Re: Nautilus Must-Fix List - Revision 2

[Brian Crescimanno <darksheer fotographix com>]

On Wed, 2001-09-05 at 15:10, Maciej Stachowiak wrote:
> On 05Sep2001 02:30PM (-0400), Brian Crescimanno wrote:
> > Here is revision 2 of the must-fix list for Nautilus.  This is the final
> > version before the meeting today...any changes discussed at the meeting
> > will be put into a version 3 which will come out shortly after the
> > meeting.
> 
> Hi Brian,
> 
> As one of the Nautilus developers, I'd like to comment on your remarks.
>  
> > Desktop
> > 1.	There need to be more options to arrange icons on the desktop
> > 	rather than just "Clean Up By Name."  
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	GNOME 1.2 had a "tidy icons" feature which would allow you to
> > 	simply align the icons (keeping their general location) to 
> > 	make them appear more cleanly placed.  Currently, in nautilus,
> > 	the only way to "tidy icons" is to arrange them all on the left
> > 	side of the screen, by name.  
> 
> I agree that this would be a nice additional feature. Calling it a
> "must fix" sounds a bit extreme when there are probably worse
> usability problems.


	I think this one is basically a user-specific thing.  Some users 	think
that one of the most important things they can do is have a
	"clean" desktop.  

	The only reason I suggest it as a must fix feature is that it is
	a really nice feature that is already present in a lot of other
	packages, and should be easy enough to integrate into Nautilus.


> > 2.	Trash Icon Needs to have a customizable icon
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	It is the ONLY icon that is placed on the desktop that does not
> > 	have a "custom image" property that can be directly accessed
> > 	by the user (though a theme can currently modify the icon.
> 
> The reason you can't customize the trash icon is that there are two
> different ones, empty and full. So either we'd have to not let the
> trash show the difference between full and empty when the icon is
> customized (which I think is poor) or have a way to set a custom icon
> for both states separately.
> 
> Do you have a design for a good way to let the user set two custom
> icons for the trash?

	I agree that a new dialog is needed...let me try to mock 
	up something in glade (forgive me if it's rough, I'm not too
	familiar with this aspect of things) to show you an idea that
	I have.

> > 3.	Text for icons on desktop should have customizable colors
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	When using a light colored background with a light colored theme,
> > 	the text becomes unreadable on the desktop.  This can be easily
> > 	remedied by either allowing the user to customize the text color
> > 	(which does not solve the problem if the background shifts color)
> > 	or by allowing the user to set a "bgcolor" property for the text
> > 	so the text is always laid on a solid background.
> 
> The text color is supposed to switch between black and white depending
> on how dark the background is. Perhaps the heuristic needs tuning. It
> also does't work very well if the desktop has both dark and light
> areas. I suggest phrasing this one as "text for icons on desktop is
> sometimes hard to read".


	The change in the wording is noted.  
	I really don't know anything about the code here, but I
	definately think that it's a good idea to get it taken care of


> > Main Window:  General
> > 1.	The titlebar needs to be a bit more descriptive than listing
> > 	a simple one word directory name
> >      
> > 	PROPOSED SOLUTION:
> > 	Use a full path rather than just the current directory.
> > 	A lot of people have directories with the same name
> > 	in different paths, this will clear up any confusion.
> 
> There's a reason it's done the way it is now. In the task list, when a
> window title is too long to fit, the name gets cut off at the end. The
> Nautilus developers thought it was more likely users would be looking
> at files or directories with different base names but in the same
> general part of the filesystem than with the same name but in
> different parts of the filesystem. So we decided to show only the base
> name since this was the part most likely to be different.
> 
> To give a concrete example, suppose you are visiting the following two
> directories in different windows: /usr/local/my-files/music/rock and
> /usr/local/my-files/music/pop. If the task list only has room to show
> 20 characters, then if you use the full path as the title, you get:
> 
> [/usr/local/my-fil...]
> [/usr/local/my-fil...]
> 
> With the basename only, you get:
> 
> [   rock   ]
> [   pop    ]
> 
> Perhaps if there was a hint to make the task list ellipsize window
> titles at the beginning or in the middle instead of at the end, we
> could change this behavior.


	I'll mention that to the GTK+ must-fix list guys...and maybe we
	can get that hint put into gnome.  Until then, I have to agree
	with you on this point.


> > Main Window:  View as List
> > 1.	Needs to be split into "simple list" and "detailed list"
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	Some directories..like giant directories of documents and such,
> > 	are too long to be listed in the standard icon format and be
> > 	easy to deal with.  However, you don't need the full details
> > 	of the file, a simple "list with icons" would be great (similar
> > 	to the Windows explorer "View as list" feature).
> 
> How about using the icon view with a smaller zoom level? I think
> that's more or less equivalent to what you want. We could even put the
> label to the right instead of below the icon at smaller zoom levels.

	
	After some testing, It think if we did put the text next to the
	icons at the 50% zoom level and less, and set the window to wrap
	horizontally instead of vertically, we'd have a nice "Listing"
	view (perhaps make those setting into a "simple list" default
	setting which would basically just be a modified icon view.


> > Main Window:  View as Music
> > 1.      Needs to be "View as media" or done away with completely
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	I think this view, while it has it's merits, is unnecessary
> > 	bloat in the program.  Most people will continue to use
> > 	xmms or mpg123 (or another program) to play their mp3's, they
> > 	don't want their file manager to do it for them.
> > 
> > 	PROPOSAL:
> > 	When GStreamer comes along further, perhaps a "Nautilus media
> > 	player" can be built around that technology which integrates
> > 	with nautilus, and handles all forms of media in a 
> > 	nautilus-like environment.  Until then, I think the "view as
> > 	music" mode is a fairly worthless feature.
> 
> I don't think that "I think this feature sucks" is a very appropriate
> item for a "must fix" list. Are users harmed in any way by having the
> option to use the music view?
> 
> Suggestions for specific enhancements are welcome, although I am not
> sure switching from "music" to "media" is an improvement (I'd rather
> have a different view for video for instance).


