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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: Menu structure needs attention
From:       Ferdinand Gassauer <gassauer () kde ! org>
Date:       2002-02-21 12:34:24
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On Thursday 21 February 2002 11:59, Chris Howells wrote:
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> On Thursday 21 February 2002 9:46 am, Thomas Diehl wrote:
> > Comments would be easier if the plan was posted on a web page
>
> Probably a good idea. I'll see if I have time to do that (I really need to
> revamp my web site).
>
> > somewhere (or if you could at least provide the address of your
> > proposal on lists.kde.org).
>
> Sure.
After looking at the thread at kde-core-devel may I summarize:

we talk about "too many items" in a sub menu. 

1) currently the number of items depends on what a user has installed - it 
can't be determined by the KDE-develpment team, because the user (or 
packager) is free to install many non KDE-Core apps and gnome and X and ....

2) "too many items" is a very personal perception, probably depending on how 
many items fit in one coulmn of the menu. I personaly feel uncomfortable if 
the menu has more than ONE column. This depends on fontsize, icon size and 
screen higth.

3) single versus multiple occurences of the same app in the menu. 
3a) First time users do not know which apps are available, so eventualy they 
will look for an application (sometimes with a cryptic name like noatun) in 
more than one sub-menu.
3b) most users will be biased by their profession and comfortable with some 
names, abrevations (PIM) etc. and start searching for an application from 
their point of view. 
3c) more and more apps (evolution, aethera) will become suits (due to the 
kparts technology) and hence "multi-category" and fit into more than one menu.

So all efforts to come up with a "manual" monodimensional solution will only 
gradualy improove the situation and give place for a lot of discussion and 
complaints.

BTW SuSE's KDE 2.2.2 -distribution has an item "SuSE", whery many KDE and 
non-KDE apps are grouped in SuSE's view of the world and hence are duplicated.

A dynamic menu would need some configurable and autodetected parameters.
* source of the apps (mulitple choices)
** KDE
** GNOME
** X
** SuSE
** others ...

* apperance
** limit menu to one column (if possible)
** limit menu to nn items (if possible)
** multiple occurences (makes it necessary to define a main category)

* dependency
** include apps for not supported/installed hardware 
** include not configured apps (I know, someone will jump on me, but that's 
exactly what we did for our Windows NT users, including myself) 

* something else to be defined.


-- 
cu
ferdinand
on SuSE 7.0 KDE 2.2.2
 
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