[FR, UX] Let people start SketchUp without selecting a template

I find it quite odd how you absolutely must select a template the first time you start SketchUp on a computer, even if you are launching SketchUp by opening an existing model. When you install SketchUp on someone else’s computer to show them model you simply can’t open it without selecting a default template. For someone who has never used SketchUp before that question is completely nonsensical, especially as it doesn’t apply to the model we are trying to open.

Would it be possible to simply omit asking for default template when starting SketchUp with an existing model?

Even when you are starting a new project this question can be very confusing to new users. Before you have actually started using SketchUp it’s difficult to understand what things are affected by a template and what templates are really for. This is especially true for users who aren’t native English speakers (or native speakers of any language SU is translated into). The first time you start up SketchUp simply to try it out you probably don’t even know if you are going to do architecture, urban planning or 3d printing, you just want to see what the program is like and what buttons there are to press.

I suggest it should be possible to start SketchUp from the launch screen without having selected a template but that SketchUp should automatically fall back to some default default template that is as neutral as possible. However, until actively selecting a default template SketchUp could continue to ask the this question on each startup to give all users a chance to easily set their own preferred default template.

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I quite agree, but I wonder what information SketchUp should use to base its choice of model units on?

Or a simple question:
Open existing file or create from template?

@Anssi I’m thinking the international standard for lengths, the meter, could be used. In architecture and engineering outside USA mm is the mostly used and in USA some imperial unit stuff with feet and inches is used. I think using neighter feet and inches nor mm could be a compromise. Also I’d like to stress that this would just be a fallback template until users have chosen a default template themselves. You could still chose a template yourself with your desired units just as easily as you do today. For colors I don’t really know but maybe all white. Or gray ground and bluish sky. The idea is that it should be as neutral and open to as much different modeling as possible.

@MikeWayzovski Personally I’m not really a fan of splash pages that lets you open files. I always do that directly from the OS unless I’d like to open a new blank document. However I wouldn’t be bothered by such and option either. However what I’m after with this FR is a way for new users to get SketchUp running as easily as possible without having to make any active decisions on launch.

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