Re: [Nautilus-list] slashdot, demo script and more

[Maciej Stachowiak <mjs eazel com>]

First of all, thank you for your extensive and detailed comments!
There's nothing we love more than direct user feedback. I'm going to
try to comment on some of your points below.


"Adam Sleight" <adams linearcorp com> writes:

> First...this is pretty great...lot of under the hood stuff no one will appreciate but some
> of us do appreciate it even though we're clueless users and not programmers. Awesome work!
> 
> Ok a few questions pertainting to Eazel Preview 1
> 
> --How can we remove an emblem from an object after we've attached it?

If you select "Show Properties" from the file or right-click menu, you
can turn the available emblems off (or on for that matter). I will
file a bug report

 
> --I love the vector theme..quite awesome...here's a stupid question can we move files yet?
> Copy & Paste...I tried ctrl-c ctrl-v , dragging icons,  I'm using the tree view but I must
> be braindead...or it's only text like it says right now.  My ultimate goal is to copy a
> mp3 cd to my harddisk but can't figure it out.  Can't we copy & paste files to another
> directory?  I thought this is the whole point of a file manager.

You can drag and drop between multiple directory views if you open
more than one window (using "open in new window" for instance). The
tree view does not yet support drag and drop in the preview, but this
will be implemented shortly. We already have a task to add cut & paste
for files, or similar functionality, to Nautilus, but have decided not
to include that in the 1.0 release. However, you can add your comments
to the bug report on this in bugzilla.eazel.com if you think this is
an important feature.

> --When choosing Edit / Customize ...to show ALL backgrounds you should increase the width
> another 10 to 15 pixels so one doesn't have to vertically scroll.

That's a good suggestion. Of course, the number of available
backgrounds is only going to increase, so in the long run we won't be
able to avoid vertical scrolling, I think.

> --Previewing text in icons...at 100%, 150% & 200% it shows up but one would think at 400%
> it'd almost be readable....will it be or is this intentional?

I'm not sure what you mean.

> --Tree view...request...one thing that drives me nuts is the little arrow to EXPAND
> subdirectories below.  However when you reach the end within subdirectories you click on
> the arrow only to discover this is the end of the line.  So to constantly scan directories
> would be rescourse intensive I guess...so how about if one were to click and EXPAND a
> current directory..then nautilus would automatically scan ONLY subdirectories below that
> paticular directory.  So there won't be arrows on directories when there are no
> subdirectories to that directory...comprende amigo?

That's a bit confusing, but I think you know what you mean -
directories should not show as expandable at all if they are empty. I
do plan to implement this improvement for 1.0.

> --Go   menu can't we limit the history down to say 10 or 20...I'm counting 24 now.

We will probably refine how much of the history shows up during the
next milestone, which will focus on bugs and UI tweaks critical for
usability.

> --Web Search tab  where one choose lycos, google, etc.  That box is HUGE...how about a
> single line with a drop down list.  I'd imagine this list will be user customizable in the
> future.

We will either remove or completely redo the Web Search sidebar for
1.0.

> --mp3 the sound seems quite soft and I have to crank my speakers up half way to even hear
> a little bit.  Is this in Gnome Control center using sound mixers properties are something

It probably relates to your sound card mixer settings.

> --mp3...each and every directory one must choose View as Music.  Isn't there a way to say
> "If there is a directory with an mp3 file by default can we choose View as Music to be
> enabled by default.  I have about 25 directories on an mp3 cd and it becomes
> tedious..Actually screw this request how about a Hot Key to pop up the little player
> instead.

This becomes tricky. We plan to have more custom directory views in
the future - for directories of images, directories of source code,
etc. We considered implementing some sort of scoring system to decide
which view to use by default, but decided it would be easiest to just
make the Icon view the default. Of course, we could reconsider this
aspect for the UI.
 
> --mp3 and sound...now for a cd with soundbites say 5,000 moving the mouse over and having
> it start playing might be cool.  However, I find it definitely annoying.  Say if I'm
> listening to something I have to WAIT until it's done until I do anything else with my
> computer (move the mouse) otherwise it'll stop playing...come one...this is too much.
> Perhaps leave this option but please don't have it enabled by default.

This feature is not intended as a primary UI for playing MP3s. The
point is to get a quick preview - much the same as the image
thumbnailing and text preview give you a quick look at text or image
files before you open them. It is possible to turn this feature off,
of course, and we are considering how to make it best for the user.
 
> --highlight multiple files...I love this transparency selector...way cool...ok so I select
> say 5 files...right click ..open in 5 windows....ok now what's it supposed to do..or
> eventually do?

It will open each of the five files in a new window. If this doesn't
work, that's definitely a bug we need to work on!

> --thumbnails don't look too hot at 400%...semi decent at 200%.  Will there be a way to
> specify the pixel size to generate thumbnails...or is that too much?

Can you be more specific?

> --thumbnails even in list view...can't we use the list view for SPEED...or do we have to
> disable the NEVER show thumbnails in the settings?

Thumbnails get created asynchronously - you should be able to do any
operation you want, and thumbnails will be created and loaded in the
background. Does that address your concerns, or is there another
feature you would like to be able to disable thumbnails for the list
view specifically?

> --Move to Trash....I envision it'll allow use to have the option to delete it immediately
> rather than go sifting through the trash can every now and then?

As far as I know, we don't plan on this right now.
 
> --nautilus-tree-view  seems to be just a tad unstable if one goes back and forth quickly.
> Why does it go to half the size when viewing a directory.

The version in the preview was locked down shortly after I did a
near-total rewrite of the tree view; the latest is more stable. But we
are still on the lookout for bugs!

> --rpm ..what's the point...how do we install an rpm?  I tried as a regular user and than
> su - to root and started nautilus but still can't install an rpm.

When you try to install as a regular user, nautilus should prompt you
for the root password; I'm not sure 

> --bug...when scrolling the window seems like the video buffer or whatever isn't cleared.
> The only way to refresh and get a clean state is to go to another app and come back to
> Nautilus.

DO you have in mind the list view? Yes, we are aware of serious redraw
bugs there.

> Most of these questions can simple be answered with "not implemented
> yet" which is totally understandable.

I hope I have addressed some of your concerns. Any that I haven't -
please file bug reports at bugzilla.eazel.com! :-)


 - Maciej Stachowiak