[kde] [Bug 433566] New: App Launcher search/discoverability problem (settings groups)

[Kris Finkenbinder]

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=433566

            Bug ID: 433566
           Summary: App Launcher search/discoverability problem (settings
                    groups)
           Product: kde
           Version: unspecified
          Platform: Other
                OS: Linux
            Status: REPORTED
          Severity: wishlist
          Priority: NOR
         Component: general
          Assignee: unassigned-bugs at kde.org
          Reporter: redbear at redbearnet.com
  Target Milestone: ---

Reposting from my own post on Reddit. I don't know exactly where to put it so
putting it in "kde" general issues. 

App Launcher search/discoverability problem (settings groups)

Settings "groups" in 5.21 are not searchable in KRunninger/Appliation Launcher. 

Just trying out KDE Neon to see the new 5.21 update. Coming from Linux Mint
(Cinnamon and XFCE) mostly. Well, also almost 20 years of Mac OS X / macOS.

>From my perspective there is a major, and I mean MAJOR oversight that I would
like to point out, in terms of helping users find settings.

It's nice that the settings app has apparently been given significantly more
intuitive organization by grouping related settings together, such as
everything related to the KDE look grouped under "Appearance". That's something
to be proud of.

However, do a little experiment with me. Try to search for "appearance" in the
new Application Launcher in 5.21. There are nine different modules under the
"Appearance" group inside the settings app. But only three things come up in
the launcher, and only because they happen to have the word "appearance" in
their descriptions, not because any of them are named "Appearance". And there
is nothing that is actually called "Appearance".

On XFCE, for instance, if you search in the main menu or a launcher like Albert
(Spotlight clone), you will find the app called "Appearance" which is
responsible for much of the XFCE look. No doubt it shows up so easily because
it is an application with a desktop file, or whatever, and the settings groups
in the new settings app in KDE 5.21 are just... "groups" of some kind, internal
to the application, which the launcher apparently can't see.

So I'm sure there is some valid technical reason that the group names in the
settings app are not searchable by the App Launcher. But I think this is a huge
mistake that should be fixed. The user should be able to type "appear" and
already see a primary item called "Appearance" that will take that user into
the settings app and open the Appearance group.

Same holds true for the other groups in the settings app, I'm just using the
Appearance group as an example. There are four items under "Applications" in
the settings. Type "applications" into the App Launcher and you get nothing
relevant. I end up with Chromium as the highlighted entry, and a few lines
above that is the settings module that happens to be called "Default
Applications".

In XFCE there is an application called "Window Manager". Here in KDE 5.21 there
is a settings group called "Window Management", with four modules inside.
Search for it. If you type it out verbatim nothing relevant is left showing in
the launcher.

How about the "Startup and Shutdown" group of settings? Only two of the five
modules in that group will even appear when typing "startup" in the launcher.

"Workspace Behavior" groups seven different modules together. Only one will
show up if you search for "workspace".

I hope I'm not the only one here who thinks this is a situation that could be
drastically improved pretty easily. Just find a way to make the new settings
"groups" searchable items that launch the settings app and enter that group.

At the very least each of the settings modules should somehow be made to come
up in the launcher when you type in the name of the group. Like, just stick the
settings group title in the description somehow. At the beginning, "Workspace
Behavior: Touch Screen". Or at the end, "Touch Screen (Workspace Behavior)". In
fact that should be done in addition to making the main groups show up as their
own item in the launcher.

And it shouldn't be some kind of hack that only works in the KDE Application
Launcher. It needs to be a solution that would also work with other launchers
like Albert. Example: Make a bunch of desktop files named after the settings
groups, each of which just launches the main settings app with an add-on
command option that opens that specific group of settings.

-- 
You are receiving this mail because:
You are the assignee for the bug.