https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=274934 Summary: integrating control-center into gnome main menu Product: openSUSE 10.3 Version: Alpha 4 Platform: Other OS/Version: Other Status: NEW Severity: Enhancement Priority: P5 - None Component: Usability AssignedTo: bnc-team-screening@forge.provo.novell.com ReportedBy: christian.jaeger@rub.de QAContact: qa@suse.de IMHO it would be a good idea to give quicker access to the functions found in the control center; the way toward that would be to integrate it into the main-menu's layout. As it is now, clicking on 'control center' from within the main-menu opens a new windows and thus disrupts the work flow, unlike going over the traditional, collapsing gnome-menu. The concept of the application-browser is good AFAIAC - not only novice users are regularly irritated when they move the mouse a bit too far in a sub-sub-sub-menu and the whole menu-tree collapses. But the abundance of applets is confusing and they need a large, new window. So it could be more user-friendly to break this down by presenting applets by sets; within the gnome main-menu. See the attached picture for a design-proposal. In this proposal, categories are present on the left side of the tab, sub-menus open in a tab (recognizable only by the use of a different background-colour) on the right side. I think this layout would make is easier than ever for novice users to execute common tasks. The categories scroll vertically, the applications are browseable by clicking the horizontally-pointing arrows. This is intended to keep the layout as calm as possible. Browsing through an applet-category goes step-by-step or better: set-by-set. Sets of tiles should appear by popularity; most-often-used applets should appear in the first set, second-most-often-used in the second set and so on. Within these sets, ordering should not change from usage to usage because that would be confusing. Also, the search-function of the main-menu should function as a filter here, like in the original SUSE-control-center. Note that 'install software' is prominent in the main- and applications-tabs in my design; not in the 'system'-tab. Here are some suggestions for layout-guidelines: • The mouse should have to move short ways --> no dead space wanted, the menu should stay small. • The hierarchy of buttons is top-down and left-right: Super buttons in the top-bar, main links above submenu-links and actions, submenu-links left of actions • There is three types of click-able objects in the menu: 'super'-objects in the top bar (those aren't tiles), links (those aren't tiles and don't have symbols) and action (are tiled, have symbols) • Clicking on links changes the layout of the main frame, by either changing the whole frame or portions of it (tabs) • Links appear only within the main frame, which they change, in order to make their being connected obvious • Activities are represented by tiles. --> installing software is only an activity, too! • Sub-menus appear as links on the left side of the main-window, their collected activities as tiles on the right side • Use of tabs, consisting of a coloured background, makes it obvious to the eye that they belong to one 'set' of a link. • Sets of activities don't scroll! Use left/right-arrows to 'browse' them instead. • Lists of links do scroll (up/down-arrows) if necessary because we don't want more than one part of the main windows to change • Information should not be clickable! (because it confuses) -->'harddrive' and 'network' are reduced to text-status and aren't tiles, anymore This bug depends on Bug 274817. -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug, or are watching someone who is.