Re: [libreoffice-design] Tabbed Documents

Hi all,

So I spent the afternoon exploring what tabbed documents might look like
using GIMP. I installed the Ubuntu Global menu extension, took a screenshot
and then added in some Chromium tabs to the standard LibreOffice 3.3 UI.
Here is the result:

http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/File:LO-Tabs.png

As you can see it looks extremely slick and I think the community would be
really excited if LO brought something like this to the table.

On a related note, earlier in this thread, Phil Jackson had the suggestion
of being able to see documents side by side without the unnecessary
duplication of menus. This is my interpretation of his suggestion. I added
a "pin" button to each of the chromium tabs. "Pinning" a tab would set an
orange border around the document window, shrink it to half size and then
open up the next tabbed document in a new document window alongside it. I
also gave each document window a titlebar to distinguish between them.
Finally, I put a little <-> widget in the titlebar which could allow the
user to toggle the side by side docuements perspective to a one document
below the other perspective. Here is the result:

http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/File:LO-Tabs-SideBySide.png

I think this could be an interesting concept and might be worth thinking
about if we go down the tabbed document route, However, while these features
could be very useful for writer and calc, I'm not sure If there'd be much
benefit to the rest of the suite.

Please everyone, let me know your thoughts on this.

Thanks,
Patrick

On 11 June 2011 14:06, Patrick Scott <patrickscott52@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Christopher, Phil
>
> Also, to save on screen real estate, such a tab toolbar could be
> automatically hidden when only one document is open. Phil, I find it hard to
> imagine what vertical tabs would look like but it seems like an interesting
> concept. However, it might be a hard sell since users are already so
> familiar with tabbed browsing, it makes sense to remain consistent with
> them. I'm very interested in your side by side documents suggestion. I can
> imagine a little "pin" button on a tab which opens a different tab along
> side the pinned document, while any changes in tab selection would change
> the opened document in the new space leaving the pinned document open until
> it is unpinned. I'm going to work on a few mockups for this I think...
>
> Thanks,
> Patrick
>
>
> On 11 June 2011 12:13, Christopher Stark <christopherstark@gmx.de> wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > my suggestion would be to have the tabs horizontally but in a toolbar
> > that can  be activated or deactivated. If it is deactivated then other
> > or new documents appear in new windows, if it is activated in tabs.
> >
> > Christopher
> >
> >
> >
> > Am 11.06.2011 06:53, schrieb Cyril Arnaud:
> > > I'm personally not so sure about the vertical tabs.
> > > If the tabs are similar to the one you can use on chromium for instance,
> > you
> > > save more screen realestate than with a vertical bar.
> > > Using tab should be very discreet since it's not necessary for your
> > activity
> > > in one doc, but could increase your efficiency when you work on several
> > > documents at the same time.
> > >
> > > -- Cyril Arnaud
> > > On Jun 11, 2011 12:13 AM, "planas" <jslozier@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > Hi Phil and Patrick
> > > >
> > > > On Sat, 2011-06-11 at 09:54 +1200, Phil Jackson wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Hi Patrick
> > > > >
> > > > > This could work also if there was an option for vertical tabs to the
> > > > > left. Certainly it is important for Writer to maximise vertical space
> > > > > for document display and some users (including me) would like to see
> > > > > this idea as an option on the left or right.
> > > > >
> > > > > It could be part of another toolbar with a maximum list of 3-5 items
> > > > > that could be scrollable, on top of a list of other tools.
> > > > >
> > > > > I think that having a single click of keyboard command that switches
> > > > > between documents is essential - I'm sure I am not in the minority in
> > > > > sometimes wanting to be able to switch quickly between two different
> > > > > documents either for comparison purposes or to copy and paste between
> > > them.
> > > > > It also therefore raises an interesting new idea which might be beyond
> > > > > the scope of this suite - have a mode where you can display two
> > > > > different documents side-by-side, each with its own vertical scroll
> > > > > bars, displayed in slightly shrunk fonts with the ability to copy and
> > > > > paste directly between the two. Obviously you can change the screen
> > size
> > > > > of two different sessions of Write and achieve the same but this takes
> > a
> > > > > little time and you still get unnecessary duplication of menus. On
> > some
> > > > > wide screens this would be very useful occasionally and again
> > something
> > > > > that would give it another point of difference.
> > > > >
> > > > > This idea could be used for Calc.
> > > > >
> > > > > Cheers
> > > > >
> > > > > Phil Jackson
> > > > >
> > > > > On 6/11/2011 8:55 AM, Patrick Scott wrote:
> > > > > > Hi all.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > What do people think about tabbed documents a la Lotus Symphony. I
> > > wouldn't
> > > > > > have much use for it myself but I keep seeing the suggestion pop up
> > in
> > > the
> > > > > > comments on forums and articles etc so it's seems like it might be an
> > > > > > important feature for some [and another means of differentiating
> > > ourselves
> > > > > > from OO and MS Office]. I've looked a few pages back through the
> > > archives
> > > > > > and couldn't see any mention of it and since I've only been on this
> > > list for
> > > > > > a couple of days I thought I'd just ask if it was on the radar for
> > > > > > LibreOffice.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Tabbed Documents in Lotus Symphony:
> > http://static.howtoforge.com/images/IBM_Lotus_Symphony_On_Ubuntu704/pic8.jpg
> > > > > > Thanks,
> > > > > > Patrick
> > > > The side by side view would be very useful in Writer and Calc. Also,
> > > > Phil I think you correct about the placement on the side.
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Jay Lozier
> > > > jslozier@gmail.com
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to design+help@global.libreoffice.org
> > > > Posting guidelines + more:
> > http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette
> > > > List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/design/
> > > > All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be
> > > deleted
> >
> > --
> > Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to design+help@global.libreoffice.org
> > Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette
> > List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/design/
> > All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be
> > deleted

-- 
Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to design+help@global.libreoffice.org
Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette
List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/design/
All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted