FDM6 new design. Your is welcome! 2y3w3l

[Phillip55]

In the new design, when selecting a priority for a , it no longer gets marked with a color (green, yellow, red). It would be great to have this option back.

old design:


new design:

[-James-]

I can't find a way to create new tags in a new version. In a classic design there was a "+" to make a tag. But now there is nothing like that:

[neoOpus]

I prefer new things and most new designs, but honestly, I don't see any issues with the old ones that can't be tweaked to be great. I already have several suggestions for it.

The new design is visually acceptable, but has downsides: it will divert development time from main er features and introduce new bugs. One missing key feature in the new UI is thumbnails for file previews, along with drag-and-drop functionality.

In the next version of FDM, I'd like to see a local file virus scan button in the UI for each file, and the ability to send file hashes to services like VirusTotal (since not everyone wants automatic scanning for all files, which can unnecessarily consume resources). Additionally, improving BitTorrent by allowing selection of tracker lists from within FDM, updated automatically and optionally, would be beneficial.

Auto-check file integrity by looking for the hash on the website automagically.



If you prefer, skip this unrelated rant. I feel a bit talkative today.

A unique approach: maintain a hash table of local files. Before ing, check if it already exists locally to save time, bandwidth, and disk space by creating junction links. {Implementing this could save big corporations millions of dollars daily to my estimation in and costs, as well as mitigate a lot of energy related problems, as hashing algorithms nowadays are more efficient than making dozens of servers world-wide relay you a file, also end-s will benefit by having less write cycles on their drives, more space available in their storage, less need to buy extra-storage, reducing the prices of storage for those who need them, and as a bonus, this will make computing less resource depleting and reduce tech waste}.

Thus reducing carbon-footprint on a global scale via a tiny optimization of how things are done. (Someone needs to let them know! I'm eager to contribute with brainstorming and feature suggestions, if hired). Instead of taxing and opting for some ridicule measures…

Finally, I suggest focusing on improving the old design. Add UX enhancements like a breadcrumb to FDM saving dialogue for quickly selecting folders from a dropdown, similar to Windows 11 Explorer. This would save time, as opening the dialogue box can be annoying, some features of Listary can be implanted too, as favourites, switching to the open folder in explorer automatically or optionally, options to naming like adding a date, suffix, prefix, etc or just suggesting where to save the file… Of course, having a sort of AI model that would great that will work as a sort of file manager who does the basic organization of files into folders, adding tags, etc (I have a very long-list about this). Furthermore, consider incorporating features from other modern managers. I also wish that there are other Add-ons that add features.

[Spheres-cu]

The thumbnails only can be displayed if the file has a knowed extension or if in some manifest for example in a parsed .json of yt-dlp of a playlist (with --dump-single-json argument) .

The virustotal.com have restriccion for some countrys , the automatic analysis with Windows defender (it came with all MS Windows 10 and above) it is not slowe, a scan button for every is tedious .

And finally I hated new interface of Windows 11 and the so many options... so loaded, the new desing of FDM is great just need better traducction.

[Vic]

First, I should say I am an FDM since its very conception, when FDM used to say "We want FDM to become the second most spreading freeware software after Firefox", until this terrible 64 bit version with its terrible GUI was rolled out 7, 8 years ago. The 32bit version was beyond awesome, while the 64 bit version was this minimalist and primitive design. So I still kept using the 32bit version until a couple of years ago, when the 32bit version (the old GUI) could not some links sporadically. So I had to convert to this nightmarish 64bit modern design. The good-old 32bit version had a GUI that was extremely flexible and friendly and feature-rich. The 64bit version has a terrible GUI that is extremely UNFRIENDLY and rigid and extremely basic. Sadly the old GUI is no longer available and now, even the 32-bit version has this terrible minimalist modern GUI.


The modern GUI (even before this beta version after 6.25) is terrible, not at all comparable with the conventional GUI which was perfect; sadly, not only this modern GUI is terrible, but also this modern GUI keeps getting worse and worse (I mean this even worse beta version), and It keeps getting dumb and dumber, and more and more basic and primitive. The buttons and features are getting more and more hidden or removed. You are making it like an Android app (a very poorly done one), instead of a power- program it used to be, with lots of options and features.


No, forget about power- options and features. The new GUI (not just the beta, but also the 64bit version) doesn't even allow basic functionality that is supposed to be available in any computer program since Windows 95. Now I can't even resize the dialog boxes --for example, when beginning to , I can't enlarge the dialog box to be able to see long strings of in the list of s so that I can select or deselect them. I can't increase the width of the columns on the GUI to be able to read the full names (I will need to hover the cursor on them and wait to get a pop up name).


Man you did a great job alienating loyal s by changing your once-great program into a terrible retarded app. And you didn't stop there. You are determined to bring more primitiveness and mediocrity to your program. With the new design (now in beta), you have even discarded more buttons and features. Now I can't even find the "Stop ALL" or "Start ALL" buttons on the beta LOL. (I know I can revert to the standard modern UI which is again, terrible but less than this beta). The scroll bar is not easily visible or findable. Overall, a total mess.

Please bring back the good old GUI with all its features and functionalities (and more).

[Spheres-cu]

Man you did a great job alienating loyal s by changing your once-great program into a terrible retarded app. And you didn't stop there. You are determined to bring more primitiveness and mediocrity to your program. With the new design (now in beta), you have even discarded more buttons and features. Now I can't even find the "Stop ALL" or "Start ALL" buttons on the beta LOL. (I know I can revert to the standard modern UI which is again, terrible but less than this beta). The scroll bar is not easily visible or findable. Overall, a total mess.

It's just a matter of adapting:

[SugestorMaker]

This redesign was on the right track! but I has a suggestion that maybe can be reconsidered.

1. Make the progress bar use Three-State Color Design System. For example Running, Paused and Error color scheme. By this it was more accessible and -friendly for everyone.
Progress:

Pause:

Error:


2. Use Latest windows 11 folder icon instead outdated folder icon:


3. The color accent should be improved for visibility on dark or light mode. The light for example need to be more contrast while on the dark mode need to be lighter. like how in this guideline https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/design/signature-experiences/color

[Kobold]

Dear Free Manager Team,

First of all, thank you for your excellent software and the updated theme design! I wanted to suggest a small enhancement for the interface. Currently, when a is completed, the blue progress bar remains filled. I think it would be a nice touch if it could change to a small green "Done" label instead, indicating completion more clearly.

I believe this small adjustment could improve the experience. Thank you for considering my suggestion!

Best regards,
KOBOLD

[nutjobber]

No Experience research behind the proposed design:
It looks pretty, but seems rushed and designed following the use case of a single individual, disregarding everyone else. For instance, the lack of a working file preview, the person working on the UI clearly thinks that it's an irrelevant feature that can be left to be worked on later in the process. To me, without preview the entire program becomes useless, so thankfully I can simply stay in the old UI.

Exchanging usability for pretty:
The old UI offers easy access to features like pausing, resuming, moving and deleting items. In the new UI those are all gone for good. It's not that the access to them became less convenient, they simply are no long accessible at all. Additionaly, you can use tags that you have previously created, but there is no option to edit the existing or add new ones. The new sorting dropdown is completely useless and counter-intuitive. It will ony be used after you have tried sorting by clicking the desired column and notice that it does nothing. The new filter dropdown seems to exist only to make the UI cleaner, it introduces one additional step to perform the same action that you are used to, and with the big inconvinient of being unable to add/edit tags.

Columns:
They became less customizable. You can no longer hide specific columns like Speed or Date. In addition to that, the speed column seems to have been divided into and speeds. Great addition for torrent s, but a waste of space for anyone else. Simply being able to pick which columns you want to hide would be the optimal scenario. And those zero values? What is the point of having a hundred "0 B/s" entries being shown all the time? It's awfully ugly, distracting, and doesn't provide any useful information. Hiding the values when there is no activity is the best option.

Copy Link:
The option to copy webpage URL and file URL are there, but they don't work. That simple.

Off-putting color palette:
Specially in dark mode, everything looks washed out and tiring. Items with "completed" status look grayed out compared with the rest of the UI elements for an unexplicable reason.

Overall:
In the future make sure to look for input before working on UI changes, in case you don't have access to heatmaps try running polls to better understand why and how each uses the app. If a feature needs to be buried down in the interface to make it more modern and clean, make sure that you have a very good understanding of the base to know how it will impact them. Avoid making features inaccessible or broken like it's happening now, as it alienates the s who rely on them.

