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

List:       kmail-devel
Subject:    making it all better: attachments, mime tree
From:       "Aaron J. Seigo" <aseigo () olympusproject ! org>
Date:       2002-04-29 18:10:32
[Download RAW message or body]

hi...

i've never really liked the way attachments were handled in kmail. iconic mode 
is ok, but not GREAT. i really wanted something like the attachment listing 
in the composer window.

along comes the mime tree. it's got a listing close to what i want, but it has 
several issues. one of those issues is that it is redundant: there is (well, 
was ;) no way to not show the attachments in the message view. well, i fixed 
that by adding a "Hide" option to View -> Attachments. it works rather well. 
i'm not posting the patch at this point because i had to some code to the 
mimetype handling section in kmreaderwin. this code has all sorts of warnings 
around it about being TEMPORARY!!! so i'm not sure if it is even worth 
posting a patch at this point. in fact, i think that if the mimetree is 
shown, that the attachments shouldn't be shown in the readerwin 
automatically!

ok, so now i have no attachments showing in the readerwin and and the mimetree 
below. now i start hitting serious usability issues w/the mimetree. some have 
already been discussed on this list. i'd like to cover them here in one place 
though:

===
General Usability

Challenge:  the ability to set the different positions of the mimetree is 
overkill. it is a UI nightmare IMO and will make it very difficult to 
optimize it appearance wise when it needs to be in so many places. not only 
that, but it will be very difficult to present the various placement options 
to the user in a non-confusing way. i mean, does anybody really complain that 
the attachments list in the composer can't be moved around?
 
Suggestion: Pick a place for the mimetree in the window and allow 
hiding/showing it. don't put this in the kmail config dialog since that is 
already bloated, but put it in the View menu. perhaps it even belongs in the 
attachment submenu so that it could easily be shown to be exclusive to other 
means of viewing attchments.
===

===
Usefulness

Challenge: the right mouse button menu on the mimetree makes it difficult to 
use w/attachments

Suggestion: add View, Open, Open With, Properties.
===

===
Ergonomy

Challenge: the mime tree doesn't handle its geometry very well. it is larger 
than it needs to be and doesn't seem to remember it's geometry between 
sessions very well.

Suggestion: the mime tree should only be as tall as it needs to be, no more 
and no less. the user should be allowed to decide this optimal size by 
dragging the splitter, and this size should be remembered and respected. the 
default should be similar to the attachment window of the composerwin, namely 
5 rows hight (i think it's 5 rows anyways =). if there is nothing to be 
shown, the mime tree should hide completely.
===

===
UI Consistency

Challenge: the mime tree isn't consistent with other similar ui elements. in 
the composer, the attachment list has the headers ordered this way: name, 
size, encoding type. it also doesn't force the headers to stretch the entire 
width of the window, which the mime tree does.

Suggestion: follow the same layout as the attachment listing in the composer.
===

-- 
Aaron Seigo
_______________________________________________
KMail Developers mailing list
kmail@mail.kde.org
http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kmail
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]