[Libreoffice-ux-advise] [Libreoffice] [PATCH] Make the toolbars not popping-up randomly

[Christoph Noack]

Hi Cor, hi all!

Am Freitag, den 18.11.2011, 23:08 +0100 schrieb Cor Nouws:
> Christoph Noack wrote (18-11-11 22:01)
> 
> > Well, I think I don't get everything from the technical description,
> 
> With the patch, initially the pop-up-behaving toolbars are docked above 
> the status bar.

Thanks for the explanation!

> > so I really have to try.

Well, since I wanted to try out other features as well, I've installed a
recent daily build and here are some comments. Before I start, I really
have to say that the concept derived from OOo has its disadvantages
(whether the toolbars are floating ones or docked).

According to my tryout:
      * If toolbars appear at the bottom, they might not be noticed
        easily recognized (not within the "primary area of focus").
        Especially since there is a connection "click on the object" ->
        "toolbar appears" which enables learning for the user.
      * Toolbars are "horizontally stacked". Thus, on my VM system
        (medium resolution display) working in a table (toolbar #1) with
        bullets (toolbar #2) is hard. Only two buttons from toolbar #2
        are available. Thus, I fear that some people might not even
        notice its existance. (There may be other examples.)
      * If users have rather large screens, then the mouse travel
        distance is increased.
      * When we've presented some proposals within the OOo Renaissance
        project, people "mentioned" that vertical space is valuable due
        to widescreen displays.

Consequently: Whilst I'm thinking that its better for users who know
OOo / LibO well, it may make things tough for new users.

Unfortunately, I have no better solution at the moment - without
changing the concept that much. But maybe the points I've raised help to
judge the impact ... maybe there are also other ideas around.

Cheers,
Christoph