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List:       kde-quality
Subject:    discuss: consistency in KDE GUI
From:       subbukk <subbukk () gmail ! com>
Date:       2006-12-22 6:24:59
Message-ID: 200612221142.59986.subbukk () gmail ! com
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Hi all,

KDE is a nice way for people to get introduced to computing for the first 
time. However, I noticed a pattern of confusion in beginners. KDE is 
designed around objects and operations. Yet, this design is not 
consistently surfaced in application interfaces and the dissonance is 
confusing to beginners.

Take Konqueror for instance. Its menu bar contains:
 Location Edit View Bookmarks Tools Settings Help

The intuitive way to stop konqueror would be:
 Konqueror stop/exit/quit

But there is no "Konqueror" button in the menubar. Some operations under 
Location button like New Window, New Tab, apply to Konqueror the program 
and not to Location. Similarly, the Settings button also lists commands 
that are handled by the program. Perhaps, we should begin the menu 
with "Konqueror" and move Settings under this. Atleast, it will help 
build the brand :-).

The Edit button is a verb and not a "thing". It is confusing because 
Konqueror cannot edit a webpage. The ops - cut, copy, paste, find, 
select - applies to text selections in a web page. When dealing with 
folders, it shows "copy files", "move files" etc.

View/Bookmark/Tools/Help buttons are easy to understand and operate.

Kio slaves are so useful, it is a pity that they are not exposed directly 
in the menubar. They could be surfaced through Tools  (e.g. Tools|Locate 
or Tools:Google") or have a separate button "Kio".

Konqueror is just a sample. Other apps like KMail are much worse. Though, 
KMail doesnt deal with files, its menubar starts with "File"!

Should KDE apps be designed to be consistent with the underlying object 
models? Should KDE core libs be engineered to encourage (or enforce) this 
consistency? For instance, should "menubar" be restricted to "things" 
while "toolbar" limited to actions?

Happy Holidays,
K. K. Subbu
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