[Libreoffice-ux-advise] [GSoC] Use Widget Layout for the Start Center

[Mirek M.]

Hi Emir,

On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 9:26 AM, Emir Yâsin SARI <bitigchi at me.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'd like to point out some ideas of mine for the new start center as well,
>
> 1. Tabs labeled All, Documents, Spreadsheets etc. would look better if
> they are located right under the window bar, currently they look like
> they've been pressed down by the Open/Templates buttons and LibreOffice
> logo area.
>

+1


> 2. Changing the application background colour from settings change the SC
> background as well as usual, and LibreOffice logo looks bad under certain
> colours, not readable at all. Personally I am not sure if we ever need a LO
> logo for the Start Center, it just takes up space.
>

+1 to getting rid of the logo


> 3. Info, Get Templates, Get Extensions buttons should be located on the
> lower corner, not upper. Again waste of space.
>

Not sure if these are relevant here as well.
Get Templates would be better off in the Template manager, Get Extensions
in the Extension manager, and it's enough to have Info, which just links to
the homepage, in the About dialog.


> 4. Open/Templates buttons are very very big, and they look very alienated
> on OS X. Have no idea about the other platforms.
>

Ideally, these should be toolbar buttons, as in the proposal. [1]


> 5. New document buttons under the tabs are also very big, they do not look
> native, and they leave very valuable space wasted on the right side of the
> buttons. Same case for the small buttons under the All Recent tab.
>

+1


> 6. Also mentioned here before, Recent Documents are would offer more file
> manager capabilities, basic functions like longer file names, ability to
> drag&drop, a search bar, and a system right click context menu!
>

The long-term goal for the Start Center, at least how I envision it, is
similar to that of mobile/web applications or Apple's Document Library [2]:
have an application-specific file browser with a simple one-level folder
hierarchy with the primary function of finding and opening a file, not
"managing" it.

Based on that, drag-and-drop, to me, makes only sense in terms of grouping
documents into folders, in a similar way to the way folders work on the
Android or iOS homescreen or in Apple's Document Library. Did you mean that
or did you have something else in mind?
A search bar makes sense as well.
Instead of a right-click system menu, I'd prefer to reserve the right click
for selection, as is the behavior of the new kind of Windows 8 apps and the
new Gnome apps (Documents, Clocks, ...). By selecting something, the
toolbar should change to present selection-relevant commands, which is the
same as you'd expect from a right-click menu, with the advantage of being
more discoverable and touch-accessible.

Also, what exactly do you mean by "Longer file names"? Does the current
implementation not allow long filenames? Or do you mean showing the whole
file name no matter how long it is?

7. When a recent document is opened, window should maximise itself by
> default,  at least there should be an option to maximise the window
> automatically, a normal user would probably maximise the window area after
> opening a document.
>

This setting should be saved with the document. It should have nothing to
do with the Start Center.

>
> 8. As a long term goal, it would be better to merge templates window into
> the start center.
>

It'd be good if these two could share as much as possible, though I'm not
100% sure they should be merged. I have no idea about the technical
aspects, though, so I don't have an educated opinion on this.

[1]
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Design/Whiteboards/Start_Center#Proposal_by_Mirek2
[2] http://ia.net/blog/mountain-lions-new-file-system/
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