextual menu item and then free up the ability to allow the left click on a tile to link to charts instead?

 

 

 

[Jerry Medved]

As far as implementing it as the QT index panel, the tiles offer far more flexibility for both us and the user.  as for your requests:

 

*) Make the tiles smaller with more length, have the index value also show as red or green, maybe have the time on the tile

[Reply] this is basically a cosmetic issue and we can lay out the tiles any way we want, including that layout. The "Simple" tile layout is pretty close to it, just on 3 lines instead of elongated 2 lines. 

 

*) allow for the ability to scroll the tiles horizontally

[Reply] Right now the portfolio tile view is set to scroll vertically.  If we create a tile panel for embedding within the portfolio window, we could make it scroll horizontally. 

 

*) and get rid of the gap below the QAT

[Reply] What gap below the QAT?

 

*) “hide” both the QAT and the lower scroll bar

[Reply] Portfolio view - can't do it (well, maybe the scrollbar, but definitely not the caption.  For embedded tile panel, that would not be an issue.

 

Linking, Open chart, etc... Keep in mind that in QT, double click on index opened a chart, same as double click on the grid.  With Tiles, unfortunately there is no Double click, so we don't have that action available. Yes, you can open chart via right click, but that seems like a bit much.  What I am thinking is maybe detecting if the portfolio window is linked. If it is, single click action is "LINK" Otherwise, Open Chart.

[zenlando]

Hey Jerry, it seems we may be talking the same language on this to some degree. I'm absolutely in favor of the tile panel being embedded, and in such a situation those things like trying to hide the QAT would have no meaning. You had just asked if hiding the ribbon would be enough in that situation, and I was giving a more far-fetched example of what else it might require if it had to function as a separate window to be a viable index panel. And the "gap" is just that small space that occurs between the first tile "row" below the QAT if in a separate window. Likewise it would probably just go away in an embedded situation.

 

And I wasn't proposing a right click to link the charts... only to create a new chart if it would then free up the left click on a tile to allow linking. That sounds like what you are proposing -- if it detects the portfolio window is linked. Seems fine to me...

[Jerry Medved]

I added a narrow index view. Please let me know.  There is an issue where you cannot resize the window vertically without leaving a small space below the tile - I am having that checked (bug in the tile control).  Will look at the option to remove status bar. 

[mmoy]

I like the tile view as I basically do the same thing but with a bunch of small windows. This would definitely save screen real-estate by getting rid of the window borders and title bar. I'd still want the other items in the chart windows though: candlesticks, prices on the right, and current price.