Re: Missing features.

msevior@physics.unimelb.edu.au wrote:
>> On 10/7/06, Alan Horkan <horkana@maths.tcd.ie> wrote:
>>
>>> On Sat, 7 Oct 2006 msevior@physics.unimelb.edu.au wrote:
>>>
>> [...]
>>
>>
>>>> HI Everyone,
>>>> I miss a few features from the current set of toolbars.
>>>>
>>>> 1. Bullets and numbering
>>>> 2. Underlines
>>>> 3. Paragraph indent and unindent
>>>>
>>>> Can we find a way to put these back in the second or fourth toolbar?
>>>>
>>>> I have lots of pixels on my displays and I'm not afraid to use them
>>>>
>>> :-)
>>>
>> I have a patch that puts all the removed buttons into the Table
>> toolbar, which has lots of space. Is that an acceptable short term
>> solution for you?
>>
>
> I agree there is lots of space there, this is reasonable for the time being.
>
> I guess it is reasonable to retarget AbiWord at non-power users, for which
> a simplified interface would be a selling point. I'm conflicted though
> because I like lots of toolbar buttons and I find them very useful. I
> suspect that many loyal AbiWord users would feel the same.
>
>
>> My intention is still to load the toolbar layout (maybe also menus)
>> from gtk ui manager style files, that would allow for fine grained
>> control.
>>
>>
>
> This works for Unix but we also need a solution for Windows and OSX that
> provides sane defaults.
>
>
>>> This is great but I was really hoping since so much good work has gone
>>> inot making abiword customisable that there would be an option to choose
>>> "Legacy Layout" and allow users to stick with the old layout.
>>> (Sometimes
>>> it is better the devil you know, and how are we to insist users learn
>>> something new if the old Abiword interface worked well enough for them.)
>>>
>
> While I like the idea of having a simple button that reverts AbiWord to
> it's old layout (because I'm very comfortable with it), having a
> preference in the options to alter the layout strikes me a poor decision
> from a UI perspective.
>
> If we're trying to come up with a simple interface having an option to
> change it could be confusing to 95% of users. At one stage I was impressed
> with MS Word's infinitely customizable interface, I now think it is a UI
> disaster, as is hiding menu items beneath those arrows. Most users of MS
> Word spend their days fighting it to make it do what they want.
>
> Cheers
>
> Martin
>
>
>
>
If we can some how learn to persist toolbar locations on Windows, then
add another toolbar XP (say, "Power Users" or something) that can be
enabled just like the tables and extras toolbar with the icons that were
removed, I would agree with that solution - minimal changes (in line
with existing behavior) to add the full set of original toolbar icons.

Ryan

-- 
Ryan Pavlik
AbiWord Win32 Platform Maintainer: www.abisource.com
AbiWord Community Outreach Project: www.cleardefinition.com/oss/abi/blog/
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