This is long, but it's made my Pronto ten times easier for me to use, without making it harder for anyone else to use.

While working on an update to my CCF, I came up with a nifty little idea that makes my Pronto amazingly easy to use. As many of you know, my CCF is designed to ensure that anyone who picks up my Pronto will be able to fully utilize my home theater even if they've never seen it before. For this reason, some functions take multiple clicks to reach as the interface guides the user there.

Basically, 90% of what I do with my home theater is just watching cable TV (in my case, through ReplayTV). So in my update, I added a shortcut for my wife and me.

Here's how it works (from my start screen).

- Press either hard button, and a menu displays. The first item in the menu is highlighted.

- Press the left hard button, and the next item is highlighted.

- Press the right button to perform the shortcut that's currently highlighted.

- There's also an "exit" button in the cycle to let you exit the menu without performing a shortcut.

- You can also just touch any of the shortcuts on the screen to perform that shortcut right away.


So now, the thing I do 90% of the time (watch TV) requires only that I press the right hard button, wait a second, then press it again. The Pronto sets everything up and jumps to the panel I need to channel surf. My other three most common actions are as simple as pressing the left hard button the appropriate number of times, then press the right button. There's no need to even look at the screen!


And it's all very easy to set up:

Create a Device with a panel for your menu, with your shortcut macro buttons that set up your system for various activities. Include an "Exit" button.

Duplicate the DEVICE as many times as you have shortcuts, plus one for the Exit button.

In each device, modify the icons for one of the shortcut buttons to "highlight" it. Do this also for the Exit button.

On your start screen, set both hard buttons to jump to the first panel of the shortcuts menu.

On each of these Devices, set the left hard button to jump to the NEXT shortcuts device. Alias the right hard button to whichever shortcut button is hightlighted on that panel.

All Exit buttons should return to your start menu.


Well that's it. I know it's a long explanation, but trust me, it's worth implementing if you currently use an activity-based CCF. I'll be happy to share the current revision of my CCF with anyone who wants to see this menu in action. Just email me.

Many thanks,
Dale

Hi Dale

Nice to see you back on this site.

I've been using a modified version of your CCF for many months now and would be very intrested to see your improved mods.

Your E-Mail address does not come up, so if you could send it to me or get Daniel to post it in the files section I would be most grateful.

Regards

Josh.

Dale,
Your approach sounds like what I've been working on. I purchased my Pronto about 2 weeks ago with the main idea that it would make my HT easier to operate.
I would realy like to see your approach in the CCF.

THANKS!!
James