Some suggestions... and help offer

[Danny <danny milo gmx net>]

Hi!

Thanks for nautilus :)
It has become a really nice file manager overall.

Though there are a few points I'd like to comment on:
- please let the items vanish from the current folder view (just the
  view, not the real files) when they are cut. It seems weird the way
  it is now, and even the way other file managers do it (for example
  "shading" the icons) is weird, just making them vanish should 
  be enough. see point 3.

- please add an item "paste copies" to be able to late-revert a cut to 
  a copy (maybe ctrl-shift-V ;)). Even a hidden feature would do
  (Shift+Paste menu action or something?).

- please add a "number of files in the clipboard" to the "paste" icon
  (that icon still would need to be created though *hint hint*)
  in the toolbar (output: "[5 items]" or something, its pretty clear 
  what that means when written right under the paste icon)
  
  Also cut&paste would get more obvious than context menus / keyboard
  shortcuts only.

- please add a possibility to add (global[/per-mime-group]) custom
  command icons to the *toolbar* (in the same line with the 
  standard icons)
  (kinda like launchers, kinda like scripts, if you get what
  I mean); dont forget to pass the click/icon coordinates ;)

- if possible, do the [icon] preview stuff in a seperate "safe" process,
  because it crashes WAY too often, and if it does, it does everytime on
  the same folder. So if you don't know how to use a terminal, you wont
  ever get your hands on the files in the affected folder, as it is now.
  (if it does die, all of nautilus' windows are dead)
  (I'm not saying or even thinking that this is the fault of nautilus,
  as the image preview stuff most probably is in another module...)

- please let the folder view be focused per default.
  Never let the toolbar grab focus without the user demanding it to.
  (f. e. I have the habit of pressing the "up" button using the mouse,
  but then trying to use some letters to select files in the (new)
  location, which doesnt work then, for obvious reasons)
  Also related to this problem: how to see *if* the folder view is
  focused or not?

- please don't lose the marked files list when switching list<->icon
  view

- is marking by a rectangular "lasso" like in the icon view also 
  possible in the list view?

  If not, maybe use a checkbox in front of every file or a small
  "unused" area, which can be used to mark files by covering it. 

  The way it is now is especially weird when using single-click, because
  marking files becomes more of a riddle than straightforward ;)

  ok, middle mouse button seems to be used solely to marking and 
  drag&drop-action files now. aha. my error :)

  ok, <ctrl>+click works too it seems.

- please add a setting: 
    - if you want to see every file in a new window, but every directory
      in the current window

  rather than only the existing ones:
    - if you want to see every file/directory in a new window

  I've hack-patched my local copy for this particular one, and it seems 
  rather easy ;)

  I'm a guy who generally dislikes disappearing folder views, 'cause
  even when it is me who clicks a file, that doesnt mean I dont need 
  the folder view anymore, you know? :)

- what happened to the middle mouse button?
  I'd find it cool for it to have the same effect as the second entry in
  the context menu for folders ("Open in new window" or "Open in this
  window", respectively). (this is mainly because my favourite browser,
  opera, also does it that way, lol)
  That would clash with the use the middle mouse button has currently,
  though. (drag-drop)

- if some file is getting refreshed (because of fam monitoring, for
  example), then that does not neccessarily mean that I want to stop
  editing the file name of the (other, or same) file I'm renaming. 
  Try that in your downloading directory and see how long you'll 
  stay calm ;)

- when some files are getting added/removed to the current directory
  view (fam), make sure that the marked files remain in the visible 
  part of the view.
  (= f.e. "new" files don't need to go in sorted asap, just append them
  at the end for the time being - that is, until the user cares and
  clicks Refresh or Sort, also "removing" files from the view should
  scroll it so that the marked stuff is within the visible area again)

- is there access to the search dialog from within nautilus ? 

- how is the "audio preview" supposed to work ? It never did here ;)
  neither the old- nor the new-style one. Perhaps my assumption that the
  file would play when I place the mouse pointer over it is wrong
  though...
  The View "Audio View" crashes... I'll look into it, if this audio
  preview stuff is supposed to work at all yet, that is.

- marking files by wildcard/regexp would be really cool

- filters, esp. date filters (last-modified-at) for the directory view 
  would be good, although a similar effect can be acheived by sorting by
  date, such a filter would come in handy when *stored* per folder
  (because the number of files actually "visible" in a folder would be
  smaller, and you'd be able to see which were the "files modified since
  I last checked"). Of course the filter expression and the fact that
  the filter is enabled should be easily seeable, maybe represented by 
  a editable in the tool area.
  Just an idea.

- a tooltip popping up on folder icons which states the amount of space
  the folder (content) uses up would be nice, that one is much work I
  think though.
  Generally I miss this information. It would be even better to include
  it always on every folder icon, though that maybe would affect 
  performance very badly. maybe add a "Calculate Sizes" button to 
  the toolbar ? :D

- when clicking on a folder in the folder view, the tree view's current
  item does not change. The other way around it does (clicking in the
  tree view changes the folder view). Why?

- Nautilus scripts:
   - Script Title should not solely depend on the file name, what about
     reading line 2 and displaying it minus the first chars "# Title:"
     Also line 3 containing "# Icon: whatever" could work lol.

   - make it possible to add them to the toolbar. Please please :)
     Whether directly into the toolbar or into [a] "drawer" menu[s] 
     is a question though. Whether to add *all* is a question, too.

I have a cvs copy of nautilus and I'm willing to help, though to be
sincere, I don't like C very much, because it eats much time and has an
antique memory management, but I'll try anyways :D

cheers
    Danny (danny milo gmx net)