remove numbers welcome screen

+1 on this question.

With "welcome screen", I guess alvareto means the template chooser or whatever it might be called in English. The template chooser always comes up when I start Numbers. I can choose to start with a defined template, but starting with nothing (which is what I want to do) is not an option. Does anyone know any convenient Terminal command that might remove this superfluous screen?

My question applies to version version 2 (Numbers '09). I've heard som much bad about later versions that I have avoided upgrading.

Hi 750,

When I open either Numbers (3.2 or 2.3) I get an open dialogue. It may be that I got the template choser initially but consistant clicks on Menu>File>Open each time I opened Numbers changed the behavior. If I click "new dialog" I get the template chooser.

What do you want when you open Numbers? What do you mean by nothing? You can't do anything with nothing. If you want a blank document then save one as a template and adjust your preferences.

quinn

Thanks for the tip, but it hasn't worked for me, I always start with the Recent Files menu and that hasn't changed the app's behaviour in ... what, five years?

I think I know now how to get around this. The problem with getting the custom open dialogue (or whatever, the one I don't want) does not only apply when I start the app. If Numbers is running in the background with no open document, and I I switch to it by clicking the dock icon, I always get the dialogue as well. But if I switch to the app by using command+tab instead, I don't get the dialogue. That's what I have to do.

Most apps open up with no document, no idiot screen, nothing. It's just there, ready to go. That's the way I want it with Numbers as well. But the app designers apparently think I need some kind of hint on how to get going. I know, Apple apps aren't for professionals, but this kind of "help" without the option of turning it off is not usability. I can't really understand why Apple feel that they have to reinvent usability all the time. The same goes for the Save As command in Numbers (and probably the other apps as well), a very non-standard behaviour for no reason at all.

Hi 750,

It is not clear from your post but I think your complaint is about the visual clutter you experience when you open or switch to Numbers. It does not sound like it affects your actions at all. A dialogue that your can ignore and go about your business seems like a trivial distraction.

For the record, I ignored the dialogue (no clicks even to get it to go away) and used Open (not Open Recent).

I think Apple's continual reexamination of what is the best way to do things is what makes them great. Some of their best stuff has come out of the attitude that THIS is the way it should be done. It does not pan out for me either when they think their users are unlike me.

Anyway, I suggest Menu>Numbers>Numbers Feedback if you want to let Apple know.

quinn

Thanks for your answer. Yes, it's the visual clutter that disturbs me. I don't have to do anything about it, I know, I can just go to Recent Files and fire away, but every time I get a dialogue like that it kind of breaks my work flow, if you know what I mean. Some subconscious subfunction of my mind tells me to pay attention to the dialogue screen, which shifts my focus, and that is very annoying.

Dialogues should be presented when they are needed, not when they aren't. They shouldn't be there just for convenience, and if they are, there's got to be a way to turn the function off. The philosophy of "presenting any kind of info that might come in handy for some users" is what makes Microsoft lousy from a usability perspective. I don't think Apple should participate in that kind of competition.

Maybe I should leave some feedback, yes ... but I doubt Apple will put any effort into modifying Numbers 2. Which means that it's totally futile of me to sit here and annoy myself and all of you. So, sorry for being so picky. I feel better now. 🙂

Hi 750,

Glad to be here for you.

You do know that you can have both '09 and Numbers 3 on the same machine? You would need to take care that you don't save a file in Numbers three that you want to open in '09- play with a copy. There are some things tht '09 continues to do so much better than 3- printing, find and replace- there are lists. But in terms of visual clutter and ease of use 3 has '09 beat. I use it mostly now and when I return to '09 it seems a little cramped.

luck to you!

quinn

I think the problem is that the dialogue box in Apple normally cannot be ignored. That is what was I was assuming with this one. So I was clicking Done, then Recent Documents. The visual clutter is also disturbing, especially if you are used to Word / Excel.

At least thanks to this thread I now know to ignore the dialogue box and just go straight to Recent Documents.

Please post a screenshot of the welcome screen using this method:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6591

I do not get the welcome screen so I cannot remember.

Hi, no, I didn't know that. Maybe I'll download 3 and check it out.

Best regards from Sweden

Gunnar