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List:       kde-bugs-dist
Subject:    [Bug 93889] New: Side panel with history (recent directories,
From:       Maurizio Colucci <seguso.forever () tin ! it>
Date:       2004-11-25 10:02:23
Message-ID: 20041125110221.93889.seguso.forever () tin ! it
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http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=93889        
           Summary: Side panel with history (recent directories, and more)
           Product: konqueror
           Version: unspecified
          Platform: SuSE RPMs
        OS/Version: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: wishlist
          Priority: NOR
         Component: general
        AssignedTo: konq-bugs kde org
        ReportedBy: seguso.forever tin it


Version:            (using KDE KDE 3.3.1)
Installed from:    SuSE RPMs

While programming my file manager (http://onefinger.sf.net) I noticed
that a side panel containing the recently used directories greatly
improved my productivity. I believe the reasons are:

1. FASTER NAVIGATION: a big part of my time is spent moving between a
   bunch of "important" folders. With the sidebar, moving between them
   is much quicker than opening many konqueror windows in the taskbar,
   or using the back/forward/up buttons. You just make one click on
   the destination directory, which you already see, and you are
   there.

2. DOES NOT CLUTTER THE TASKBAR: If you add a side panel with the
   recent directories, you can only have one open konqueror window. So
   the taskbar is no more cluttered, and still you get quick access to
   the important locations. The impact is similar to that of tabbed
   browsing, where your taskbar stops being cluttered. With the
   difference that the history panel is DYNAMIC, the tab bar is not.

---

I recently tried Gnome and discovered that nautilus too (in
non-spatial mode) does this: the side panel has a "history" mode which
contains the recently visited folders.  So I believe Konqueror should
implement this too.

You will probably think to extend the history sidebar of konqueror;
but the new history should be ordered by recent usage (descending),
and should be flat. I'm not sure the current history does that.

---

There are also some improvements that could be made over the nautilus
way. These improvements are all implemented in OneFinger, so you can
try them. They give an idea of how powerful a history panel could be,
if only we wanted. 

What do I mean by powerful? I mean that the history panel could
"subsume" many konqueror features, making them useless---and removing
clutter dramatically. 

Here are the improvements:

1. You could have the history contain not only folders, but a _merge_
   of files and folders. When you click a folder, it is opened. When
   you click a file, it is executed in the default app.

   Then you could add 2 buttons to _narrow_ the history list: "show
   only files in history panel", "show only folders in history
   panel". This would subsume the "recent documents" applet.

   (You could add URIS as well in this list, but it may not be
   appropriate if yo want to keep the web-browsing and file-management
   configurations separate)

2. You can also add a _third_ button "only show bookmarked items in
   history panel". Once again, bookmarked items can be files and
   folders (or even URIs). This would subsume the "bookmarks" menu in
   konqueror. IMHO this would be a major unification and
   simplification.

3. You could make the items in the history panel "first-class
   citizens". What does it mean? With the current design, they can
   only be entered/executed (see point 1). But I may want to delete,
   or move, a folder which I see in the history. Currently it is very
   difficult to do that. I have to click not the folder, but ITS
   PARENT. There's something wrong with the concept that, in order to
   act on a folder, you have to be in the parent folder.  

   Or I may want to open a file, which I see in the history, with a
   non-default program. 

   So, it is very desirable for the history items to be fully
   manipulatable.

4. The history list (when visible) subsumes the toolbar buttons
   "back", "forward", "up", and maybe even "home". To go to some
   place, you click _directly_ upon it. Another simplification (it is
   more intuitive to click on the target).

   For reaching the home, it could be a bit more difficult, because
   you may not see it in the history, if you've not been there
   recently. But, in that case, you would click the button "only show
   bookmarked items in history", then the home would surely be
   visible. Yes, summing it all up it is one click more, but you have
   removed clutter from the taskbar.

5. You could have a button to change the sorting mode of the history
   panel: by name, by recent usage, by frequent usage. This buttons
   would be orthogonal to the buttons "only show files", "only show
   folders", "only show bookmarked items".

   (However, my experiments with OneFinger show that "recent usage" is
   by far the most used sorting mode. I suggest not to give this a
   high priority.)

6. You could add a quick-search box, like in kmail, to narrow the
   contents of the panel to only those items matching a string.

7. Since the history would almost always be scanned linearly, the
   scrollbar is not appropriate. When you absolutely have to find an
   item by name, you can use the quick-search box.  Therefore, I found
   4 big pushbuttons to be appropriate for scrolling. See the modified
   scrollbar in OneFinger.
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