Foxit Read 7.3.0.118 Classic toolbar missing

[richell_huang]

Hi all,

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, all the feedback has been forwarded to our PM team for future consideration.

[Granddaddy]

I just want to add my expression of disappointment with Foxit Reader 7.3 that I downloaded and installed this afternoon. As soon as I saw that the classic toolbar was missing, I just uninstalled it and reinstalled the older 7.1.5 that I had saved. I do hope Foxit reconsiders its decision to force such a clumsy, dysfunctional interface on its users. The ribbon is one of several poorly conceived ideas introduced into Windows by Microsoft. They and the entire computer industry paid a heavy price for the disaster of Windows 8. The Windows 10 interface is no improvement, but at least there is Classic Start Menu as an excellent alternative to Microsoft's poor design. It is sad to see Foxit and some other companies adopting Microsoft's very bad user interfaces.

[brobins]

Yes, it is annoying that the classic view disappeared. Now that I've customized the Quick Access Toolbar with all the functions that I regularly used from the classic view & hidden the ribbon, will I have to repeat the same time consuming process every time there is an update?

[RealRaptor]

brobins: just go to preferences (ctrl-k), go to the bottom for "updater" and disable checking and updating and your version will just remain as is until you change something. You're welcome.

richell_huang: can you have your PM team schedule that future consideration for FIRST THING MONDAY MORNING !! Thanks in advance.

RealRaptor.

[TeddyTech]

I am joining the others in saying that I miss the classic toolbar. Biggest reasons -- I know my way around the classic menu and I have it customized down to just the features that I use. Plus the ribbon takes up too much screen real estate. I searched around and found a copy of 7.2.8.1124 and will hang on to it as long as I can.

[Garver]

I too have reverted back to a previous version. Foxit Reader won my loyalty because it is/was clean.. A---- Reader is so cluttered and busy, it's impractical to use. I understand that the ribbon was created by micr---ft to make it's software look cooler, in an attempt to better compete with Ap-le / M-cs. After all, M-----ft spent years researching Menu / Mice usage to create ergonomic keyboards, etc. And there is nothing wrong with Foxit Reader having the Ribbon / Classic option. That's fine. Please just keep it clean.

[Claude Benshaul]

As a user Foxit Reader since version 5, I can only add my voice to those who are unhappy with the decision to delete the classic toolbar. Instead of making me praise the benefits of the ribbon it just caused me to downgraded back to 7.2.8 and to disable the auto update feature. The ribbon, in my opinion, is a major inconvenience lacking any structure and despite claims that it simplify and streamline workflow I found the exact opposite: The ribbon is a major time waster that takes too much screen real estate. If I wanted a PDF reader addled with the ribbon I would have migrated to Adobe. I didn't because Foxit wisely decided to keep the classic toolbar, but now I'll have to consider if there are any other alternatives, beside sticking with the 7.2.8 version.

[Myrmecophagavir]

Count me as another signup just to comment on this. I don't dislike ribbon UIs in general, in fact they can be very useful in certain types of productivity package. But it's completely unnecessary to have such a bloated interface for a PDF viewer utility. In addition, Foxit's ribbon style follows the modern "flat slabs of colour" style introduced by MS with Windows 8, instead of the much more pleasing Office 2010 style with colour gradients and rounded edges.

I use this computer at 1920x1080 with Windows XP DPI set to "large fonts". With this display the ribbon simply takes up too much space and looks very ugly. Yes it can be auto-hidden but I much prefer smaller traditional toolbar buttons which don't need that.

As a developer myself I do understand the maintenance headaches caused by having legacy systems that need to be kept in sync with newer ones, but in this case I'll downgrade to the previous version and stick with that till Foxit reintroduces the classic toolbar mode.

[RichE]

Hi Richell,

The chief obstacle in my specific case is personal preference. Regardless of the fact that you can hide the ribbon (which also degrades its usefulness from a UI/UX perspective), the classic skin is still more space efficient, and flows more naturally from a workflow perspective. I use no other applications that have a ribbon interface, and 7.3 wants to force me to break that. Forgive my lack of technical expertise in this specific area but if it takes too many resources to maintain the classic skin, is there a sensible way that you can just stop updating the classic skin but leave it there as an option for users who do not use the ribbon at all?

Ditto, If you won't let us download the previous version that still has the classic skin, please tell us at least the last version that does include it. Then we can search elsewhere for an older version.

Thanks.

[FabUGuy]

Anything before v7.3, as far as I know.

