What feature would you like most to see in a new version of Computer Cuisine Deluxe?

[MikeM]

What feature would you like most to see in a new version of Computer Cuisine Deluxe?

Please feel free to add anything not listed to this thread.
Your suggestions can make it into the next version!

[sam]

Hey.

I already wrote a long and elaborate reply to this, but the forum software lost my message. Below is a stripped down version:

Features I'd like to see added to this application:
1 (essential) a field showing the "spiciness" or "hotness" of the recipe. Being one of those people who can't handle too much spice this feature is a must in a recipe / cookbook software.
2 (would be a nice extra) an extra field that you can name yourself and add a short text as the value. Personally I would use this to document the preferred beverage to go with the recipe, like coffee/cognac/champagne with a dessert etc.

Also, a way to modify which fields are displayed on the search page would be great. There already seems to be a duplicate field in the main recipe view, rating in stars and a rating field on the bottom of the side bar, losing one of those could free up some needed space.

With regards,
~Sam

[MikeM]

Thanks for your input, Sam.

1. This is definitely something I could add, no problem. I'll add it to the To Do list.

2. Did you mean a pull-down menu that's blank essentially with fields you can enter? Yes, this is easy to implement as well.

The fields on the Find Menu are pretty much set, but they include every entry filed you can have, so there should be no need to alter this really.

I can definitely alter the ratings system, but the way it's currently setup has its benefits. It's a quick reference as a star rating, but it's also a text rating system because some of the "no stars" ratings differ from each other like "Untested" vs. "No Stars", etc.

That's the beauty of having the Notes tab. There's nots of free space there to alter and add additional fields like "Spiciness" that won't clutter the main menu display too much.

Again, thanks for the suggestions and I welcome any input.

Cheers,

Mike

[sam]

Hey,

I may not have been very specific with my last message, as my original post was lost and I was a bit frustrated as a result.

Anyways, the spiciness value of a recipe is indeed something that I would like to see on the main view of the recipe and on the default search view, as it is essential information to me and I'd like to believe for many other people as well (and I'm one of those people who place great value on how readily available important information is). Of course, if there is no room for another field in the search view, I would personally replace the image field as I am much more likely to pick a recipe based on its spiciness than the fact that it has or doesn't have an image attached. But that would fall under the other option in the poll, customizable layouts

My original idea for the other field was that the user could name it him/herself and as a value could input any text they want. For example, I would name this field "Beverage" and use values like "Red wine", "Coffee", "Beer" etc. as the beverages that go well with the food in question. Another user might have other priorities and might be interested in the glycemic index of the materials used and use this field to document if the this food is good for having before an exercise, after one or should be avoided altogether on an active day. Basically just a field that anyone could use for what they find important. But now that I tried to picture it on the search page there may not really be enough room for it and perhaps the notes section will do a better job at this.

One last question. I tried to search the webpage on information regarding version coverage of a registration. As I really need this one feature I've requested, and on the other hand am already loving what I see with the trial version, will my registration cover the future version that (hopefully) includes this extra feature if I register the software now?

Regards,
~Sam

[MikeM]

Hi Sam

Your suggestion is a good one and one that's easy to implement.

Another addition I have listed on my To Do list is a recipe's "Difficulty" rating (Difficult, Average, Simple, etc.) This is another pull-down menu that I can add for each recipe.

Spiciness is a good option as well.

A custom drop down field is also something that is not difficult to add.
I could make it to where in the settings, a user can call the pull-down menu the title they want, and then they can fill in the options. This would also be replicated on the Find Menu to users can search for this custom field's info as well. Again, fairly easy to add, and I thank you for the question.

As to whether these will be on the Main Menu display? I'm not sure. It all depends on how it comes together when I'm revising the layout. They both may need to go on the recipe notes tab so that it all flows together, etc. I'll have to see when I get to that point of adding everything for a new version.

Also, I just released 6.1.1, so a new version with these type of features would not be ready for at least a month, etc. But this would likely be included at no charge within the version 6 family for all registered users of v.6.1 etc. (for example, this would be version 6.2, etc.)

[Maxny]

I agree with Sam. There should be a couple of extra categories that are user definable. This would go beyond favorites. They could include things like "party dish" or "difficult" This allows us to use other criteria besides ethnicity and type of recipe.

The iPhone app is great! There needs to be an iPad app which uses the increased real estate. Doubling the size (2X) is usually not useable. The type is too large and fuzzy. I want to prop my iPad up on the counter and cook away. No more printouts.

I would also extend the main recipe window down a great deal, or make it expandable. Many of my recipe instructions can't be viewed in the window and I need to scroll down, not my favorite choice.

[MikeM]

I welcome all input on this, thanks.

Please remember that the recipes notes tab has numerous areas where you can enter additional information about each recipe. You can enter in anything here (keywords, like "party dish" or "difficult", etc.) and then later on you can do a find in the Find Menu for these terms, etc.

Just a heads up on that.

Glad you enjoy the iPhone app!

Yes, a custom iPad version and also one that uses the iPhone 4's enhanced graphics can be made as well. This just takes some time since I don't have an iPhone 4, and the iPad is so new, etc. I'll get it setup in the future.

[sam]

Hey,

I got to playing around with the program a bit more and added some cocktail recipes to the database. One thing I noticed which could benefit from a little extra functionality is the image display on the main recipe page. I added some images of cocktails, and like cocktail glasses usually are these images too were tall and narrow. They would have fit perfectly otherwise, but the gray border of the default image was showing beyond the edges of the image. If the default image were replaced by just a white background when an image is added it would allow for a wider range of dimensions to be used in the images, and not just close to square dimensions. Just a thought.

Great app, looking forward to even more features!
~Sam

[MikeM]

Thanks for the comments, Sam.

This is something I can definitely tweak a bit to hopefully behave the way you're hoping.
I'll keep you posted and I've added it to the To Do list for the next update.

Thanks again.

-Mike

[thetwowomen]

I would like to see a more complete 'User Guide', more detailed so we wouldn't have to keep contacting you.