[Libreoffice-ux-advise] some thoughts on the Sidebar

[Cor Nouws]

Hi Mirek,

Mirek M. wrote (09-09-13 14:46)

> I share your sentiments about the sidebar. It should definitely be
> hidden by default, as it adds minimal value in return for a bunch of
> wasted space and a less focused, messier interface. The exception to
> this would be Impress, because it already relies on the task pane for
> key functionality and the sidebar is the replacement.

OK. And maybe, when visible in the other modules, remove some formatting 
toolbar?

> My vision for the sidebar is a bit different, though.
> First and foremost, I'm hoping that the sidebar will be made modular,
> allowing the user to undock each individual panel (represented by a tab)
> from the sidebar. Keep just a single panel docked, the tab bar would
> disappear. That would mean that we'd get rid of the awful panel
> duplication we have with the Sidebar now -- there would a single
> Navigator, a single Gallery, and a single Style pane, and all of these
> could be docked/undocked at any side of the window and grouped into tabs
> as one wished. This is all standard panel behavior, btw -- if you want
> to try it, just take a look at Gimp or Inkscape. (And I believe the
> Adobe counterparts work similarly.)

Those ideas for panel behaviour look sound to me. But less important in 
my view then the items I brought forward .. ;)

> As for the Properties panel, I'm hoping it will gain Style dropdowns
> like those in the toolbar (Kendy's working on this). I see no reason to
> fill the Properties panel with styles, though, as we already have the
> Styles panel for that.

It would be my strong, very strong, preference to make controls for 
direct formatting hidden, far hidden, and clearly show styles in a 
useful way.

> Furthermore, it's the Properties panel, so I would expect it to hold any
> and all of the object properties. That's the role dialogs play right
> now, and I'm hoping that, over time, the Properties panel will gain all
> of their functionality and replace them one by one. The advantage to
> that would be fast and easy access to this functionality, and the
> ability to see the changes happen live in the document.

I like the idea of seeing a life preview. On the other hand, applying a 
style and hitting Ctrl-z or the undo button, or the other style when 
it's not what is wanted, isn't a big deal too.

> The concept is
> basically the same as that of the Inspector window, which has long been
> used on Mac OS and is a key part of iWork.

Cheers,
Cor

PS See you in Milan?

-- 
  - Cor Nouws
  - http://nl.libreoffice.org
  - The Document Foundation Membership Committee Member