[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: KDesktop
From:       Eric Christopherson <rakko () charter ! net>
Date:       2002-07-08 14:37:58
[Download RAW message or body]

On Sat, Jun 29, 2002 at 04:42:07AM -0400, JESSE B BISNETTE wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> I am new to this list, so I apologize if this topic has been brought up
> before.  Anyway, I don't know about you guys, but I find the KDE desktop
> to be quite unpolished and not the most user friendly aspects of KDE.  I
> think the the following suggestions would greatly help make KDE even
> better ...
> 
> First I think the icons should align themselves to a better grid system.
> As it is now, it appear to me that the icons in a row are positioned based
> on the largest icon description in a given column.  Therefore, if you add
> another icon to a column with a larger description, the entire column  of
> icons shift when you align them.  I think that, when icons are
> aligned using the right click->align icons option, they should align
> themselves to a fixed grid with vertical grid spacings slightly larger
> than the the largest allowable text field (what is it now ... about 14
> characters?).

That annoys the heck out of me too. I agree that the spacing shouldn't be
based on the length of the filename.

> 
> Secondly, and this is for the konq file browser as well, when a file with
> a long filename exists on either the desktop or while browsing using konq,
> some abbreviated filename should appear that is only 1 row of text,
> similar to the way either Macs or Windows handle this problem.  The only
> time the full file name is shown is when that icon is active.  The
> current behaviour can be extremely annoying when dragging extremely long
> URL links onto the desktop and fixing this would reduce the huge gaps
> between two icons aligned vertically.

That should be a config option. I like to see as much of a filename as
possible, but sometimes it's nice to make them appear shorter.

> 
> Third, it seems kind of annoying when I save a file to the desktop and It
> saves places the icon on the desktop in-between two columns of icons.  If I
> drag a file to the desktop, it should be placed where I drag it to (as it
> does now), and when I either save a file to the desktop using the web
> browser, through the command line, or any other way besides dragging the
> file to the desktop, that that file should be placed in a more orderly
> fashion (at the end of an available column, in a new column, or some
> available spot in the grid, but not in-between the columns as it sometimes
> does now.

I agree there too. What I'd really like to see would be a "snap to grid"
feature like Macs have, and like KDE 1.x had, where it would position your
icon at the closest "grid" position to where you dropped it. Additionally,
it'd be quite nice to have a little dotted-outline box or something to show
you where it will go.

> My last point deals with renaming files.  Though this is not as important
> as my other points, it would still add greater usability to KDE and I
> would love to have this ability; it is the one thing I miss from Windows.
> One way to rename a file in Windows is by clicking on filename once, and
> then clicking on it again after a short pause (not a double click ... I'm
> sure you know this behaviour).  Adding this would obviously would also
> have to be tied to the kcontrol module for mouse peripherals.

Yes! I've been annoyed by that for a long time. I'm not exactly sure how to
implement it, but I think it would require making a separation between the
actions of clicking an *icon* and clicking its *label,* a distinction which
AFAIK is not yet made in KDE, although it is in MacOS, Windows, and gmc (not
sure about Nautilus). Here's how I envision it working in several possible
scenarios:

Scenario 1a - icon is not active; one-click functionality is on
1. User clicks on icon's label. Icon becomes active. (This'd fix another
great pet-peeve of mine: I really like single-click launching, but I think
there should be a better way to just activate an icon without launching it.
As I see it, clicking on the icon itself would still launch it.)
2. User clicks a second time on icon's label. Text-entry box appears around
filename; whole field becomes highlighted/selected. User can overwrite name
or move the cursor to clear the selection and only change part of the name.
(Actually, it's be nice if it could be configured such that you could choose
whether it would highlight it or not.)

Scenario 1b - icon is already active; one-click functionality is on
1. User clicks on icon's label. Same thing happens as in #2 in the previous
scenario. (I'd like some feedback about whether two clicks should always be
necessary, or if it's sufficient to have one click to activate and another
click to start the renaming.)

Scenario 2a - icon is not active; one-click functionality is off
1. User clicks on icon *or* icon's label. Icon becomes active.
2. User clicks a second time on icon's label. Same thing happens as in
Scenario 1a, #2.

Scenario 2b - icon is active; one-click functionality is off
1. User clicks on icon's label. Same thing happens as in Scenario 1a, #2.
(Once again, depends on whether two clicks are always necessary. My
preference would be no.)

> 
> Well, I know this probably isn't the easiest of tasks, but I think that
> this would make the desktop much easier to use than it is now.  If I were
> a coder, I would implement these changes myself and send patches, but the
> only coding I know is Matlab ... not too helpful here :-).  Anyway, hope
> these suggestions help and thanks to all the developers out there ... I
> love KDE!!!!!!

Unfortunately I'm not yet a coder either, so what I wrote above is kind of
just some brainstorming I've been doing, which matches what you said. I
might implement them someday, if I write that file view thing that's rolling
around in my head. Until then, hopefully we can have some discussion of it.

-- 
Eric Christopherson, a.k.a. Contrarian Conlanger Rakko ^_^
_______________________________________________
kde-usability mailing list
kde-usability@mail.kde.org
http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]