[hajj_3]

Please change the "Completed" text from grey to white in dark mode, also please remove the "0 B/s" from the and columns:

[johnlgalt]

I realize that it has been over a month since you posted, but there are some misconceptions with the new Beta interface that you may not be aware of that you wrote.

No Experience research behind the proposed design:
It looks pretty, but seems rushed and designed following the use case of a single individual, disregarding everyone else. For instance, the lack of a working file preview, the person working on the UI clearly thinks that it's an irrelevant feature that can be left to be worked on later in the process. To me, without preview the entire program becomes useless, so thankfully I can simply stay in the old UI.

That is why it specifically says New (Beta) in the preferences, and why this thread exists - to try it out and garner .

As for preview - Preferences --> Advanced section --> Interface section --> Open/hide the bottom by clicking on the . Is that what you are talking about wrt file previews?

Exchanging usability for pretty:
The old UI offers easy access to features like pausing, resuming, moving and deleting items. In the new UI those are all gone for good. It's not that the access to them became less convenient, they simply are no long accessible at all. Additionaly, you can use tags that you have previously created, but there is no option to edit the existing or add new ones. The new sorting dropdown is completely useless and counter-intuitive. It will ony be used after you have tried sorting by clicking the desired column and notice that it does nothing. The new filter dropdown seems to exist only to make the UI cleaner, it introduces one additional step to perform the same action that you are used to, and with the big inconvinient of being unable to add/edit tags.

The new UI offers the same at the far left when a file is in the process of being ed (where the folder icon shows after is complete), and almost every functionality from the regular interface from the vertical 3 dot menu just after the Status of the . As for filters, I don't use them, and while I agree that sorting would be much easier to accomplish from the column headers themselves, I actually like the filter button and use that one tremendously, but a right click for filters would be great too.

Columns:
They became less customizable. You can no longer hide specific columns like Speed or Date. In addition to that, the speed column seems to have been divided into and speeds. Great addition for torrent s, but a waste of space for anyone else. Simply being able to pick which columns you want to hide would be the optimal scenario. And those zero values? What is the point of having a hundred "0 B/s" entries being shown all the time? It's awfully ugly, distracting, and doesn't provide any useful information. Hiding the values when there is no activity is the best option.

On all this I agree with you.

Copy Link:
The option to copy webpage URL and file URL are there, but they don't work. That simple.

Vertical 3 dot menu?

Off-putting color palette:
Specially in dark mode, everything looks washed out and tiring. Items with "completed" status look grayed out compared with the rest of the UI elements for an unexplicable reason.

I agree about the grayed look, and have requested some color scheme reversals, but overall, the blacked out version looks far better than anything FDM has done in the past - but I prefer dark / black backgrounds to begin with.

If this interface were available as both a light and dark mode (and all the fixes that have been requested in this entire thread), that would be infinitely better.

Overall:
In the future make sure to look for input before working on UI changes, in case you don't have access to heatmaps try running polls to better understand why and how each uses the app. If a feature needs to be buried down in the interface to make it more modern and clean, make sure that you have a very good understanding of the base to know how it will impact them. Avoid making features inaccessible or broken like it's happening now, as it alienates the s who rely on them.

Funny - this thread is a thread, as I noted earlier. But this interface is opt in only, and clearly states that it is a Beta, and I think this critical expose of it is a bit over the top. If they had made this the default, or even worse, only interface, I could see your points - but it is opt in and they are clearly asking for , so maybe cut them some slack and be a bit more constructive and less judgmental about it.

[MirrorMan]

I use FDM on Windows and macOS, and I didn't like the new interface.

The new interface increases the empty space between buttons and lines... and almost all objects.
As a result, less useful information is displayed.

Perhaps this approach is good for use on mobile devices, because objects need to be touched with your finger. But when you control the mouse, large empty spaces between objects only increase the distance of movement and the payload in the window.

[tempforum]

can it pick up main colour accent from gtk theme? , i dont like blue as main colour there.

[plb7777]

Dear Devs.

Please develop a lite FDM with following features,

1. UI is same as FDM 3.x (only one windows not tab)
2. Features same as FDM 6.x (like for http, https, ftp, dash, hls etc)
3. Torrent and media conversion will be optional.
Thanks