[Usability] Themus usability

[Andrew Sobala <aes gnome org>]

Hey usability dudes,

I was wondering if you could give me some advice on the themus UI,
before I go off and code something broken.

Themus is a themes:/// vfs-method for nautilus that shows "metathemes"
(which we are now just calling themes, iirc) and previews for each one.
At the moment, you right-click on the theme and choose "Apply theme" to
apply it.

The original idea was to launch a cut-down version of the theme manager
when you click on a theme to modify the different subthemes of that
theme only, but that has not been implemented for 2.4.

I have 2 questions.

1. What should happen in 2.4 when you click on a theme? At the moment,
nothing happens. I could leave this, or I could have the theme being
applied. But then this would change in 2.6.

2. If a font is suggested in the theme, it is applied. This means if you
try a large-print a11y theme, your desktop stays large-print until you
open the font capplet. This is a usability bug common with the theme
manager, and can't be fixed for 2.4, but the theme manager only applies
the fonts if the user wants it with a separate "Apply theme" button.
This limits the damage; should I add a similar thing in a dialog box
when a theme is applied from themus?

If you think I should add a dialog box instead of automatically applying
a font, I think I could persuade the release team to let me do it since
a) it's simple, and b) it helps prevent someone completely breaking
their desktop by choosing a large-print theme. But please hurry! The Big
Freezes approacheth.

Thanks for your help,
 
-- 
Andrew Sobala <aes gnome org>

The lighting designer is expected to be a master of art, science,
history, psychology, communications, politics and sometimes even
mind reading. -- Stage Lighting Design 101