Re: Some hints for usability improvements

[Peter Bloomfield <peterbloomfield bellsouth net>]

On 02/17/2006 04:31:46 PM Fri, Mişu Moldovan wrote:
[ snip ]
> Since I'm still using Sylpheed on one of my machines (the  
> low-memory one) I tried to see if it implements this "one-key"  
> reading. To my surprise, not only it is implemented, but it is  
> also extremely handy. I usually read only the new mails from a  
> hierarchy of IMAP folders and using only the spacebar to read  
> them all is nothing short of a real gem of usability. Of  
> course, I still press Shift-N (which is the shortcut for jump  
> to the next unread mail in Sylpheed) from time to time, but  
> that's only because it's such an old habit to think that I need  
> to press another key combination to jump to the next unread  
> mail after I'm done reading the current one.
>
> My suggestion would be to implement this one-key reading  
> *exactly* as described by Cyrille. Currently spacebar opens the  
> selected mail in a separate window, which is what Enter does  
> too (correct me if I'm wrong).

Yes: if the keyboard focus is in the mailbox index, space-bar and  
Enter both "activate" the selected message--that's the native  
behavior of a GtkTreeView, and Balsa's "activate" action is to  
open the message window.

> To implement the "one-key" reading Spacebar should scroll down  
> a page in the current mail preview pane and, after reaching the  
> bottom of the current mail, it should move to the next unread  
> mail.

That's feasible, as I mentioned.  First you'd have to put the  
focus into the message, by tabbing into it or by clicking on it.

> In Sylpheed there's also a confirmation dialog involved when  
> the new mail is in another folder. But the confirmation button  
> is selected by default and you just have to press spacebar one  
> more time to confirm moving to the next unread mail in another  
> folder. Brilliant.

Do you think the confirmation is necessary?  I tried one for the  
"Next-unread" chaining, and I didn't like it.

> I really like this feature. And how can you not? It's simple,
> efficient and works like a charm. I'll pray for it to be
> implemented in Balsa too. You'll love it!

I'm using it now, and I must admit I find "Next-unread" chaining  
more useful--I guess I skip most messages without scrolling them!  
But that's just me ;-)

Best,

Peter