[Pidgin] #13134: New Log Viewer GUI

[Pidgin]

#13134: New Log Viewer GUI
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 Reporter:  wyuka                   |        Owner:  rlaager     
     Type:  patch                   |       Status:  pending     
Milestone:  Patches Needing Review  |    Component:  pidgin (gtk)
  Version:  2.7.9                   |   Resolution:              
 Keywords:  log viewer logs         |  
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Changes (by rlaager):

  * status:  new => pending


Comment:

 I took a look at it. It's interesting.

 The first thing that jumps out at me is that, in my opinion, you place too
 much emphasis on the protocol/account. The protocol is shown on the search
 tab and the account is the main selector on the conversations tab. Pidgin
 really tries to hide that sort of information from the user when it isn't
 strictly necessary. I shouldn't have to care if I'm talking to Joe on MSN
 or AIM.

 I like the idea of a global log search. It covers the use case of, "I was
 discussing this with someone at work, but I can't remember if it was Joe
 or Bob."

 As a random data point, a friend showed me an IRC client that allows you
 to just keep scrolling up. As you pass the end of the current
 conversation, it uses the logs to fill in before that. I'm not sure if
 that's something that could be done easily in Pidgin or not, or even if
 it's a good idea.

 I also like the idea of a calendar picker. I'm not sure how to best design
 a UI that uses it, though.

 It might be a good idea to build some use cases. I use the existing log
 viewer in the following ways:
 - I know I discussed something with Joe recently, but I don't have a good
 search term. (This usually means I sent him a link to a website that I
 want to grab to send to someone else.) I look at the last few
 conversations, in order, until I find it. Since they're recent
 conversations, seeing the first bit of the conversation generally allows
 me to skip reading the whole text of it before moving on.
 - I know what I discussed, but it may have been a while ago. I use the
 search for this.

 Obviously, in both cases, I have to know who I had the conversation with,
 because that's how the current log viewer works. Lifting that restriction
 might be helpful, as noted above.

 It's very important to my uses cases that I not have to know which
 protocol was used, because I simply won't. Pidgin decides which protocol
 to use automatically. This is exactly why I wrote the code that makes
 Pidgin's log viewer aggregate logs by contact.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/13134#comment:4>
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