1. Add the ability for Reflect to backup to a cloud destination such as a personal Google Drive or a MS OneDrive account. 
2. Add the ability for the user to insert details in the form of %variables% into the Success, Warning, or Error emails. Such as %ImageID%, %FileName%, %Folder/Path%, %Type%, %Date%, %Comment%, %Definition%, or %Size%.
Currently the emails are extremely limited in their usefulness and backup apps at half the price have this as a standard feature.
3. For the View > Existing Backups > Image (for example) > Drives, Definitions, BACKUP FILES ... [really for any view]
Allow
a. Rearrangement of the order of the columns.
b. Grouping by column.
c. Sorting by column (currently some columns will not sort).
4. For all Views showing Type (Full, Inc, and Diff) as part of the row, add the ability to make the Full Inc and Diff rows different colors.
#3 and #4 will help the user to know at a glance, the status of backups and present a more visual interpretation.

5. Add the option to have an auto restore xml automatically added to a backup.

Reflect does have support for cloud backup:
https://blog.macrium.com/backup-to-the-cloud-with-azure-file-shares-c127ff77fd3b
Does that not meet your needs?



What does this mean?



As far as I can tell, all columns sort correctly, except for the "Type" column.  I had reported this issue in an earlier release of v8, but I recall that it had been fixed in a later release.  Perhaps that part of the code was inadvertently reverted in a more recent update.  I will find the earlier forum topic about this issue.  My recollection was incorrect.  There was a similar bug in the Definition Files view, which prevented sorting by Backup Type (as in "Image" vs. "File & Folder"), which was fixed in v8.0.6036.  The inability to sort by Type in the Existing Backups view appears to be a bug (note, however, that my currently installed Reflect version is v8.0.6161, so I don't know how the later releases behave).



If you switch the "View As" option from "Backup File" to "Backup Sets", you will get a more visual interpretation depicting the three-level hierarchy and relationships between Fulls, Diffs, and Incrementals.  Is this not sufficiently visual?



What does this mean?


Edit: Updated my comments on sorting by backup type.

                                

I am unable to reply to your questions inline. Very weird and unintuitive support software.
Essentially, my advice is to have someone more experienced at Macrium answer your questions about my suggestions. It appears you are unfamiliar with common terms and functions; you do not understand the functionality of Reflect - you may have never actually used Reflect for a living, you have never seen a competitors software app, and Macrium is the first and only software company you have worked at. Your developer will understand my suggestions. I took time out of my very busy day using my 30 years of software experience to help Macrium because I like the backend solid technical base. But I know there is huge room for improvement in the GUI, in ease of use, in efficiency from the user's perspective. Macrium is very time consuming to learn to use and to use for no reason. There is no competitive advantage to being more difficult to learn and use than your competitors. Everything I have described could be described as Marketing. Macrium has developed the product. What is the downside of Marketing it, increasing sales, making the product less error prone? 

+x

 

MemorialParker - 7 January 2022 1:51 AM

I am unable to reply to your questions inline. Very weird and unintuitive support software.
Essentially, my advice is to have someone more experienced at Macrium answer your questions about my suggestions. It appears you are unfamiliar with common terms and functions; you do not understand the functionality of Reflect - you may have never actually used Reflect for a living, you have never seen a competitors software app, and Macrium is the first and only software company you have worked at. Your developer will understand my suggestions. I took time out of my very busy day using my 30 years of software experience to help Macrium because I like the backend solid technical base. But I know there is huge room for improvement in the GUI, in ease of use, in efficiency from the user's perspective. Macrium is very time consuming to learn to use and to use for no reason. There is no competitive advantage to being more difficult to learn and use than your competitors. Everything I have described could be described as Marketing. Macrium has developed the product. What is the downside of Marketing it, increasing sales, making the product less error prone? 

Wow! 

This is a user forum not Macrium official support.  The forum member who replied is a user just like yourself.  He/she does not work for Macrium.  Anyway, you're in the wish list forum. Perhaps the developers will see your post and consider your suggestions.

Dear @MemorialParker :
I think you may be lost.

This is a user forum where Reflect customers help each other out.  If you were attempting to communicate with Macrium representatives directly, your best bet would be to open a support ticket at helpme.macrium.com.

I have no affiliation with Macrium, other than being a (satisfied) customer.   It's magnanimous of you to want to help Macrium increase its sales, but coming to a user forum and insulting other users of the software does not seem to be a very effective approach to achieve that goal.

Since you apparently don't want any actual help, I will not take any further time out of my also very busy day to assist.

Edit: Fixed typo in URL.

