http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/2367 - 2.1.0 GUI

[Andrew Roeder]

>How can we improve on that? I wrote a blog article weeks ago outlining
>the new changes. There were tons of debates on the mailing list, the
>results of which seemed to have reached the best compromise. And now,
>we're listening to feedback. If there's anything we can do better, let
>me know.
I will define, that the average user does not participate in the mailing 
list, read your blog, or even know about either of them.  The most users who 
do are ones with the suggestions or complaints, generally the latter.

A problem with much UI design specific problems is that older users are not 
voicing their opinions, as they are content with what is there, while the 
users who feel they need something changed are all but screaming their heads 
off.  The only way then to get a fair decision is to consider the old "Well 
why did we do this in the first place." which I think the Pidgin team does, 
but I think these pretty well get trampled by the drive for 
"new/innovative."  If I knew of a way to get these "silent voices" heard 
more clearly I'd suggest it.

>As for the protocol icons, nobody has yet to make an argument
>convincing enough for me to believe that the protocol is something you
>need at-a-glance. However, I'm giving strong consideration to ticket
>#2146

Ticket #2146 I really dislike, it is adding more clutter to an already 
cramped buddy list, while there is no direct relation between the protocol 
of a user and their online status, it was a compact way of displaying the 
information without expanding the buddy list columns or cluttering it up.

I really don't wish to rehash the topic of these, but I'll shorten my 
reasons to that I see nothing wrong with displaying what you may consider 
"non-essential" information, available in the open.  Regardless of if you 
think it is useful or not, you do need to know what protocol someone is on 
at some point in time.  Really at the moment, if you plan on direct IMing 
someone by rightclicking on your buddy list, you're going to need to know 
that they are on AIM/ICQ, and if you want to make an MSN chat with a user by 
using right click, you will also need to know this information.  Hovering 
the mouse over every user to find which ones are currently using this 
protocol.

>So you'd suggest:
>
>Font ⌄ | Smiley | Link | Image
Seems right to me, very small space usage(especially if only icons are 
used.) and is the "one click" solution.

>I also agree about the Reset Formatting button; I think its very
>existence is a work-around to a bug, which is mostly fixed in 2.1.1,
>and we should definitely remove it from such prominence, and perhaps
>remove it entirely.
Main bug with this was the copy/paste of text not resetting afterwards 
correct?  Really I think it will always be a necessary item as long as you 
are able to change anything about your text, but definately it does not 
deserve the largest button on the toolbar:P

_________________________________________________________________
See what you’re getting into…before you go there 
http://newlivehotmail.com/?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migration_HM_viral_preview_0507