I like the idea of an interface that changes dynamically to reflect actions available for the selected element, but I think that the panel is a better place for this than a nautilus sidebar. It would be nice to have a context sensitive toolbar sort of thing embedded in the GNOME panel that would change depending on which application is active and what item is selected. Would making it a universal panel thing be an HIG violation? Having application functionality accessible somewhere other than the application window might be bad usability mojo.
Potentially, it could show the most frequently used menu/toolbar items for the active program, or if you select a specific item it could also show the right-click menu options for that item. In a recent thread, I remember somebody saying something about users not being aware of features available on right-click menus, so this could really enhance usability in that sense and expose more functionality to the user. In Windows Vista, the file manager has a toolbar that changes to show contextually relevant operations. When I select a text file while browsing a folder in Vista, that toolbar changes so that it has an 'open' drop-down menu with a list of applications with which the file can be opened, a print button, an e-mail button, a share button, etc. It really makes the system functionality a lot more accessible to users that don't know it's on the right-click menu. I could imagine programs making actions available via d-bus for this feature. That would make it possible for developers to create alternative interfaces that can take advantage of it in addition to a panel applet. This is probably a bit too ambitious for the GNOME 2 series, but maybe something to think about for GNOME 3? Also, the nautilus information panel already has buttons with application actions, maybe it would be beneficial to build on that for the short term? It looks like those buttons in the info panel only show 'open with' actions for the current directory. Maybe the information panel should be improved to also show the 'open with' operations associated with the selected file as well as the current directory? As long as I am rambling about Nautilus interface stuff, I'd like to suggest that proper right-click support be added to the buttons in the location/path bar. Say that I want to open the parent folder in a new window. Rather than having to go to the parent and then select 'open in new window' from the file menu, I want to be able to right-click it in the path bar and select 'open in new window.' Is there a reason why this hasn't been done yet? Maybe implementing that would be a good way for me to start getting involved in GNOME development? -- Ryan On Sun, 2006-06-25 at 16:47 +0100, Who wrote: > On 6/25/06, Olafur Arason <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The problem is that this is ends up being just ignored, I have asked > > countless windows user whether they use this feature of explorer > > they respond that they hadn't noticed it. It is better to have single > > purpose applications. That being said it could be useful to have > > and optional sidebar thing that had big noticeable and distinct > > actions. Intelligence is key here, less is more. > > > > Olafur Arason > > > > > > I think that it failing to be noticed is a problem with the default > configuratins, not with the tool itself. Perhaps we can think of some > way to make it more discoverable - like a context menu item that says > 'view more options in sidebar' when the sidebar isn't shown, does > anyone have any other ideas? > > I fully agree that 'less is more' :) I think we want to provide really > relevant actions/files/information. > _______________________________________________ > desktop-devel-list mailing list > desktop-devel-list@gnome.org > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/desktop-devel-list -- Ryan Paul <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________ desktop-devel-list mailing list desktop-devel-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/desktop-devel-list