[Usability] File Chooser features and mockup proposal

["Jason T. Warnock" <jasontwarnock earthlink net>]

Being that Open and Save dialogs do such different tasks it is important to have different elements.

Elements useful for an Open dialog:

	A file navigator - For selecting a file
	Forward and backwards controls - For easily changing folders
	Bookmark/favorites button - To add the current folder to a list of commonly used folders
	Bookmark/folder dropdown - Quickly jump to bookmarked folder
	Filter dropdown - Grey out files that can not be edited by the current application
	Preview area - For showing a thumbnail of the currently selected file
	Open and Cancel buttons - Obvious reasons
	File Well - To drag a file from Nautilus/someother application to the open dialog

Elements useful for a Save dialog:

	Name entry box - To name the file
	Disclosure triangle - To hide the file navigator
	File Navigator - For selecting a directory
	New Folder button - To create a new directory
	Bookmark/favorites button - To add the current folder to a list of commonly used folders
	Bookmark/folder dropdown - Quickly jump to bookmarked folder
	File type dropdown - to save as a non default format
	File Well - To drag a file from the save dialog to an open Nautilus directory/desktop
	Save and Cancel buttons - Obvious Reasons
	

I believe this file chooser will be complementary to the spatial nautilus, while being easy to get work done
and powerful enough for any user.

Lets start with explaining the save dialog; when it first appears it contains an icon, a title entry box
a bookmarked folder dropdown, and if required a file format dropdown.  The user, can type in a title for
the file and drag the icon to his desktop or an open nautilus window, or they can select an appropriate
directory from the dropdown box, and click save not having to navigate though their entire filesystem
to save their work, however if the user needs to have more control over the location they save the file
they can click on the disclosure triangle and it will drop down a navigational tree where they can browse
their filesystem and save it exactly where they want it, and if it is a folder they save to often they can
add it to the dropdown box by clicking the bookmark button, uncommon file actions such as rename and delete
will be in a contextual menu, because they are not very important to saving a file, but might be needed.

This is similar to the design used for bookmarking a page in Epiphany, Safari, or saving a file in Mac OS X

I have created a mockup of the save dialog, http://www.sharemation.com/jasontwarnock/mockups/

I don't have enough time to create a detailed description of the open dialog before work, but it however should
be similar to the save dialog

Please CC me because I am not on the list.
-- 
Jason T. Warnock <jasontwarnock earthlink net>