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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Sound KCM UI design
From:       John Levon <levon () movementarian ! org>
Date:       2003-02-25 19:43:36
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On Tue, Feb 25, 2003 at 11:40:56AM -0500, Eric Ellsworth wrote:

> > Well, I agree that's a problem, *but* I do not think it is wise to
> > optimize the UI for  troubleshooting (beyond altering resource
> > consumption via the slider, which I think has a real utility).
> 
> This is an excellent point, but here are two opposing concerns.
> 1) It's very difficult to eliminate options in KDE. They are often a 
> compromise on some development issue

<causticremark>
But I thought Mosfet "proved" this didn't
happen, or wasn't a problem.
</causticremark>

> BTW, do you know enough KDE programming to rewrite the KCM once we decide on a 
> UI?  Sure would be nice to have these efforts actually incorporated into 
> KControl...

I *could* get to grips with it, but in all reality it's not going to
find space on my TODO. This doesn't prevent us from filing bugs with the
changes we've been discussing.

> I notice that your setup eliminates the option to restore volume to its 
> previous value.  As I think about this, I don't that's so bad, especially 
> since it save you the embarrassment of blasting out your startup sound and 
> login prompts at full volume.  OTOH, I wouldn't be surprised of some folks 
> really disliked (on principle) having their volume reset on every login.  I 

Do  you mean people who set volumes in some non-kde mixer first, then
start KDE ? I'm not sure where this "previous value" comes from. If you
mean this, then can we just have a check box

	[/] Set mixer values on login

or something ?

> a) Eliminate "Restore"factory defaults" - it should be handled by the Defaults 
> button provided by KControl.

Yes, good point.

> One is with embedded the mixer in KCM.  In general, a setting in a KCM is not 
> applied until the user hits either Apply or OK.  In KMix, volume changes are 
> applied immediately, like a stereo volume knob.  Which paradigm do we break?

Hrm, yes ... though you could argue that this is like a "preview".
Unfortunately we can't embed a little sound output preview like we can
with the theme manager. I suggest we keep the "instant preview"
behaviour, but have the usual cancel button reset (undo) the preview.
It's not great, but a reasonable solution I think.

> Another is that I don't see the logical progression between browsing to a KCM 
> for Volume and accepting changes and having your login volumes set to the 
> values you chose.  Setting login volumes should be a distinct action.

Do you think so ?

When I go to the preferences, I want to change, say, my theme. I change
it, click OK. I'd be very surprised if this change wasn't sticky between
login sessions. What is different about my chosen volume levels ?

I am likely to change volume far more often. However, the frequency of
me doing this is also likely to be more often that the frequency of
logging in and out.

Why do you feel that mixer volume levels should not persist across
sessions by default ?

regards,
john
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