Hello, on Freitag, 7. Dezember 2007, Pascal Bleser wrote:
Lukas Ocilka wrote:
I've just (partly) finished a Pattern-Selector proposal for new installation/software management.
See: http://en.opensuse.org/YaST/Development/Pattern_Selector_Proposal
It looks pretty sweet but from an usability point of view (even though I'm no usability expert, just gut feeling), wouldn't it be a better idea to have a 2-staged selection ? I mean having a first list (e.g. icons in a first scrollable column on the left) for the categories ("Base technologies", "Desktop functions", ...) and then the detail on the right ?
Sounds like a good idea and is an alternative to the expandable pattern-groups (see below)
Drawback would be that you can't see everything at once, but you can't do that anyway because the list of options is extremely long.
I think we have two usecases:
a) users going through all patterns without knowing in advance what they
need exactly. Let's call it "window shopping" ;-)
In this case the long list as seen on the screenshots (maybe combined
with [+] / [-] expand switches) is the best solution.
b) users who know exactly what they want to install.
In this case a category list would be better.
Questions are:
- is there a need to see patterns from different groups at once?
- do more users fit into a) or b)?
Maybe we can have a solution for both usecases by using a category list
with links like
Even if $this one is finished, it's still work in progress:
* We'd like not to use RichText What's the reason for this? * Expandable pattern-groups You mean that there should be a [+] / [-] at "Base Technologies",
"Desktop Functions" etc.?
Good idea. (Default should be expanded.) * Pattern names printed in bold (?) No. The left margin is enough.
BTW: I'm not sure if italic for the pattern descriptions is a good idea. * Possibility to hide the pattern description (?) With the long list, this would be a very good idea.
Minor issue: Is it possible to sort the patterns in each group?
A better sort order for base system would IMHO be:
- Base System
- Enhanced Base System
- YaST Installation Packages
- Software Management
- YaST System Administration
- Laptop
- Console Tools
- AppArmor
(compare with the screenshot for current sort oder)
Basic ideas when sorting:
- Things that are always required first (examples: base system vs.
Software Management, Fonts vs. X environment)
- Group related things (example: YaST Installation Packages, Software
management, YaST System administration)
- Sort KDE and Gnome alphabetically to avoid flamewars ;-))
Another idea - not sure if it is a good one ;-)
What about integrating all levels into one dialog?
first level: pattern groups
second level: patterns
third level: packages in this pattern
The package level should be hidden by default, but easy to open with a
[+] or a [Details] link.
Advantage would be that you know (and can change) what packages will be
installed with a specific pattern. ("I basically want a normal system
including Console Tools, but with Emacs instead of vi." - no, this
example is not what I would do ;-))
Another question: Will there be changes in the detailed view (aka
sw_single in pattern view)? At the moment, there's no way to see the
pattern description... (bug 216553 / feature #302961)
Hmm, maybe we should discuss pattern view and sw_single (+ inst_source,
YOU etc.) as _one_ module (using tabs), since this is what I would see
as target.
Possible tabs would be:
.----------------------. .----------. .----------. .---------.
| Installation Sources | | Patterns | | Packages | | Updates |
Usage example besides clicking a tab directly:
Clicking the "Details" link for a pattern could then switch to the
packages tab, in pattern view, with the chosen pattern preselected.
Comments welcome ;-)
Regards,
Christian Boltz
--
- New scheduler deployed on friday was buggy, we learn not to deploy
larger changes on fridays anymore ;)
[Adrian Schröter in opensuse-buildservice]
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