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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Configure Desktop Background
From:       John Firebaugh <jfirebaugh () kde ! org>
Date:       2002-05-22 19:59:07
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On Wednesday 22 May 2002 12:25, Thomas Zander wrote:
> On Tue, May 21, 2002 at 12:18:43AM -0600, Aaron J. Seigo wrote:
> >  o there is both a listing of desktops to select from AND a set of tab
> > widgets. this means the user must track two sets of mode changing
> > widgets. this is far too complex.
>
> Hmm? That is used in many places in KDE, I have only heard very good things
> everytime I introduced a schema like this.
> In fact this is something you can not get around unless you provide all the
> widgets now in tabs on one screen.
> And please don't tell me that makes it more usable, a screen full of
> widgets never is more usable then well grouped tabs.

I strongly disagree. A well laid-out "screen full of widgets" can be more 
usable than tabs, especially if widgets from different tabs interact, as is 
the case here.

> >  o background tab: in one drop down menu you have flat (which is really
> > "single color"), a bunch of gradients, patterns and and background
> > programs. depending on which one you choose (and they are all quite
> > different in concept) the widgets below flicker on or off.
>
> That statement might be a bit over the top :)

How so? I don't think so.

> >  o wallpaper tab: three choices are given, including "No wallpaper", as
> > radio buttons that are laid out horizontally, whilst everything else is
> > vertical. the wallpaper one selects is below the mode it is shown. due to
> > wallpapers being in a drop down menu, multiple wallpapers means a
> > seperate subdialog! the "Setup Multiple.." button is miles away from the
> > "Multiple Wallpapers" setting! you can't remove wallpapers you've
> > previously added to the drop down, either. oh, and "no" vs "single" vs
> > "multiple" can be easily _implied_ by allowing the user to choose zero,
> > one or many options from a list. there are duplicated accels on this page
> > ('W', and 'B').
>
> Right; good points.
> Adding a list on the same dialog is not an option IMO, it takes too much
> space. So a seperate dialog is still needed for your list. (that dialog
> needs work as well, but thats a different issue)

The current "Desktop" list box takes up too much space. I think if we use 
something similar to Aaron's last mockup, there will be enough space for the 
wallpaper list box.

This weekend I will try to get a working mock of my idea, using QWidgetStack.

> >  o advanced tab: blending refers to wallpapers as can be seen by it
> > greying out when you select no wallpaper. what is it doing on the
> > advanced tab?
>
> This is not true; it blends between the background-color and the wallpaper.
> If you choose no wallpaper the current implementation does not even allow
> you to change your blending.

So, you just confirmed what Aaron said: it refers to wallpaper.

> The limit pixmap size is needed for people with a limited amount of mem.

The feature might be needed, but the option to configure it is not. KDesktop 
could detect the amount of ram and set the pixmap cache limit appropriately. 
Configuration options for this kind of cryptic implementation detail are 
exactly what turn users off to linux.

> The blending is between the color and the pixmap. The blending type
> combobox lists 2 types of blending. The blending based on the density of a
> gradient created. Or based on the contents of either the pixmap or the
> background color. Choosing between the pixmap/bgcolor is done via the
> reverse checkbox. You are right that the two types should not be in the
> same combo (hence your problem with the reverse combo)
>
> Blending between those two can be configured better using a checkbox (or
> radio if you want) to turn the whole off, and 2 radiobuttons for the
> blending types as discussed above.
> Directly right of the checkbox would be a combo with the list of blending
> types appropriate for that radio-button-choice.  behind the 'color
> blending' combobox you can place 2 radiobuttons chosing the source
> 'wallpaper' and 'background'
>
> The slider can be below the 3 radiobuttons with its label at the same
> horizontal position as the radiobuttons.
>
>     +- blending --------------------------------+
>
>     | o none                                    |
>     | o variable     [Horizontal |V]            |
>     | o color based  [Intensity  |V]            |
>     |    source:   o wallpaper   o background   |
>
>     +-------------------------------------------+

That is massively complicated. I'm having trouble understanding that... end 
users have no hope! :)

-John
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