View my usage suggestion

[#1]

I'm a new user to Plusnet after switching telco from Kingston Communications and I've been delighted so far with both the service and the tools provided on the Plusnet sites. I do have one suggestion though.
Would it be possible to add a second bar graph to the view my usage page that shows the amount of Paid-for usage used/remaining as a percentage? The current bar graph, although useful to visualise the split the between paid/free usage, is not particularly useful for visualising amount of remaining paid-for bandwidth.
Thanks, Paul.

[#2]

Or would it be easier to set the bar width at our usage limit, instead of being dynamic as it is now.
John

[#3]

What happens when you go over your usage limit (paid or unpaid)?

[#4]

Presumably the bar would move to the next GB, with a warning that X GB are over their usage allowance and will be billed.
John

[#5]

To OP
Can't you just put the peak time figure and your allowance (also shown) into MS calculator and work it out yourself? - or do a bit of mental arithmetic
Can't see this info being needed that often so seems a lot of work for a PN developer / PN Tester / QA to do which can take you 20 seconds to calculate every now and again.

[#6]

Hi Peter,

Quote from: Peter

Can't you just put the peak time figure and your allowance (also shown) into MS calculator and work it out yourself? - or do a bit of mental arithmetic Can't see this info being needed that often so seems a lot of work for a PN developer / PN Tester / QA to do which can take you 20 seconds to calculate every now and again.

Yes, but it's easier to interpret as a bar graph, that's just how the human brain works. 🙂
It really shouldn't be that much work involved, the code already exists to produce dynamic bar graphs so it should simply be a case of feeding in different numbers.

[#7]

What may seem simple to do takes a lot of time and manpower in a commercial environment. It's not just Joe Bloggs doing a quick change and uploading it to the website. It first has to be specified, timescales defined, resource cost analysis done, then a commercial viability test (does this expense benefit PN, benefit the customer, benefit both), resources allocated, coding, testing, QA, testing on a test server, planning done when the PN portal can be shutdown, the changes uploaded (normally out of hours) and lots of reviews in between each stage.
If you feel this is of benefit to you and others, raise the request on the PUG (PlusNet User Group) forum and if there is interest we can raise a PUGIT item for voting and PN to consider. See the links to PUG in my sig.

[#8]

NO!
Please don't change it so that it demonstartes in graphical form what anyone who can subtract from thirty already knows.
Perhaps there could be a special page for people who can't count but please leave the default alone.

[#9]

Quote from: geewizz

NO! Please don't change it so that it demonstartes in graphical form what anyone who can subtract from thirty already knows. Perhaps there could be a special page for people who can't count but please leave the default alone.

The suggestion was to add an additional graph, not take the existing one away.

[#10]

That's a change, a change which will increase the size of the page.

[#11]

I think Omahn's suggestion is very sensible actually, and was slightly surprised this wasn't implemented when VMBU was first introduced.
I know it would help several of my referrals who are on BBYW Option 2 and have ticked the PAYG box for extra GBs as they are needed.
At the Open Day, suggestions were invited for how to improve the controls and monitoring of cost & GB usage.  One idea I remember which sounded good was to have a pop-up when you near your usage limit, giving you the option of adding a GB, or throttling your speed till next billing date. 
I find dismissing ideas out of hand is unhelpful and unedifying; I much prefer the process of talking about them to help the originator explain and develop the idea, and to raise possible problems and see if they can be solved.
Martin

[#12]

Personally I see no problem with the existing set-up - even to my elderly brain it's a simple bit of mental arithmetic to see what I've got left of my, now increased, monthly allowance.
Surely that's all I really need to know.

[#13]

Quote from: snozboz

I think Omahn's suggestion is very sensible actually, and was slightly surprised this wasn't implemented when VMBU was first introduced.

Quote from: snozboz

I find dismissing ideas out of hand is unhelpful and unedifying; I much prefer the process of talking about them to help the originator explain and develop the idea, and to raise possible problems and see if they can be solved.

Thank you.
I still find the current bar graph a bit strange. I'm not sure what use it is. Sure, it helps you visualise the difference in paid/free bandwidth that you've used, but really, I'm not sure that many people are bothered about how much free bandwidth they've used. I for one are much more concerned about my paid bandwidth as that effects the bottom line. 🙂
Anyway, there doesn't appear to be much support for the idea so I'll let it rest. Even though the work involved in making the addition would be minimal. (And I work within an enterprise as part of a Computing department so I'm fully aware of the change processes involved.)

[#14]

Just because a few people on this forum don't like the idea doesn't mean it isn't worth pursuing
Apparently, there are around 30,000 members of the Community site, but PlusNet have at least 300,000 users.  And I would guess that the Community site members include more technically minded people proportionally.  I think your idea is a good one, particularly for people who don't understand usage allowances.
Martin

[#15]

It does seem like a good idea in principle to me.
I do have reservations about how it would actually be implemented - as the graph at the moment shows all usage, whereas this would have to pretty much exclude off-peak usage.
The current graph does not show where your limit is on the actual graph, so a visible means of seeing this without having to scroll down may well be beneficial for the less technical users around here