Restrictions ambiguity
This is from the point of view of a newbie. It wasn't clear if the restriction meant when you couldn't water or when you are restricting RainMachine to be able to water. I think in English "restriction to" or "restriction from" are both possible. Depends on your point of view.
My suggestion is to make this clearer on the interfaces. E.g., Restriction (when no watering is desired or allowed).
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Hi, Greg
From my point of view is very simple: you can manually water anytime you want, even when the RainMachine is in restriction mode and when it is, all scheduled watering activities you may have set for that time when the RainMachine is in restriction mode will be skipped.
Just the other day I wanted to water my flowers just a little bit more and I did it manually from the iOS app interface, even if my RainMachine was set to be restricted for the entire day so my 3 scheduled programs won't run.
Thanks.
Julian
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Greg,
Understood. We will try to clarify this ambiguity in future releases by using better messages and help text and try to better highlight what is the cause of restriction.
If I may ask: It was not clear to you when the restriction occurred or while you were trying to setup the restriction?BTW, in 1 month we will be releasing a much improved IOS and RainMachine firmware.
Thanks!
-Andrei
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Andrei
When I first went to program (setup) the RainMachine. It's one of the first things I though I should put in. I don't remember the process or page now. And I was going back and forth between my iPhone and Mac. I generally prefer to use my laptop for doing things, usually much easier.
Part of my problem was of course getting passwords on all three units. I think I was also a bit confused about what the password applied to—was it to the unit, or the website or my phone or the network. I think I originally used my network password (to the router) and realized that's what I'd done, but I didn't want to use the same password for RM and my network, so had to change it everywhere. I'm not saying this is a problem with RM, maybe just IoT or me.
Thanks for the heads up (or warning) about interface and firmware changes. Challenging. One of the challenges for me was realizing that Programs were available and how to use them. I originally did each zone separately. Another confusion was that I didn't see that zones is where the type of plants were put in—it's not prominent. For example when I click on a zone on my phone, there's no indication of which one it is. But I'll wait for the next version before going on any more. Some of my issues will probably be addressed.
Although I'll add one more which I've seen discussions around on the forum. What does the time you set for a zone represent. I think I know now that I see the dashboard—it's somewhere near the maximum or at least not near the middle. Based on seeing approx. 30 percent of max. for current watering and that's a week after rain.
Thanks for listening.
Greg
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Greg,
Thank you for the feedback.
Indeed, some people think "zone centric', some people think "program centric". You are not the 1st user that is trying to set watering times for a certain zone. It is hard to have it both ways without confusing the users, this is something we plan to iron out via interfacing in our future releases.
>Another confusion was that I didn't see that zones is where the type of plants were put in—it's not prominent.
OK, we will try to improve on that. Maybe in the future we will attempt to remind users that zones properties were not set or force the user to go though a 'setup wizard'.
Thanks!
Andrei -
Hi
Sorry, but what does the word Restriction mean?
For me, when I see it it means that something is restricted, right?So when I open it I know that everything I set there will restrict my watering activities by temperature, by months, by days and by hours.
What is the misunderstanding here?How can you think that when you set those options you set when to water and for the other amount of time will be forbidden to water?
So - when you enter on Month restriction option there is none selected. Does that mean to you that all 12 months are restricted from the start and you go and choose the months when to allow watering? This is not logic, in my opinion.Sorry again, but for me is very clear - I see Restrictions I know what to set there.
Thank you
Josh. -
Josh, thank you for responding. Stating that it's clear to you is not an answer and does not clarify. It's a simple question and the OP was quite clear in pointing out that there are 2 interpretations (restrict TO those days, or restrict FROM those days). The RM GUI is ambiguous here. It would certainly help (and a suggestion) that the RM team add inline help to their program and/or web GUI. For example, a simple one-line help may be "Select day(s) that you do NOT want to water".
Consider that most municipalities have restrictions on the days you CAN water (e.g. odd numbered addresses are restricted to watering on odd numbered days only). So, for many users, restrictions mean the days you can water.
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