Named, persistent workspaces

[Elia Cogodi <elia cogodi gmail com>]

Since the work towards 3.2 seems to have started...

The behaviour currently presented in the shell (dynamically managed,
ad-hoc  workspaces) is a great way to introduce even a casual user to
the concept of separate workspaces and solving the simple problems of
"I need more space for my windows" or "I don't want to see this window
right now".
As users become familiar with the concept, though, it's possible that
many of them will start thinking along different lines, where the
spaces are planned beforehand and consistently to organize their work
(a space for the editor, a space for a "research" browser window, one
for email and so on), in line with what power users of unixy OSs have
been doing since the dawn of time.
I remember even reading something from Federico about how one goes
when organizing a real work place, planning the work areas in advance.
And on the same tone, I've read of many expert users who can't really
come to terms with the totally dynamic management as it gets in the
way of their habits, and forces them to set up their spaces every
time.

What's in a name?
---------------------------
I propose to introduce an "advanced" workspace behaviour that is
practically transparent for the new users, but allows for growth in
usage pattern and would be more palatable to expert ones. It would
simply mean to distinguish between "named" workspaces and "anonymous"
or ad-hoc ones.

Ad-hoc workspaces are the currently dynamically managed ones, and the default:
- an ad-hoc workspace is created by middle clicking a launcher or
dragging it to the empty space always available as last in the list
- an ad-hoc workspace is deleted as soon as no windows are present

Additionally, you would be able to give a name label of your choice to
an existing ad-hoc space (thus defining its intended function):
- a named workspace is not scrapped when the last window is closed,
thus it's permanent until its name is cleared
- a named workspace is shown with its little name label superimposed
over the thumbnail in the workspace selector
- named workspaces are given numbered key shortcuts for fast switching
- the list of named workspaces and their shortcuts is a persistent
user setting, and they are all available right after a fresh login
- erasing a workspace name reverts it to ad-hoc behaviour. In
particular, erasing the name of an empty space scraps it

Finally:
- DnD reordering of workspaces, both named and ad-hoc

Pro: this simple change would accommodate most advanced use cases
without forcing complexity upon beginners.
Con: two slightly different behaviours for the two workspace types
could muddle the clarity of the current purely dynamic list: if a user
were to stumble upon it by accident, (s)he could be baffled.

UI ideas:
- the name of the currently active workspace could be displayed in the
top bar, with a popup menu that allows browsing and choosing from all
workspaces, named or ad-hoc.
- ad-hoc namespaces could be listed with default labels, as "Work
space a", "Work space b" and so on, in italic or between quotation
marks to underline that it's a "synthetic" name.
- this widget would be helpful to recognize where you are at a glance
when you come back after a leave, and would allow mouse-wheel
scrolling (like the volume system icon) as an alternative fast
switching method for the intermediate user that doesn't want to go to
the overview all the time
- the widget would only allow name display and space selection in
"normal" mode, but would allow for editing of the currently selected
workspace name in overview. Thus naming an ad-hoc space would be very
natural, but still the overview would keep its sense of "the place
where you plan and manage your activities"
- this workspace widget could be placed right next to the
time/calendar, to consolidate a "what and when" context area. OS-X
places it among system indicators, but I'm not fond of that.

(I've had no time yet to build a few mockups, but I hope the concept
is clear enough)

I plan to spend some time learning how to put my code lines where my
mouth is, but meanwhile I wondered if something was planned for the
workspace management and what anyone thought about this direction - or
the subject in general.

-
Elia