I just thought of something that would help Herolab use in general. While this first came to my mind while using the editor, I realized that all of those tabs can be hard to search. I will be looking at it "where did the Powers go?" (for Mutants and Masterminds) or "where is that class tab?" (for Pathfinder) and so on. I am sure that all of those tabs open at the top had started as something easy to look through, but as the options have grown it has become increasingly harder to find what I want.
Yeah, ok, I am blind, but come on. Even when I could see better I had have sometimes had a hard time finding what I have wanted to modify or add. Sometimes the names are not as helpful as I would want. Sometimes I have to create a new copy of something just to see if I am using the correct tab.
The above could look like complaining. But I do have a proposed solution, so it is instead elevated to constructive criticism. Instead of having all of those tabs visible on the screen, why not do what Microsoft Office has done for several years and make ribbons? This way you can go to different types of menus and it is more organized. Additionally, clarification can be given and the names can be changed in some cases to reflect what they really are meant to be.
For example, Races would have all of the race things, classes would have all of the class things, powers would have all of the powers things, and so on. Now, I am still a "beginning programmer" so I am not fully aware of how much effort this request would take, but wow it would be REALLY helpful for all users that want to use the editor. However, Lone Wolf may consider that as only a potentially smaller percentage of end users.
In order to make more of an impact on the overall usability of Hero Lab and its growing number of end users, the above idea could also be implemented on the main page. I cannot tell you how many times that I have looked for things, especially on the growing Pathfinder control panel.
Looking at the Pathfinder control panel, it could have tabs as follows:
Basics:
Background
Ability Scores
History
Personal
Social
Other
Development:
Journal
Classes
(each class)
Feats
Skills
Special Abilities
Possessions:
Armor
Weapons
Magic
Gear
Tracker:
In-Play
Adjustments
Conditions
Some of the things that are on the Feats page could be moved to part of the Basics menu. For example Traits, Flaws, and Drawbacks are not Feats and it can be hard to find them. Race could be its own entry under Basics, or it could just be its own ribbon.
Another thought is that instead of opening another "page", an Animal Companion or whatever would instead create a special ribbon for that entry. So if you have a familiar named "Freddy" it could have a ribbon menu named "Freddy" where you could go down its different tabs as menu options.
The overall effect would be that the user does not have to see a whole ton of options and it is easier to navigate through the character. This is especially true for characters that have multiple classes. Again, while this post is for Pathfinder, it would also be of use to the other systems (as I personally know, being Mutants and Masterminds and Savage Worlds).