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

[Hylke Bons]

I'd like to react to your points in
http://developer.pidgin.im/attachment/ticket/2367/pidgin201gui.jpg
You call the status icon in the infopane redundant, but it is the icon
in the tab that is redundant.
The rest of the infopane you call wasted space, while it is the exact
same code as used in the buddy list, so
why isn't that a waste of space? Also status messages and special
emblems are shown here, so it's certainly not wasted.
The conversation window was made with the future in mind, so it could be
used better with plugins and possible Voice Video support.
As for the buttons, I really don't think the texts are a waste of space.
I don't see one other example in Pidgin's GUI where the icons are used
 without text and I don't think the icons on there own are clear enough
to be used "standalone". Maybe it's an idea to place the text beneath
the icon.
Now about the buddy icon, making that bigger would waste more  (height)
space.

> 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 understand why you'd want the "Reset font" in the font menu, and I
agree with you.
But then I don't understand why you want to "explode" the insert menu.
It's about inserting something, and not all protocols support every
option in there, so with your lay-out
 buttons get grayed out when not supported, and that would mean, yes,
more waste of space. :)
That space could better be used by plugins or "Info" etc. But I think
the reason it was made less wide is because people complaining
 that the toolbar was too wide and buttons were "cut off".
I think the toolbar should have the most common options supported by
different protocols.

Hylke






Andrew Roeder wrote:
>> 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
>
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