	While I do agree, I was trying to look at it from a performance
	standpoint (though I see now that I didn't do a very good job
	of conveying this).  I'm not sure how much of a performance
	boost might be gained by removing it, but that's kind of where
	I was going with that suggestion.


> > Preferences:  View Preferences
> > 1.	Change name to "Customize Views"
> > 	
> > 	REASON:
> > 	"View preferences" sounds like a general term for looking at 
> > 	your preferences.
> 
> Good point about the confusion. Also, repeating the word "Preferences"
> seems redundant in a preference dialog. Perhaps it could just be
> called "Views" instead of "Customize Views" since this is already a
> preference/customization dialog.


	I think we're all clear on this one....


> > 2.	Clean Up
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	This screen looks like it was thrown together in 30 seconds.  
> > 	Clean up the select boxes and stuff, it looks pretty scattered
> > 	at the moment
> 
> Can you be more specific about what you'd like changed?


	Let me think on it a bit more.  I don't know really, it just
	looks a little too cluttered...not sure what we could do about
	it yet, but I'll think on it.


> > Preferences:  Appearance
> > 1.	Change name to "Themes"
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	It makes it very apparent to the user where to find a place
> > 	to change your nautilus theme if it's listed as such.  Also,
> > 	the other (few) appearance preferences can still be listed there
> > 	as "themes" has become a general term used for program
> > 	appearance.
> 
> I'm not sure I agree with this change. Not all the Appearance
> preferences really have to do with themes, so I think this is choice
> is less precise. I'd like to see some user testing backing up the
> claim that calling it "Themes" would help users.


	Perhaps using the name "Themes & Appearance" would be better
	(as I agree, not all the appearance prefs are about theming)
	To be fair, the most common use of that dialog is going to be
	to modify themes, so it should at least appear somewhere in the
	title of the dialog.


> > 2.	Move the themes dialog to the top
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	Put the item people are going to want to use most at the top
> > 	of the window, not the bottom.  Most people who want to change
> > 	the appearance want to modify the theme...give this to them
> > 	as their first option.
> 
> The theme selection list is already by far the most obvious and
> visible widget in the dialog. I think it would ruin the flow of this
> pane to put the other settings on the dialog. Try mocking it up in
> glade and see.

	AGREED.  :)

	This will be changed.

> > Preferences:  Windows & Desktop
> > 1.	Split these up into "Windows", "Desktop & Trash" and move
> > 	"keyboard shortcuts to a "general preferences" section
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	This window is a jumbled mess of options that really don't belong
> > 	together.  Split them up into more specific and descriptive
> > 	categories.  Who is going to look to customize the trash options
> > 	by looking under "windows and desktop?"
> 
> Splitting "Windows" and "Desktop & Trash" seems OK, although it starts
> to verge on too many preference categories. I disagree about adding a
> "general preferences" section, though. A category of "general" is a
> pretty useless one, I think.


	I think you're right about verging on too many categories of 
	options, but in this case, I think it's going to be worth it to
	split them.  It will almost definately cut down on some user
	confusion.

	I tend to agree with the "general preferences" section being a 
	bad idea...I'm just not sure where we can move things like 
	"keyboard shortcuts" that don't really fit into their current
	categories...


> > Preferences: Icon & List Views
> > 1.
> > 
> > Preferences: Icon Captions
> > 1.	I don't know, it's just bad...
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	This should be moved and grouped with other options of simliar
> > 	nature.
> 
> To what category would you suggest moving it? There's no room in the
> "Icon & List Views" pane.

	It's unfortunate...but I agree with you here.  There really
	isn't any other category where it would fit at the moment.

> > Preferences:  Search
> > 1.	Move this to the Navigation window
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	There's no reason to have an entire window for one preference.
> 
> I see two preferences in "Search". I'm not sure if it would be as easy
> for users to find them if they were in a "Navigation" category.

	All I see under there is "search engine location" and I'm in
	'expert" mode.  

	I agree that the search preferences are best kept separate in
	some way...but I just don't know if having a full pane for 1-2
	options is necessarily a good idea.

> > Preferences:  Navigation
> > 1.	Looks like a good place for "SEARCH" to go!
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	Do I really have to?
> > 
> > Preferences:  Speed Tradeoffs
> > 1.	Change name to "performance"
> > 
> > 	REASON:
> > 	NEVER tell a user that what you are making them do is a tradeoff.
> > 	They feel cheated by it!
> > 
> 
> I disagree with this one. These are generally settings that trade off
> speed against features. "Performance" might make the user think they
> can increase performance for free. I would rather be honest about the
> nature of these settings than prevent users from feeling "cheated".

	I suppose that's an understandable viewpoint..I'd like to hear
	more feedback from the rest of the people on the list about 
	this one though.	

> 
> My own suggestions for the preference dialog include:
> 
> * Move the News Panel preferences to the "sidebar panels" cateogry and
> don't show them at Beginner user level (maybe not at "Intermediate"
> either).
> * Show fewer settings at "Beginner" user level.
> 
> * Take out some settings completely, if possible.


*noted*

I will look into all the changes that I specified I would make here, and
I'd like to hear from you, and everyone on anything else....

Brian