Re: new help browser

[Telsa Gwynne <hobbit aloss ukuu org uk>]

On Tue, May 30, 2000 at 09:47:13PM -0500 or thereabouts, Eric Baudais wrote:
> I would like to see a large index built into the new help browser.  It

I would, too. My idea is a little different, though.

> would be a universal index that has definitions of common computer and
> GNOME specific terms.  When you put the cursor over the word on the
> screen that is defined in the index, the definition appears in a text
> box at the bottom of the doc.
> 
> So, if you put the cursor over the word email, as an example, a box at
> the bottom of the doc will appear, like a footnote, telling you the
> definition of email.

I've never been keen on extra boxes popping up, especially on small
screens. But I do like the idea of being able to get explanations for
things. It's going to require some sharp quality control to get
explanations which are accurate but not impossibly off-putting, but
there's no reason we can't -try-. 
 
> What do you all think about that feature?  Comments, suggestions,
> criticism?

What I'd like to see instead is something which relies very much on
what I saw of Nautilus being demonstrated at GUADEC. Like most file
managers, it looks like this:

(Beware! ASCII art!)

        |----------------------------| (titlebar,
        |----------------------------| okay? :))
        |        |      lots of      |
        |  tree  |      icons/text   |
        |  view  |      here         |      
        |        |                   |
        ------------------------------

And that pane I've labelled on the left doesn't -have- to be a tree
view. In fact, they said they thought that tree views would not 
necessarily make sense for all users. And that you should be able to
flip between alternatives in the left-hand pane. There are two things 
I think would be excellent uses for the left-hand pane in the help browser.

First, a glossary, which I think is what you're meaning by index.
The <glossterm> stuff. If anything is marked up in the DocBook displayed 
on the right as a <glossterm> or a <firstterm>, then there should be the
option to have it and its definition (the <glossentry> stuff) on the 
left-hand pane. That way it won't be popping up and down as you move
the mouse over, which I think can be distracting. And you won't have
to click on it to go to the end of the doc to where the glossary is:
if there are half a dozen glossary definitions on the page, that's
half a dozen "click on it, read the definition, click to go back,
click on the next term.." occasions. Some people lose their train of
thought horribly with that. 

Second, what I would call an index, which would be slightly different.
Assuming we can get cross-referencing and linking to other docs to 
work, have "related pages" listed on the left. Anything that's marked
up as a <ulink>, <olink>, or something else implying there's more
information elsewhere, gets a mention on the left-hand pane. So it has
a list of "related docs" on the left, so people can use that to jump 
around.

This of course requires someone who can code to make it possible
for those two views to be selected instead of the the tree view.
Are any of us actually subscribed to the nautilus lists? I have 
no idea of the state of nautilus development, nor whom we should
talk to about whether it will do particular things and whether it's
appropriate for us to ask, "Can it do this, please?" :)

Anyway, that's my idea of what would be good, and it uses that
screenspace on the left for something useful (which is often my
problem with a lot of graphical apps: I even find xchat wastes
too much screenspace) which is good on small screens.

Telsa