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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: KMail and addressing
From:       "Michael W. Collette" <metrol () metrol ! net>
Date:       2002-05-27 12:42:14
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On Monday 27 May 2002 02:50 am, Andreas Mair wrote:
> > http://Metrol.net/thinkpad/MozCompose.png
> >
> > Ignoring for the moment the rather obnoxious placement of the
> > attachments, the addressing here is quite simple to deduce who is getting
> > what.  Each address resides on it's own line.  Normally the recipient's
> > name would be included with the address as KMail now does.  As new
> > addresses get added, this area scrolls to accommodate.  Addresses are
> > auto filled in directly from the address book or LDAP server.  Mozilla
> > added a very KMail like drop down to handle the auto fill from how Ns
> > 4.7x used to deal with this.
> >
> > In addition, the pop up addressing dialog provides a good visual on who
> > all is being mailed.  It also provides a visually appealing way to put
> > together a good one time mailing list.
>
> I don't like that way of listing "To", "CC" and "BCC" fields, because I
> think that they look overloaded. I think the KMail way is quite ok.

Here's the difference though.  The Mozilla composition window can easily 
handle 30-40 different addresses in a way that is easy to read and edit.  You 
get more than 3 addresses with full names in KMail, and it's not readable 
anymore.  Editing such a list becomes all but impossible at 6 or 7 addresses 
on one line.  At this point, you require some kind of helper dialog.

> > http://Metrol.net/thinkpad/MozSelect.png
> >
> > I'm not suggesting that KMail become a Mozilla clone.  Not by a long
> > shot. This is one area though that Mozilla mail excels way above the rest
> > of the crowd though.  It should merit a hard usability look.
>
> This screenshot looks quite ok, but I don't like, that "To", "CC" and "BCC"
> are on the same dialog, but we can discuss it out...
>
> [SNIP]
>
> Please take a look at the supplied UI file, it shows you how I think the
> dialog should look. Comments wanted (and needed)!

I take it the concept here is to bring this dialog box each time for the 
different address fields?  If that is the case, it should be made VERY clear 
as to which field is being worked on at the time.  When editing the "To" 
list, some nice big bold text should say as much somewhere on the dialog to 
avoid confusion.

"Remove" may be a bit too strong a word for what the intended function is.  
Perhaps more of a toolbar editing screen kind of implementation would be more 
clear.  Like a simple "<--" button.

If LDAP is to eventually get integrated into KMail's address lookup, how would 
a dialog like this deal with it?  This is also a factor for those folks with 
enormous address books.  A search field needs worked in there at some point.  
Depending on what kind of network interaction is worked in, there may also 
need to be a way to restrict which books are searched in, so as not to glitch 
things when working off-line.

As to the notion of bringing up this box for each field, I've been sitting 
here staring at this dialog box trying to work out the pros and cons in my 
head here.

Pro:
Simpler dialog.  An address is either added or not.
Makes it quite obvious what status of send-to an address is.  The Moz layout 
is more subtle, for the worse, in this regard.
Integrates into KMail's existing composition a little more logically.

Con:
Need to bring up the same dialog box potentially three times.
Potentially much more time involved with addressing when large books or LDAP 
get involved.
Can't see everyone being sent out to in one place.

A couple of other suggestions just tossing out here.

Have the dialog present "To", "cc", and "Bcc" in seperate lists on the right, 
instead of Moz's single list for all.  A nice drag and drop situation here.  
Had this kind of setup under a rather nice client called "E-Mail Connection" 
under Win 3.1.  Long obsolete, company outta business, no screen shots.

Leave it as a single list for all, with an obvious dividing line between 3 
send-to types.  The lines shuffling downward as addresses are added to the 
types.  The advantage being that a single scroll bar could be used to go 
through your list.

Keep your basic layout, but add a drop down menu to select the send-to type.  
In that way, you could edit your lists by bringing the box up once, yet there 
would be no mixing the types in the same list.

The very same box that KMail has today, with some twists.  A simple list of 
addresses, with a drop down selection of books directly above, similar to 
Moz.  Then provide a ">>>" button at the bottom that expands the dialog to 
show the selected addresses.  This would enable more functionality to be 
added, without a significant change in the way KMail does things today.  
Keeps the dialog size way down as well.

Hmm, more I think about the possibilities of that last one the more appealing 
it sounds.  I too would be very curious to hear opinions from other folks on 
this matter, so I'll shut the heck up now :)

Later on,
-- 
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark 
to read."
 - Groucho Marx
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