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

List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Search dialog vs. search bar
From:       Luciano Montanaro <mikelima () cirulla ! net>
Date:       2005-02-15 18:33:24
Message-ID: 200502151933.24918.mikelima () cirulla ! net
[Download RAW message or body]

Hi everybody!
I have been thinking on and off about this for a while, and I'd like to know 
if my opinion is shared.

I have been using the incremental search function of konqueror since I 
discovered it, and I really love it.

It is great, but it still has some problem:

- It is hard to dicover. It cannot be reached through a menu or a   
  toolbutton, only through the '/' shortcut.
- even when the user finds the shortcut the feedback it provides can go 
  unnoticed.
- it's used in konqueror alone. Any searchable document should use the same 
  technique, when available. 

I was thinking of solving these problem by creating a dynamic toolbar with a 
text entry widget, that would popup when the shortcut or the 
Edit->Search... menu item was selected.

Now I have fould out that Firefox too has this functionality, and does 
indeed work this way. The toolbar also has some additional fields, just 
like a linearized search dialog.

The search dialog too has problems, the most prominent for me is that it 
generally covers the result of the search. 

So in the end, I think the search dialog should be substitued by a search 
bar in most applications. Currently, the search dialog offers a number of 
option, which are not needed most of the time. Maybe an search options 
button could be added to the toolbar, together with some common search 
option.

What do you think?

Luciano 

-- 
Luciano Montanaro 

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a yo-yo
                                                          - Enoch Root
_______________________________________________
kde-usability mailing list
kde-usability@kde.org
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]