Re: [Libreoffice-ux-advise] [GSOC] Template Dialog layout

Hi Rafel,

On Wed, Jul 11, 2012 at 5:04 PM, Rafael Dominguez <venccsralph@gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi all, im a student participating in the GSOC program, im working in
> the Template UI redesign.
>
> I got a few points i would like you guys to give your opinion on the
> best way to proceed on various points. You can check some screenshots
> of the current UI in my blog
> http://npcdoomlibreoffice.wordpress.com/ to help understand and
> visualize better what im asking.
>
> 1. Few people have told me that the last button (with the green tick
> mark) is not intuitive. The button is suppose to enable the selection
> mode, that let you select a template by clicking anywhere the area
> box, if its disabled, to select an item you need to click on the
> checkbox or in the item title. I added a tooltip for it with a little
> explanation on what it does, is this enough?? is there a way we can
> make it more clear about the intentions of the button?

The reason why the button isn't really intuitive is because its icon isn't
quite right. Users should never have to read a description of a button in
order to use it, so could you please remove the tooltip?

Anyway, on today's IRC chat, we agreed that it might be best to remove the
button altogether and enter selection mode by long-pressing a thumbnail.

I hope to update the proposal with this in mind soon.

If that doesn't turn out well, though, or if I neglect to update it, then a
better icon should suffice.

> 2. Can we rename the toolbar buttons to "Create Template", "Import
> Template" to “Create”, “Import”? Since we are already in the Template
> manager dialog box, “Create” will only mean “Create Template”.

Okay.

> 3. Someone suggested that the search box is very big and takes a
> complete row, and if we can place it to the left of the “Settings”
> icon?

Yes.
Could you separate it with a space so that the search box and the Tools
button are clearly seperated (so that the user doesn't think the Tools
button relates to the search box)?

> 4. Is the close button at the bottom of the page is redundant because
> we got the close icon in the top bar of the dialog?? .

Under Gnome 3, modal dialogs need to have a close button as they don't have
a title bar.

We agreed that it would be best to make the dialog non-modal and remove the
close button.

> 5. There is a design problem with the template creation: from that
> dialog point of view, creating a new template is simply creating a
> blank document. The tricky UI part for this is when saving that
> document (which isn't really addressed here), and thats already done
> by the application File menu.

We agreed that it'd be best if this button launched the module in a special
mode in which the "Save as" dialog would be replaced by the "Save as
Template" dialog. This mode would be indicated by an appended "Template"
after the module name in the title bar (such as "LibreOffice Writer
Template").

Would you be able to do that?

If not, then it would be best to get rid of this "Create" menu altogether.

> If we keep that Create Template menu item, I would be in favor
> of integrating the new files creation to this dialog in some way and
> replace the File > New menu by this one.
> How can we have a simple UI for saving templates (I mean,
> easier than what we have now), either by changin and using this dialog
> (and not take above point into account) or by adding a new / changing
> UI for it.
>
> Any other issue you think its worth addressing please do, this are
> just the one other people mentioned or that we think need a discussion
> on how to approach them.

Ideally, the navigation buttons should appear as part of a whole, as on
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/File:Templs.png , not as individual
buttons?
Would that be possible to implement?
If it wouldn't be possible to implement exactly, would it at least be
possible to square off some of the buttons' corners and push them closer
together so it at least looks like the navigation bar in the mockup?