[lyndi_wu]

Hi all,

You could download the latest version 7.2.8 which has the classic mode from the following link;

http://cdn01.foxitsoftware.com/pub/foxit/reader/desktop/win/7.x/7.2/en_us/FoxitReader728.1124_prom_enu_Setup.exe

[Gwystyl Brightheart]

HI there Iyndi_wu, thanks for the response. However, when we're stuck with an IT department that has pushed the new version on us, your solution is less than useful. So now the customized access bar is gone due to that being part of the classic menu and not being available in the ribbon. This has crippled my functionality in using your program. Like so many others, I was waiting for an update with an option to permanently remove the navigation bar instead of having to press F4 every time I open a pdf. Screen real estate is extremely valuable and having these sidebars and other things (including the bloated ribbon) decreases the functionality of the program. In addition, hiding the ribbon doesn't solve the problem of it's bloated and over-sized nature. I realize it takes extra programming to have two different menus. That being the case, you should be creating a version for mobile devises that has something touch-based like the ribbon, and something that is mouse/keyboard-based like the classic menu. Those who aren't using a tablet or cell phone for your program don't need bloated and over-sized buttons with icons that are difficult to interpret. The fact that one of the other moderators made a comment about people "getting used to the ribbon" (sorry, the quote feature on your website isn't functioning right now, giving me an error..) is a big red flag. If people have to "get used to" something, then that by definition means it isn't intuitive, useful, or beneficial. In other words, it's bad programming. Foxit was fantastic with the classic menu and being able to customize it so it had the functions that I need and want readily available without having to click through the ribbon, or having it hidden. Unlike most of the other users, I'm forced with using this, and that means I will be re-evaluating the use of Adobe Acrobat as my reader, and any other pdf reader that my IT department will allow me to install to see if there is now a better option available to me. I'm saddened that this is the case, and on my personal computers I'll be removing Foxit once I find a viable alternative. I wanted you to also know that this post is the only reason I signed up for your forums. If there are people posting here, how many are there that aren't willing to voice their opinion, instead simply finding their alternative, or feeling frustrated and abandoned by your decision to make us "get used to the ribbon" when it is a feature that is not beneficial.. This generation of programmers, while many are very talented, are certainly lazy and not customer oriented at all. It's a sad and frustrating thing to have yet another program added to the shelves of wasted programs because of things like the decision to try and shave a few bucks by removing useful features, or because programmers aren't allowed or don't want to provide the best product possible.

[Rand]

I'd also like to express my disappointment that the classic toolbar mode has been removed.
My objections are, aesthetically the skins available look incredibly ugly with the Ribbon. Simply put, Foxit is the single least appealing application on this PC aesthetically with the skins available and their impact on the Ribbon.
Secondly, whilst I like the ribbon a great deal in some applications such as Excel that have a huge number of tools and functions to access I find it useless in applications like Foxit that have a small fraction of Excel's commands and not nearly enough to make the Ribbon a functional improvement. In this case it's merely taking up a considerable amount of extra screen real estate for no functional improvement in my opinion. It's simply not a complex enough application to benefit from the Ribbon.
Hiding the ribbon is merely putting a bandage on the problem at best

I wish you had been clear when issuing this update that some functionality had been removed in the most recent version.
Regardless, I do appreciate your having kept the older version available on the site for easy download and I will use it until I'm able to find a suitable replacement for Foxit or the Classic toolbar mode is added back into the application.

[John Doe]

I'm disappointed and atm also somewhat annoyed. I just updated a few minutes ago, and without any warning the classic toolbar mode is gone for good. Grrrr!

Thanks to lyndi_wu for the link to the old 7.2.8 version though. I've now reinstalled that version and disabled automatic updates.

I really don't see any use in the ribbon toolbar. It takes up far too much space, is cluttered with masses of icons and text and the customization options are weak and overly complicated. All I want and need is a simple and fast pdf-reader.

The design bothers me as well. All it does, is to remind me of the old windows versions from the 1990s. Maybe some devs wanted something edgy and simplistic or a kind of hip retro-look, I dunno. But fine then - just give the classic toolbar mode a little face-lift... and voila!

I really hope the classic toolbar mode is reinstated in future versions. I always liked using the foxit reader, but maybe it's time to move on?

[Medlam]

Signed up purely to join the chorus: Ribbon is absolutely the most useless and idiotic thing Microsoft has ever tried to shove down our throats (next to Metro and Bob), and I am insulted to be forced to 'upgrade' to it. I'm downgrading to 7.2.8 right now, and there had better not be any major security issues with it until Foxit comes to its senses and reimplements Classic Mode. >:/