Reveal “Edit Details” Row by Default (Q Mac)

nello

On a checkbook register, you have to click on “Edit Details” to open/reveal the Memo and Tags associated with each check.

I came from Quicken 2007 for Mac, and in this version, each entry in the checkbook had two rows, one as in the current version of Quicken (with date, check #, Payee, Category, etc.) and the next row with the Memo.

Is there any setting to make each entry in the current version of Quicken reveal the Memo row? It is REALLY tedious to have to open it. And it would be nice to see the Memo while scrolling through the register.

If not, how can I ask for it in a future version?

Thank you.

RickO

Yes, it's easy (with a caveat): Click menu View > Columns, or right click on any column header, or click the Columns button at the right end of the bottom toolbar. Here you can add or remove columns from the register, including the Memo and Tags columns. You can resize the column widths by dragging the divider between column headers. You can sort by any column by clicking on the column header (click again to reverse the sort). 

The caveat is that in current QMac, each transaction has only one row, so any columns you add and resize will need to fit the width of your screen (or you will need to scroll left/right). There's an idea post somewhere here on the forum to request a two-line register display. I'm not going to link to it because, honestly, I see zero chance that the developers are going to implement that.

nello

> @RickO said:
> you can add or remove columns from the register,
> including the Memo and Tags columns.

Thank you for pointing this out. This is better, but not as good as having two rows (in my humble opinion).

>
> There's an idea post … to request a two-line register display….
> I see zero chance that the developers are going to implement that.

Why is an option for a two-line register opposed by the developers?

RickO

I can't speak for them, but I imagine there could be design conflicts between 2-line and the ability to change column widths. The request for 2-line has been around since the very first iterations of current QMac and has not been acted on. 

nello

> @RickO said:
> ... I imagine there could be design conflicts between 2-line and the ability to change column widths. The request for 2-line has been around since the very first iterations of current QMac and has not been acted on. 

Ok. Thank you.

Looks like this is the link to the two-line register request:
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7320959/add-option-for-2-line-row-display-in-quicken-for-mac-175-legacy-votes#latest

jacobs

@nello It was explained one time by the product manager that the way Quicken displays lists in registers and throughout the program relies heavily on tools provided by the macOS graphics framework. That means macOS does most of the heavy lifting for drawing text on the screen. For them to implement the two line display of old, they would have to hand-code how everything gets drawn on the screen, from rows to shading to scroll bars, and it would be a major, complicated project to create.

I personally now dislike the 2-row register I once loved, as it's much easier for the eye to skim down a screen of rows and columns when everything lines up in each column, as opposed to the two-line display where every other wine has different data. I think most — but clearly not all — Quicken Mac users come around to liking the register display, but only after they use it for awhile; nearly everyone (myself included!) has a negative reaction to the one-line display initially. So my question to you is: how long have you been converted to and using modern Quicken Mac? 

In programming work, nearly nothing is impossible to achieve, but there are always questions about what should be priorities and how many resources to devote to a particular project. Given unlimited time and programmers and designers, they could build every option under the sun to satisfy nearly everyone — but that's not reality. There are hundreds and hundreds of feature requests users have requested from the developers. They have shown that they do listen to users who can lay out why a particular feature or change is needed or would be beneficial… but they generally aren't swayed by general comments that "I like the old way better".

nello

> my question to you is: how long have you been
> converted to and using modern Quicken Mac?

I converted during Nov 2020. Until then I stayed on Mojave just so I could continue to run Quicken for Mac 2007 (QM2007).

I use the memo line intensely to document circumstances around an expense. I was used to using the Memo for this, just like on a paper check. It was available on QM2007 so I kept trying to do it on the new version. And it was EXTREMELY tedious to open the details to enter or see this information.

Adding the Memo field as a column is a huge step in the right direction. It will definitely help.

Perhaps some of what I want could be accomplished with more deeply nested sub-categories.

Thank you for reaching out.

jacobs

I also use the Memo field a great deal, and I prefer to position it after my Category field. I've always thought it was a mistake that the developers don't have this field visible by default. I'm sorry you had to fight against against this shortcoming for so long because nothing led you to the discovery of making the Memo field visible in your registers... but at least you know. One thing which is a nice improvement compared to Quicken 2007 is that the Memo field now has unlimited length instead of just 32 characters.

RickO

nello said:

Perhaps some of what I want could be accomplished with more deeply nested sub-categories. 

You didn't mention if you are using QuickFill Rules. If not, this may help as an alternative to more deeply nested categories. Check it out in menu Window > Payees & Rules > QuickFill Rules and the associate preferences item at Quicken > Preferences > Registers.

nello

Yes, I’m using QuickFill Rules.

Part of my problem is that a lot of my transactions involve a single payee, Venmo.

Somehow, I need to have multiple QuickFill Rules for Venmo, at least one per Venmo recipient. Too bad there aren’t sub-Payees, analogous to sub-Categories. Yes, I could always set up a separate Payee for each Venmo recipient, but there’s no way I know of to group Payees together so that they are nested.

RickO

What about naming them Venmo-Payee1, Venmo-Payee2, etc? Or VPayee1, VPayee2, etc.?

nello

Yes, I could create a different Payee for each Venmo recipient; I’d also thought of this work around. Maybe this is what I will end up doing.

But, putting payments to a single vendor into multiple Payees is really an inelegant solution since, as far as I know, Quicken, has no way to aggregate/disaggregate the Payees as it does for a Category with sub-Categories. For example, I can’t total up all Venmo payments into a single figure to tie out to a Venmo statement.

RickO

Here's what I do for this situation. I think of it this way: I am not paying Venmo, I am paying Peter, Paul or Mary. Venmo is just the payment vehicle. So I name the actual payees as they really are (e.g., Peter, Paul, Mary). Then I put Venmo in the Tag field. This allows me to search the register by tag "Venmo" and to create reports based on the Tag, including columnar summary reports. You would be able to create a saved report that should match up to your Venmo statement. Might this meet your needs?

nello

I decided to leave the Payee alone and just have one Venmo. But, I added several subcategories and it’s working well for me. So well, in fact, that having the memo in a column is just fine.

Thank you for working through this with me. I was really exasperated by constantly opening that detail field, and then only one could be opened at a time. Now, having the column view of memo lets me see all memos at the same time.

Works very well. I agree: no need for two-line register.