GUI layout

[Manne Merak]

Seb Ruiz wrote:
> Hi Manne,
>
> 2009/7/2 Manne Merak <mannemerak at gmail.com>:
>   
>> Hi all, I am a long time user of Amarok, thanks all for the effort.
>>
>> I am now on KDE4 and starting to move over to 2.1.  I do share some of
>> the concerns others have about the complete overhaul of the GUI.
>> Instead of just complaining I would really like to help.
>> How will I go about recommending some GUI tweaks?  Should I just jump in
>> and start coding or should I request an enhancement and see if it gets
>> support before I waste too much time with changes that will just be ignored?
>> There are mainly small issues at the moment that I think needs some
>> refinement:
>> 1.  The text alignment in the vertical boxes on the left,
>> Collection-Internet-Playlists-Files is not center (horizontally)
>> 2.  Reload icon on lyrics and Wikipedia cuts into the textbox when
>> resizing (getting too narrow)
>> 3.  Playlist current playing box is to tight around text, first and last
>> letter in title gets cut by border.
>> etc
>> Some (all) these issues may be related to using a different system font
>> (Tahoma), but I feel the layout manager should be able to handle it?
>>     
>
> In general, we are happy to accept and encourage contributors to write
> patches. It is generally not a problem to whip up a patch which fixes
> glaring usability holes or improves the user interface. Of course, any
> big overhauls would need to be first discussed on the mailing list.
>
> Hope to see some patches from you soon!
>
> Seb
>
>   

Great, I will try and get some ideas together.

Before I begin, just to get some history, why was the 1.4 GUI layout 
abandoned?  Were there technical issues?  The old interface was 
relatively clean -  left & right panels, with controls on bottom right.
New one has icons all over the place and the playlist panel needs work; 
also I believe most people expect the controls on the bottom of the 
window? lot of other players keep it on the bottom.
I do like the left panel, it is functional and to the point with the 
breadcrumbs like trail on the top (nice touch).   Also like the Position 
Marker feature, use it allot for podcasts.
I will try and post a mock-up when I get some time this weekend.

Manne