Re: [Usability] Tab implementation review

[Allan Day <allanpday gmail com>]

On Tue, 2009-02-10 at 12:24 -0600, Matthew Nuzum wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 12:02 PM, Mackenzie Morgan <macoafi gmail com> wrote:
> > On Tue, 2009-02-10 at 12:16 +0000, Allan Day wrote:
> >> Advantages: clean, simple interface. Apps look very minimal without it,
> >> which can be nice. Makes learning the basics of the interface easier
> >> (since it is simpler). Conforms to current practice amongst GNOME apps.
> >>
> >> Disadvantages: makes tab functionality less discoverable. Means that it
> >> isn't possible to introduce additional functionality to the tab bar.
> >> Clicking on empty space in the tab bar could trigger the creation of a
> >> new tab, for example. Or it might be possible to drag tabs and windows
> >> from elsewhere into the tab bar. (Maybe the first step is to decide
> >> whether this functionality is desirable?)
> >
> > I would want to be able to drop tabs from window to another to combine
> > them.  Pidgin does this.
> 
> But do you have to drop them onto an existing tab bar? Seems that's a
> small drop target. Ideally just dragging a tab from one window to
> anywhere on the other window would be easier. If the tab bar isn't
> shown then it will appear with the presence of a second tab.
> 
> Maybe that's difficult to do. I see that in FF on Ubuntu when the tab
> bar is hidden you have to drag tabs from another window onto the "new
> tab" button to get a new tab and that just copies the tab from one
> window to another. If you want to move the tab you have to drag it to
> the tab bar which means you need to have more than one document open
> in the window.

I agree. There are better mechanisms to allow the movement of tabs
between windows than using the tab bar as a target. It's way too fiddly,
for starters.

It is important to have a consistent tab implementation across the
desktop (consistency makes the DE more predictable for the user; it
makes individual apps easier to learn, etc.) and although tab bar
visibility might be desirable for some GNOME apps, it would look really
really dumb for others. So, if we want a desktop-wide solution, we need
to hide the tab bar.

Hiding the tab bar makes apps look cleaner, simpler, and more stylish. A
single tab makes the interface look cluttered and aesthetically
unbalanced.

That said, I am aware of the disadvantages of hiding the tab bar. The
most important function of having the tab bar visible is to make tabs
discoverable. It says 'Look, tabs!'. So hiding the tab bar makes less
discoverable. There are ways that this could be alleviated, though.
Toolbars could have new tab buttons and file menus could have new tab
entries, for example.

I'm still not 100% convinced about this, but that's the way it seems to
me right now.

Allan