Re: Evolution Plugins (Was Re: Rise of the Plugins)

[Sankar P <psankar novell com>]

On Mon, 2007-11-19 at 10:09 +0100, Alexander Larsson wrote:

> Well. Its true that the code is separated so that not a lot of
> unncesessary stuff is loaded when you start contacts only (and yes, it
> didn't ask for the imap password, which is good).

Glad :)


> 
> However, the window it gives me looks for all intents and purposes like
> the mailer. It has quick buttons to switch to the mailer, it has a
> send/receive button on the toolbar. This just doesn't feel like the
> ideal UI you would create if you wanted to do an excellent address book.
> 
> For instance, the toolbar could totally go away, as can the status bar
> and the fast switch buttons. A bunch of generic mailer stuff could be
> removed from the menus too. In general the app could be made smaller and
> tighter, feeling more like a utility window that you can bring up
> quickly when you want someones address, rather that some large
> application you start up and navigate around.

May be you can try:

View->Layout
view->Switcher Appearance->Show/hide buttons

It is a pity that these settings are not component-wise :(

> 
> Also, the general layout of the address book seems more or less
> inherited from the mailer. I think for instance the OSX layout is better
> suited to display contacts:
> 
> http://www.guidebookgallery.org/pics/gui/applications/office/addressbook/macosx103-1-1.png
> 
> Lists of names are easier to scroll vertically, since you then display
> more of the text (as text is horizontal) and more names (they stack well
> vertically). 

*nod* *nod*

Absolutely. The first thing I do whenever I launch Evolution addressbook
in a new machine is to switch to 

[From address-book component]Menu -> View -> Phone List


> The preview then goes on the side in order to not steal
> screen space from the list. This layout clearly doesn't work well for
> the mailer itself, which makes it problematic to share such a window
> with the mailer (in a switch-apps-inside-one-window approach like the
> current evo). However, if you generally use the addressbook for other
> things, in a non-fullscreen mode this seems like a much nicer approach. 
> 
> And I don't think it would be a bad idea for the mailer to open such an
> addressbook window instead of turning the mailer window into an
> addressbook. 
> 
> Btw. am I the only one who is totally pissed off when reading a mail and
> you need to check e.g. the addressbook or calendar for some info and
> this makes the mailer, including the current mail just go away, totally
> killing your state. Its certainly *possible* to get the calendar in a
> separate window, but thats far harder and requires multiple steps, so
> its not what you typically do.


I personally will use gnome-clock-applet and "To" button in the composer
- (ENameSelector) in that case. However, it may not be the best solution
that can convince everyone though :)

File->New Window is another option that one can give a try.

I admit that component-specific customizable Toolbars may make more
sense.

-- 
Sankar P
Harver's Law: A drunken man's words are a sober man's thoughts