Contour/Active global context menus

[Marco Martin]

On Wednesday 25 May 2011, Aaron J. Seigo wrote:
> On Wednesday, May 25, 2011 00:12:55 Marco Martin wrote:
> > suggestions? comments?
> 
> imho we should try and maintain precise clarity in each part of the UI. i
> see no reason to duplicate every possible action in every possible place.
> that will just lead to, as Sebastian already noted, clutter.
> 
> i don't think that this feature needs to Do Everything(tm). in the scope of
> Plasma Active. it should probably allow the user to do one specific kind of
> thing.
> 
> there isn't enough space, really, to offer a ton of options there and keep
> it easy to use on a touch screen.  there's also the issue of someone using
> the interface understanding why that exists and what it is for.

yes, there should be a sensible quantity disaplayed (so actions should be 
rated by relevance as well probably)

> 
> that said, one thing that keeps occuring to me as i see these features
> evolve is that this is really just share-like-connect.

indeed, that's why i would like to keep it a single thing

> rating? that's a measure of "like".
> add tag? that's connecting.
> add to activity? that's also connecting.

right

> a question we need to step back and ask ourselves is this: "Do we want the
> connection of items to be something that one does while interacting
> directly with the object, or do we want these features to be a global
> function with a central location for interaction?"
> 
> the context menu idea is the former, SLC is the latter. both have pros and
> cons.

to me they are not mutually exclusive, just two different places one can 
arrive to it, if i have a big list of objects, i would probably rather have a 
very quick way to reach to the slc functions, while the global ui would be the 
only way possible(tm) for open documents, ie from external applications

> Context Menu
> 	Pros:
> 		It is right at the object itself; you don't have to change focus to act
> 		The object might be able to influence the menu contents more as it may
> have more internal knowledge about what it represents
> 
> 	Cons:
> 		Discoverability is questionable
> 		It means having a "magic" interaction pattern to bring it up
> 		It will remain specific to components that implement/support this menu

yup, discoverability is pretty bad, that's why i think there is space for 
both, given they have the same/similar interface

> 
> Global SLC-type approach
> 	Pros:
> 		Shows in tests to be discoverable and intuitive
> 		Can be applied to any application or source of data, not just Plasmoids
> 		By dividing the tasks up into 3 top level categories, each list can be
> longer
> 		Can be combined with complimentary functionality such as "live device
> pairing"
> 
> 	Cons:
> 		You need to move from object to control
> 		Relies on a global UI being there; remove the SLC buttons and it's all
> gone

con 3:  you need to have a resource that is the "current", the "one opened" to 
use it, right? 
if i have just an icon view, i would be forced to open one of those items 
before doing anything with it?
( the global slc icons could support drag)

> 
> it would be nice to add to the above list and figure out which directions
> we'd like to go based on that. it may also help define more clearly what
> the different pieces of UI we create are intended to do.

as i said, i would like to have:
* the 3 share/like/connect global icons, to be used mostly for actions on 
resources open by another application or via drag and drop from the palsma 
worksapce (or from anywhere that can generate qdragevents of supported url 
protocols;))
* context menus everywhere in the plasma workspace there is an icon of a 
resource
* the ui shown by the context menu could be a subset of the one shown by the 
slc buttons, or even the same

-- 
Marco Martin