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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: [KDE Usability] Sidebars
From:       todd rme <toddrme2178 () gmail ! com>
Date:       2010-01-10 18:26:42
Message-ID: 6524e4801001101026g6a918d72o498c17f3b4352ec5 () mail ! gmail ! com
[Download RAW message or body]

I think it is probably worthwhile differentiating the dockable
single-purpose panels used in Dolphin and many other places in KDE,
from the fixed multi-purpose sidebars found in konqueror or gwenview.
Some applications, like digikam and amarok, have both (digikam has
fixed sidebars one the left and right, but the filmstrip thumbnail bar
is a dockable panel, while amarok has what amounts to a sidebar in a
panel).

The panels generally only serve one purpose and so do not have any
tabs, can be attached multiple different places on the window by
dragging and dropping, can generally be removed entirely or have
additional panels added, will often automatically resize to make room
for new panels, can often by tabbed by placing one one top of another,
and can often be undocked from the window entirely (although they are
still owned by the window and close with it).

Sidebars generally are fixed to the left side of the screen (although
some have configuration options to move it to the right, they rarely,
if ever, can be moved by dragging), are almost always tabbed with a
fixed set of vertical tabs (although in many cases tabs can be added
or removed by checking or unchecking a box in the right-click menu),
can usually be hidden entirely (except for the tab bar) by clicking on
the currently-selected tab or clicking any other tab twice.

I would say these are two distinctive user interface elements, and I
don't think grouping them together would be productive.  I do think,
however, that there is a lot of overlap in their roles, and it might
be worthwhile re-visiting whether panels are or sidebars are better in
a given case.

Further, besides one being flexible and the other not so much, I think
the main difference is that panels, when tabbed, have horizontal tabs
while sidebars almost always have vertical tabs, and sidebar tabs can
have icons while I don't recall seeing an icon associated with a
panel.  Panels, as best as I can tell, can be made as flexible or
inflexible as the developer desires.  The dolphin panels, for the most
part, can only be on the left or right of the screen, not the top or
bottom.  The digikam thumbnail bar can be placed anywhere, but can't
be closed or tabbed with another panel (I think, there are no other
panels to try it with).

So I think with a few additional options for users and/or developers,
panels could take over all of the roles of sidebars, allowing for a
single, consistent UI element to be used everywhere.  First, the panel
tabs would need to have an option (probably on right-click) to show
the tab at the top, bottom, left, or right of the group of panels (the
amarok-style breadcrumb could be an additional option).  These options
could be limited by developers or eliminated entirely. Second,
clicking on the currently-selected tab will hide the group of panels.
Third, right-clicking on a panel tab will list the available panels,
with check boxes to enable or disable them.  Fourth, developers can
limit panels to only certain sides of the window, and prevent them
from being undocked from the window.  Finally, panels can have icons
associated with them, which are displayed in the panel title and/or
tab.

I think if all of these changes are made then panels would be able to
serve all the roles sidebars are currently used for, as well as
providing additional flexibility to users.  That does not mean that
these changes or having developers re-implement all of their sidebars
is feasible, I don't know enough about the code.  It also does not
mean unifying the UI of these two elements is necessarily a good
thing, I don't know enough about the usability issues.  My point, if
you could even call it that, is that the number of functional
differences between sidebars and panels does not seem that large to
me.

-Todd


2010/1/10 Richard JOHNSON <rjohnson@kde.org>:
> Hey everyone,
>
> Sorry if this has been posted, but I don't think it has, as I couldn't find
> anything on the topic.
>
> "Sidebars"
>
> You all have seen them, and you may have noticed most are different.
> Konqueror and Kate have sidebars that are very similar in nature, which is
> similar to KDevelopers. I noticed KFTPGrabber has a sidebar via
> lxer.kde.org search on "Sidebar" but I don't know what it looks like. Then
> Dolphin has a sidebar which is different looking than those found in Konqi,
> Kate, and KDevelop. digiKam has a sidebar too which is similar to Konqi,
> kate, and KDevelop. Recently with the new Gwenview, there is a new sidebar
> too, that is different than the rest. Oh boy, I lost myself, and I am sure
> I lost you too. Just noticed I forgot Okular which has a sidebar as well :)
>
> OK, break down time:
>
>  * Konqueror, Kate, KDevelop, and digiKam have very similar sidebars
>  * Okular and Kontact share a similar sidebar
>  * Gwenview has a pretty cool sidebar too
>
> It seems the "sidebar" is pretty popular, and I will admit I enjoy it more
> so than I do a bunch of toolbar buttons, as screen real estate is more east
> and west these days more so than north and south (ie. widescreen).
>
> So with that, seeing as I couldn't find much of anything on the topic, I
> wondered if maybe the Usability Project might look into this. Seeing it is
> as popular as it is, I thought that it could very well be a new class in
> kdeui, or new classes in kdeui.
>
> --
>  Name|  Richard JOHNSON
> Title|  Developer
>  WWW|  http://kde.org
> Email|  rjohnson@kde.org
> GnuPG|  3578 0981 A21D D662 2A96  7623 F4C1 838C D8C4 4738
>  Home|  http://www.nixternal.com
>
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