Re: [Usability] Proposal for Spatial Nautilus: Shelf Location

[Thorsten Seitz <thorsten seitz web de>]

On Wednesday 14 April 2004 23:43, Daniel F Moisset wrote:
> I feel ambiguous about your "self" proposal.
>
> I think the idea is good. I've used the desktop as your "shelf"
> countless times (in Windows. With gnome I open a terminal and launch mc
>
> :) )
>
> However, it breaks the object metaphor. What it does, more precisely, is
> to add aliasing to your desktop. Aliasing is conceptually harder by a
> level of magnitude, and I think GNOME is heading the opposite way.

Maybe the aliasing might be made apparent by some visual clue(s):

(1) I rather like the following: the name of an object on the Shelf should 
include the object's parent folder/location, making immediately clear that it 
is a representation of another object:
Consider a file named "foo.txt" in a folder /home/thorsten/doc/ being put on 
the Shelf. It would be listed there as "foo.txt in doc" (where "in doc" might 
appear in a different color/font style/whatever).
A file named "baz.txt" in /home/thorsten would appear as "baz.txt in Home" on 
the Shelf, because "Home" is the standard name for /home/thorsten (at least 
that's my understanding of GNOME 2.6).

(2) additionally the Shelf window might look different from other folder 
windows in some way (background color?)

The Shelf idea might be even generalized as the property of a folder, so one 
could have different shelves. Hmmm.

> It's hard for a mind used to the object model to think that an operation
> on a visible object actually changes also something that is hidden. And
> i think a lot of complications arise... how do I remove something from
> the shelf? Do I press delete or move it to the trash? won't that delete
> the real file instead? That's just an example, I think that lots of
> similar situations will appear.

Removing something from the Shelf would be done by a menu item called "Remove 
from Shelf" which might be available as a toolbar button, too (as I'd like to 
see toolbars in the folder windows :-)

Moving something from the Shelf to the Trash (by dragging it there or using 
the appropriate menu item or pressing delete) would move the real file to the 
Trash, as that is the central idea of the Shelf: the object in the Shelf 
represents the real object which lives somewhere else.
It might be useful to have an optional warning in that case ("blah...will 
trash the original file...blah").

Another example of differences to normal folders: it should not be possible to  
create a file within the Shelf, i.e. the Templates menu item should not be 
available within the Shelf.

> I'm not saying that the idea should be dropped. I think it perhaps can
> be adapted to the object model and be very useful; it just must be
> designed carefully and matching the other concepts already present inn
> the desktop.

I agree.

-Thorsten