I am writing this post in regard to some criticism regarding asking a question to which the “answer is already in the documentation” (which, BTW, is not correct). See here: [node:3828#comment-18201]

I have used Ecco since 1993 and I was one of the first to start using Ecco Extension (EE) and write scripts. I consider myself very comfortable and knowledgeable about Ecco and EE. When I heard about IQ in 2008 (I think; or rather SQL Notes as it was called then) I jumped on as one of the first beta testers and was heavily involved with the program development, which btw was much simpler to grasp at that time. However, I realized that it didn’t yet have all the features that I needed so I went back to using Ecco.

The program has developed tremendously since then. However, with all the new features come complexity; GUI and documentation challenges. In the fall of 2016, I decided to try to switch from Ecco to IQ again. I needed to learn the program fast as I needed to move all the data from Ecco to IQ and use IQ exclusively. Unfortunately, there were too many things that I couldn’t understand quickly; partly because of confusing GUI and incomplete documentation or bugs. I never knew if an issue was related to poor understanding or bugs. I therefore went back to Ecco again.....

Please understand that I am not criticizing the GUI, documentation or existing bugs. It is expected for a program that is being developed so rapidly. However, it makes it very difficult for new users to learn the program. I am expecting these things to be worked out by the time it leaves the beta stage.  

Please bear in mind that if I have these issues, being an Ecco veteran (albeit an aging one), how would novices react when they try to use the program?  Forum questions, even trivial ones, often point out GUI confusion and/or incomplete documentation. A well designed GUI should also need minimal help from the documentation or needing to frequently search the forum (although that may be very difficult for a program like IQ).