ControlThink Forums

 Hi,

I am trying to set up some timers, and chose the Intermatic HA18C switch to try this.  I also have the HA22 module for the ThinkEssentials.  I was hoping to just have those two, but found out that my desktop PC is too far from the switch, so I bought an HA09 controller for a primary.

I can manually control the light from the switch, and can also use the HA09 to control it remotely.  But when I try to switch ThinkEssentials to the new network, it says it worked, but I get no devices in the Home view.  I also tried the Receive Update from the Primary Controller, and again it seemed to work, but again no devices!  How can I get the switch device into ThinkEssentials so I can set up a schedule for it?

 I have also tried the ThinkEssentials 2.0, both the latest (200) build and the older one (191?).  I get the same behavior with them.

Cheers,

    Kari 

Kari,

Try maximizing your screen (or at least hiding the flyout bar on the right side) to see if the icons are "hiding" somewhere...

If that doesn't work, we'll dig deeper; but I'm guessing that is what is going on.

Chris

 Hi Chris,

that was it, it was hiding under the flyout bar, thanks.  Might want to constrain the icons into the visible part of the screen, or make the flyout bar transparent to the icons.

Thanks,

    Kari 

Transparent flyout bar...  I hadn't thought of that possibility; that would be cool.

Here's what we're thinking for v2.1:
http://forums.controlthink.com/t/1135.aspx

If a device was offscreen, the scrollmap would automatically appear showing that the current view was not the entire floorplan and that there are things hidden off the screen...  Would that be a good start? :)

Also, we're going to tweak the code which put the icons off the edge of your screen in the first place--so that the issue goes away for the most part unless it's intentional.

Chris

 Hi Chris,

the scrollbars would be a better way of  handling it and the device tray would help to find devices easily.

One thing you could consider is allowing users to import their own flooplans.  I have a perfectly good one done with 3D Home Architect, which I would prefer to use.  Then you could still use the existing drawing functionality to outline and name the rooms.  With the scrollbars users could use bigger floorplan images.  Just a thought.

While we are suggesting features, here is another one.  I was just downloading the zip file to get the ThinkEssentials and was frustrated that it did not have my location info.  I now have the setup version and have found my location in the (longer) list.  I also found the way to run ThinkEssentials with a custom longitude and latitude, but it is really hidden away.  For those people who do not live close to an included location, you should allow users to enter the longitude and latitude info in the  Select Location window.  So many people now have GPS and it is easy for them to find the exact location plus or minus a hair.

Cheers,

    Kari 

Kari,

Great recommendations.  I have added the "custom GPS location" option into our bug/feature database as issue #222.  We should be able to add that in a future release.

Did you see the custom floor plan imported into the software?  It's the image on the second post down here:
http://forums.controlthink.com/t/1135.aspx

Is that what you're thinking for custom floor plans?  If you check out the following screenshot, we've already somewhat-accidentally posted our intentions for such a feature :)  See the "Change custom background" option in the top-right corner, complete with icon...
http://www.controlthink.com/images/thinkessentials/repair_enlarge.jpg

Right now, we're thinking of making it a feature of the Professional edition update in January...  Do you think it's a feature worth the small upgrade price, or do you think it needs to absolutely go into the Standard edition?

Chris

 Hi Chris,

that was funny, I saw the first post but did not scroll down to the second one.  Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking, though I thought you could then overlay the image with the rooms like you already have, to be able to name the rooms for the software (and maybe it could be used in the future for routing decisions?).  Not sure if it would be worth it, you decide.

Right now I am only testing this software so spending more right now is not an option.  However, I thought the Professional Edition was for professional HA installers, so maybe your marketing is off.  You advertise being able to "repair" networks, etc, but my network will have about five or six devices, so I probably would not shell out for it for those reasons.  Now if you had a Basic and a Deluxe Edition, then I would have to see what the Deluxe Edition brings to the table to make a purchasing decision.

I also got the SDK, as I was thinking of doing some electricity calculations.  If I control two sixty Watt bulbs, then I should be able to calculate how much electricity I have used.  And if I am able to feed in my Electric Company fee structure, I can also know how much money I have spent.  Same thing about my sprinkler system, except there we are talking about water, not electricity.  So your current software is pretty basic, and if there were enough extra features in a Deluxe Edition, then it probably would be of interest to me and to others as well.

Cheers,

    Kari 

Maybe we need "Basic", "Deluxe" and "Professional" editions then :)

The random and time offsets are a great idea.  They're both requested now for a v2.x update to the software...

I've also registered a bug to get the "large fonts" issue fixed...

As far as schedules go, I'll register a feature request with this post as a reference.  We've often thought about having a "schedule timeline" that could have schedules "dragged" along it; we'll run through that again in an upcoming design meeting.

Chris