                                

+x

 

JK - 7 January 2022 2:12 AM

Dear @MemorialParker :
I think you may be lost.

This is a user forum where Reflect customers help each other out.  If you were attempting to communicate with Macrium representatives directly, your best bet would be to open a support ticket at helpme.macrium.com.

I have no affiliation with Macrium, other than being a (satisfied) customer.   It's magnanimous of you to want to help Macrium increase its sales, but coming to a user forum and insulting other users of the software does not seem to be a very effective approach to achieve that goal.

Since you apparently don't want any actual help, I will not take any further time out of my also very busy day to assist.

Edit: Fixed typo in URL.

I did want to take time out of my busy day to offer other words for @MemorialParker which I'm not allowed to disclose on this forum.

+x

 

JK - 7 January 2022 2:12 AM

Dear @MemorialParker :
I think you may be lost.

This is a user forum where Reflect customers help each other out.  If you were attempting to communicate with Macrium representatives directly, your best bet would be to open a support ticket at helpme.macrium.com.

I have no affiliation with Macrium, other than being a (satisfied) customer.   It's magnanimous of you to want to help Macrium increase its sales, but coming to a user forum and insulting other users of the software does not seem to be a very effective approach to achieve that goal.

Since you apparently don't want any actual help, I will not take any further time out of my also very busy day to assist.

Edit: Fixed typo in URL.

I apologize I thought I was talking to someone from support responding. Last time I spoke to support they gave me the impression that the proper place for suggestions was in the Forum wish list  as if that's where their development team looks when considering new features. Normally I correspond directly with Developers of applications. So when I got a response I assumed it was from some screener in the development team. Being a wish list it never occurred to me a user would respond other than to say yay or nay about the suggestions. 
I applaud you for your eagerness to jump in and help .
Sleep on this, do you honestly believe that anything in your response was helpful or that someone making suggestions on a wishlist needed help?

Dear @MemorialParker,
Thank you for taking further time out of your undoubtedly very busy day/evening to craft this heartfelt non-apology. 

Your time might have been better spent perusing these forums before posting (in accordance with basic netiquette), which would have made you aware that most wish list posts generate discussion, not yay/nay votes from users or responses from Macrium employees (and you would know that when Macrium employees do participate in the forum, it is not by way of a screener).  Furthermore, reading the forum before posting would have let you know that it is common for the wish list threads to contain requests from users who are unaware of existing features, or whose requests are not sufficiently well formulated to be actionable.  In your case, you were clearly unaware of the existing cloud backup functionality in Reflect, or the fact that several of your other requests can already be accomplished in Reflect or using Reflect's explorer shell extensions. If you want to correspond directly with the Macrium developers, I suggest mailing your pearls of wisdom to Head Office, Kilburn House, Manchester Science Park, Lloyd Street North, Hulme, Manchester M15 6SE, United Kingdom.  One benefit of communicating directly with corporate employees is that you are likely to remain blissfully unaware of how you come across.

                                

JK,

There WAS an apology in his last post. Unfortunately he did not have the social awareness to put a period after the second word and delete the rest.  I thought it was particularly amusing that his excuse was he thought he was talking to a person at Macrium so that made his post OK.  As a long time programmer and techy my social skills are somewhat lacking (as the stereotype depicts).  But even I know this is not the way to make friends and influence people. 

I thought your response was measured and patient.  I probably would not have been so nice if I had chosen to respond.  But, at least my many years of life have given me the wisdom to resist that temptation.
 

+x

 

JK - 8 January 2022 1:13 AM

Dear @MemorialParker,
Thank you for taking further time out of your undoubtedly very busy day/evening to craft this heartfelt non-apology. 

Your time might have been better spent perusing these forums before posting (in accordance with basic netiquette), which would have made you aware that most wish list posts generate discussion, not yay/nay votes from users or responses from Macrium employees (and you would know that when Macrium employees do participate in the forum, it is not by way of a screener).  Furthermore, reading the forum before posting would have let you know that it is common for the wish list threads to contain requests from users who are unaware of existing features, or whose requests are not sufficiently well formulated to be actionable.  In your case, you were clearly unaware of the existing cloud backup functionality in Reflect, or the fact that several of your other requests can already be accomplished in Reflect or using Reflect's explorer shell extensions. If you want to correspond directly with the Macrium developers, I suggest mailing your pearls of wisdom to Head Office, Kilburn House, Manchester Science Park, Lloyd Street North, Hulme, Manchester M15 6SE, United Kingdom.  One benefit of communicating directly with corporate employees is that you are likely to remain blissfully unaware of how you come across.

Please do not "Help" me anymore. I was aware of the information you mentioned; however, it was not relevant.