KInfoCenter

[David Hubner]

On 17/02/2010 20:50, Parker Coates wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 12:59, David Hubner wrote:
>> On 17/02/2010 10:29, Andrea Diamantini wrote:
>>>
>>> On Wednesday 17 February 2010 10:57:59 David Hubner wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I have just currently become maintainer of KInfoCenter and now i have a
>>>> chance to look at the wishes and bug list i have come up with a list of
>>>> changes that i would like to implement.
>>>>
>>>> 1. Application start shows the about screen, this can be removed as its
>>>> just duplicating data on the left side. Information about the different
>>>> KCMs can be implemented using tooltips.
>>>>
>>>> 2. Have two different views, General and advanced as system settings has
>>>> implemented.
>>>>
>>>> 3. Remove the left listview and replace categories with tabs, these
>>>> categories can be consolidated. The tabs will still be generated from the
>>>> KCM's .desktop files. I was thinking of the following consolidated
>>>> categories.
>>>>
>>>> General View:
>>>>
>>>> - Summary - Kernel Version, KDE SC version, distribution information etc
>>>> etc. - Device Information - Device viewer based on solid, this will
>>>> remove
>>>> the devices, processor information, partitions and sound KCM's - XServer
>>>> Information - This will consolidate OpenGL and Xserver information. -
>>>> Network Information - Solid::Control will be used to get Nic information,
>>>> Samba will be moved here. - Memory Information - Current Memory KCM.
>>>> - Profiling Information - New KCM to implement speed testing.
>>>>
>>>> Advanced View:
>>>>
>>>> - IOPorts, IEEE 1394 Devices, PCI, DMA-Channels, Interrupts, SCSI and USB
>>>> devices KCMs will be moved here.
>>>>
>>>> 4. Add two buttons to the bottom of KInfoCenter, Export and Help. Help
>>>> section will bring help for the currently selected KCM, export will
>>>> export
>>>> the information from the currently selected KCM to text format.
>>>>
>>>> What does everyone else think of these changes? Any ideas?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> Just my personal opinion,
>>> I don't like the General/Advanced division.
>>> A lot of the "General" KCMs are really "advanced".
>>> The views are just divided in groups and (again, IMHO) that's enough.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>
>> It depends how you define the wording I guess, I see general and advanced
>> tabs as general being frequently used and advanced being KCMs that are
>> hardly used but can are there if you need to tweak a little more or need
>> more information.
>>
>> Maybe different set of wording for the divisions, General and Extra?
>>
>> The "Extra" Kcm's will not exactly be a division, just an toggle menu option
>> that will show the extra tabs.
>
> My personal thoughts are that such a division doesn't really make
> sense for KInfoCenter. Unlike SystemSettings which has to cater to
> both novice users and system administrators, I think KInfoCenter
> provides technical information and that's what its users expect.
> Splitting that information into two categories based on a somewhat
> subjective difference seems unnecessary.
>
> I think a more useful focus would be to try to ensure that the user is
> helpfully guided to the info he's looking for and not stumbling around
> through those more "advanced" areas.
>
> Just my thoughts,
>
> Parker
>

Umm, you may have a point :) Maybe keeping the itemview at the side and 
replacing it with TreeItemWidget to give it a category listing as follows:

- Summary
- Device Information
   - Device Viewer
   - Usb Devices
   - IEEE 1394
- Motherboard Information (Different name?)
   - PCI
   - DMA Channels
   - Interrupts
   - IO Ports
   - SCSI
   - Memory
- Network Information
   - Nic Information
   - Samaba
- XServer Information
   - XServer
   - OpenGL
- Profiling
   - Stuff to be thought of

This would allow consolidation into major categories and allow quick 
access to all.

Thanks
David Hubner