Re: Mailboxes behaviour

[patl phoenix volant org]

> Certain things like this would require balsa to open all the mailboxes
> previous to starting (and/or while starting).  This would simply take
> forever to do, espically if your mailboxes are over NFS and you have
> hundreds of them totaling to something around 300mb or so (you get my
> point).

No, the tabs could be put up without opening the mailboxes.  The mailbox
could be opened the first time its tab is clicked.  (Although I still
prefer a tab-less version with an expandable list [tree].)


> I don't overly care for the tabs, but they make navigating the
> opened mailboxes a bit easier.  Having the tabs at the top may not be the
> best way to do it either.  I would personally like them better at the
> bottom (this isn't a hard change) in a more button-like appearance instead
> of in a notebook.

If we're going to retain the functionality, I think tabs better convey
their functionality than buttons would.  And you can get more of them
into a smaller space and still have it look good.

>                     The code to make this work nicely wouldn't be too
> difficult.  It would simply require a notebook without tabs, then have
> buttons created/destroyed with signals to change mailboxes when they are
> clicked on.  this would allow for more control over the way you change them
> as well.  It is currently a pain to attach popup menus to notebook tabs,
> but it would be very easy with buttons.

Difficulty for the programmer should take a back seat to ease of use
for the user.  The only person that cares how hard it is to attach menus
to tabs is the one who has to code it up in the first place.  The hundreds
(or thousands) of people who use them just care about how well it works,
how good it looks, and how inuitive the interface is.

Design a pleasant and flexable user experience first; then worry about
how to make it work.



-Pat