On Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 3:28 AM, mac_v<drkv...@yahoo.com> wrote: > On Fri, 2009-09-04 at 16:45 -0400, Celeste Lyn Paul wrote: >> On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 2:39 PM, Mark >> Shuttleworth<mark.shuttlewo...@canonical.com> wrote: >> > Stuart Langridge wrote: >> > >> > Am I missing something here? If Pidgin's not running then by definition >> > I can't have any messages in it. Is the messaging menu just another >> > applications menu but only containing apps which are capable of >> > generating messages? That seems not all that useful to me, unless I've >> > completely misunderstood the purpose of it. >> > >> > >> > I'll go out on a limb and say that's because y ou are one of the special >> > and >> > wonderful breed of people who know what's running on your computer. You may >> > even, like me, have your favourite ps incantation to reassure you on the >> > subject. >> > >> > The idea the messaging-menu-launching capability is built on is that users >> > tend to go there to see if they have messages first, and if they don't see >> > anything, they don't know if it's because "the thing is not running". >> > Switching and launching are a blurred experience for many people. >> >> So this is all very confusing because I don't think anyone has >> responded about the future purpose of the message indicator. >> >> Currently this how I would expect it to work: The message indicator >> will indicate if there is a message there. If there are no messages, >> there is no indication. No reason to go to the message indicator. No >> reason to go there to launch an application. If there is a message >> there, then you go to the message indicator and it tells you what >> messages you missed. If you missed a message, want to see more about >> it, you click on the message item and it takes you to where you need >> to be. If the application is running, then you go to the app or >> whatever. If there is a message for an application *not* running, >> clicking on the message item will launch the application and load the >> message. The latter is an acceptable shortcut to an application >> because it is simply supporting the primary activity of the message >> indicator: helping users view missed messages, regardless if the >> application/service is running. >> >> If an application has *no* messages, there should be no reference to >> that application anywhere in the message indicator, regardless if it >> is running or not. This includes shortcuts to launch applications. But >> the v2 plans for the message indicator wants to provide a shortcut to >> applications, regardless if they are running and if they have >> messages. Why do users need this? All the message indicator should do >> is support messages. >> > > The real question is "Why not?" why shouldn't it behave as a launcher > too! > > They've already accepted that > it will be allowed to blacklist/remove apps from the menu , > and if no app is using the menu , the icon wont be shown. > also that the menu would only have limited number of entries and not be > a comprehensive status dashboard. > So, now it doesnt hurt anyone who doesnt want to use it and wouldnt spam > the menu! > > I dont see any reason to prevent this new function just because it wasnt > the "initial goal" ! > So are apps never supposed to add new functions which were not the > initial goal? > > Anyone subscribed to the wiki page would realize that the messaging menu > specs are changed almost every other day[in the past couple of weeks]. > They seem to be testing it and trying to find a proper solution! I think > if we are a *little patient* the plans would become clear,eventually. > > I *really* [cant stress this enough] like the idea of messaging-menu + > launching capability , this is a nice idea and hope they dont backtrack > because of a few questions of this not being the "initial goal" .
If it turns into a dashboard, fine. Just update your documentation so the rest of us realize this :) -- Celeste Lyn Paul KDE Usability Project KDE e.V. Board of Directors www.kde.org _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana Post to : ayatana@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp