Re: GUI design of 0.7

[Joel Biddier]

Joel Biddier wrote:

> > I am only suggesting ways of conserving screen real estate. This is 
> > also the idea behind a two (or three max. Hence,  groups of 2,4,6... 
> > and 3,6,9...) column grid. It conserves the maximum amount of screen 
> > real estate. Note that everything is square. So, if the main panel is 
> > wide, you loose all the space beneath it (assuming the main panel is 
> > not always on top, which in the case of say CDE, it may not be).
[...]

> > - What buttons do we need at all ? My idea was that there should be no
> > buttons at the document window and that all frequent operations should
> > have buttons (undo/redo, selection, drawing tools, grouping, stacking,
> > dublicate, ...). The user should be able to do the common things without
> > touching the keyboard.
> >  
> Yes, I also am reconsidering having a buttons on the document window. 
> But the issue is then where do you put all the buttons?
> I'm a stuck on this - they have to go somewhere. The main toolbax may 
> not be able to accommodate all the buttons and still have
> an esthetic look. Again Sodipodi is the example that always comes to 
> my mind. But some may like that UI, so it is just a matter of taste.
> And this can change. I'm not fervent on the look as it may seem. It 
> you go with the Sodipodi look, Im OK with it.
I forgot to say that Illustrator/CorelDraw/OpenOffice Draw all have 
"fold-out" buttons on some of their toolbars (a button that is really a 
menuBar or optionMenu type widget). That is, if you hold down on the 
button it will expand to show other related menu tools (this is usually 
indicated with a pointing triagle at the bottom of the button). The tool 
you select is now the active menu tool. This can save alot of space. For 
example, the spiral, polygon and stars can be on one button (with one as 
the default). It provides another way to grouping items, within a 
toolbar grouping without worrying about symmetry (an "odd" number of 
tools will have no effect on the toolbar layout). The user just holds 
down on the button to get the tool they want, then use that menu tool.  
So if you have a 2 or 3 column toolbar and you can't fit the all the 
related tools to a 2,4,6 or 3,6,9  ... grouping,  you can then have one 
expand to all the other tools.  Some tools you don't want to do this 
with. For example, group and ungroup should both be displayed at the 
same time.

In this way we can put more buttons on the toolbar without all the ugliness.

In the above, what I was trying to say is that I was also reconsidering 
my original thinking about the document window with a menu bar. There 
are good points on both sides. A blank document window (no menu bar) may 
not be bad (like Gimp - just the grid and rulers). If we can use the 
"expanding" buttons, we can avoid the button clutter on the main 
toolbar, thus not needing a menu bar on the document window.

You just may want to use your best judgment (i.e. what do you want and 
is it easier to code ;-) ).

The only thing a I am fervent about is not using GNOME, just GTK (with 
GNOME optional). And that was resolved.

Thanks.

--J