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List:       koffice
Subject:    [Bug 121233] New: Suggestions for the new koffice startup dialog -
From:       Marco Menardi <mmenaz () mail ! com>
Date:       2006-02-02 15:04:39
Message-ID: 20060202160434.121233.mmenaz () mail ! com
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------- You are receiving this mail because: -------You are the assignee for the bug, \
or are watching the assignee.         http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=121233      \
Summary: Suggestions for the new koffice startup dialog - more                    \
usable           Product: koffice           Version: unspecified          Platform: \
Compiled Sources        OS/Version: Linux            Status: UNCONFIRMED          \
Severity: wishlist          Priority: NOR         Component: general        \
AssignedTo: koffice kde org        ReportedBy: mmenaz mail com

Version:           recent svn code (using KDE KDE 3.5.1)Installed from:    Compiled \
                From SourcesOS:                Linux
** Startup dialog goals **It has to provide a fast way for the user to achieve the \
most common tasks when the program is launched. With traditional behaviour, the \
program creates and empty document and the user has to use the File menu to start the \
                real work
** User needs **Based upon my home and office (=work) experience, I think that the \
most common tasks an user has to achieve when fires up a koffice program are:a) open \
a recent document. Even if there is a preview menu, very often after I've printed a \
document, I notice some issues and I've to retrieve it to edit. Or I have to complete \
a document I have abandoned the morning/day before. Or just want to remember which \
document I edited in the near past.b) create a new document based upon a template. \
With template I don't intend a collection of 100 or more, but a restrict number of \
customized ones. For instance, in my office I've just 3 templates, one for commercial \
letter, one for envelope of DL size, and one for fax. When I create a document, I \
want to be able to easily and fast choose among those 3 templates.c) open an existing \
document. It has to open a file open dialog in a directory I've defined as a default \
one (in my office, I've a directory with all the subdirs related to my documents, \
shared with my secretary). Would be great having a sort of bookmarks to be able to \
                set more than one directory.
** Problems with the current design (svn code of 1.4.99) **To switch from tasks \
a,b,c, the current dialog has 2 kind of gizmos: a kListView for "Recent documents" \
and templates, and one button for "Open existing document...", and this is not good. \
In addition, sure for space reasons, that button does not have a icon the user can \
recognize. More, in the File menu the usual order is "New, Open, Open recent", while \
in this dialog is a sort of "Open recent, New, Open".In this kListView it presents \
multiple groups of templates, while common user needs is to have a very restrict \
number to choose from.If you select a template, on the right you have the option to \
"Always use this template", that has not to be put in this dialog, since is not \
something is needed very frequently (so against the goal of this dialog) and, in \
addition, if you check it, this beginning dialog is skipped and you will have an hard \
time to find out how to make it come back again (btw, as general rule, I think that \
this kind of settings have to be put where you can switch them on/off in the same \
place, so you immediately know where to revert them).Also this dialog makes items be \
"double click" activated, against the default "single click" of kde. I mean, if I \
want to open a recent document, or create a document from a template, I have to \
double click on the document filename or the template name. Don't know how to avoid \
this, and to be sincere I do hate the single click paradigm, but with a mixture of \
                singe and double click is sure bad.
** Proposal **The proposal is based upon 2 main modifications: a) rearrange the \
templates stuff b) polish the visual interface.For a), koffice should provide (not in \
the startup dialog, of course, I mean through ordinary menu) a fast way to not only \
manage templates, letting the user to create / edit / delete / rearrange them, but \
also a special directory or template flag where to put user's default templates, the \
ones that have to be shown in the startup dialog (this at user and also global level, \
if possible, so you can easily accommodate an entire office needs with good defaults, \
letting each user the possibility to add special templates for his own use).Widgets \
of the same kind (buttons, as in my sample image, or a tab widget) should be provided \
to switch from Default templates – Open – Open recent. I've put them in the same \
order of the File menu,but the default one should be "Open recent".Krita or other \
applications where this makes sense, could have an additional button on the left, \
under "Open recent" (but with double space) for the creation of a custom document. A \
very primitive screenshot of an alternative: \
http://www.ammdomus.it/download/KDE/koffice_startup_dialog.jpg____________________________________koffice \
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