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

List:       koffice-devel
Subject:    Re: paragraph tool
From:       Florian Merz <FlorianMerz () gmx ! de>
Date:       2008-07-03 11:15:28
Message-ID: 200807031315.28863.FlorianMerz () gmx ! de
[Download RAW message or body]

Hi Ellen, hi Neha,

actually, I didn't change any of KWord's/KOffice's current behaviour, I just 
added a new KoTool to it, so no damage is done. Right now this is nothing 
more than an experiment. But I have to admit, if this works out I'd like to 
remove paragraph formating functionality from the default text tool in the 
long run. I'll create a short screencast to demonstrate the tool, so stay 
tuned.

Let me just give you a short braindump on the topic:
- Formating a text is a different task than writing a text. Before the times 
of desktop publishing there were two distinct professions for this, the 
author and the typesetter. One of the best things about LaTeX is exactly 
this separation, that's why I think we should have separate KoTools for 
this, too.
- People seem to have a hard time imagining what the text will look like if 
they change the paragraph formating settings in a dialog. I've seen people 
going back and forth between the document and the dialog to get the 
paragraph to look the way they want it to (and I've been doing it myself, 
too). Doing this visually should be far easier for them. The downside is 
that not everything can be done visually, so we almost certainly will still 
need some options in a dialog.

So these are the most important ideas that I wanted to realize. I know that 
there are quite a few challenges ahead including usability, visibility of 
the controls, accessibility and touchscreen users. But I'm confident that 
we will find a good solution for these problems.

Greetings,
 Florian

Am Donnerstag, 3. Juli 2008 schrieb Ellen Reitmayr:
> Hi Florian,
>
> Neha - the summer intern working on KOffice usability - is currently
> reviewing KWord's palettes and text formatting options. As we do use
> the current development version it would be great if you could send
> us some screenshots of what you've changed.
>
> Thanks,
> Ellen
>
> On 02.07.2008, at 13:02, Florian Merz wrote:
> > Hi list,
> >
> > sorry about being quiet for a while. Attached is a new patch for the
> > paragraph tool. For those who can't remember what I'm talking
> > about: the
> > tool is supposed to make it easier to change the spacing and
> > formating of a
> > paragraph in a TextShape by presenting visual controls for these
> > properties.
> >
> > Unfortunately I didn't have much spare time for this so progress
> > has been
> > very slow. I don't think this will change in the near future. You
> > gotta be
> > patient with me.
> >
> > I did a major refactoring, fixed a few bugs, improved the design a
> > lot and
> > added some features. Hope you like it so far.
> >
> > Greetings,
> >
> > Florian<paragraph_tool.patch>_________________________________________
> > ______
> > koffice-devel mailing list
> > koffice-devel@kde.org
> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/koffice-devel
>
> Ellen Reitmayr
> Usability Consultant
>
> Schlesische Strasse 29-30
> Aufgang M
> 10997 Berlin
>
> cell: (+49) 177 332 58 67
> fon: (+49) 30 789 597 53
> fax: (+49) 30 789 597 54
>
> mail: ellen@reitmayr.net
> web: http://ellen.reitmayr.net
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> koffice-devel mailing list
> koffice-devel@kde.org
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/koffice-devel


_______________________________________________
koffice-devel mailing list
koffice-devel@kde.org
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/koffice-devel
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]