Dolphin change proposals

[todd rme]

> This is where our opinions differ. In my mind a tab isn't a
> "representation of a folder", but a purely layout related user
> interface element. The fact that a single tab can contain more than
> one folder reinforces that notion. Right clicking on a tab doesn't
> give you the same options that right clicking inside a folder does.

Right clicking inside a folder, right clicking a tab, right clicking a
folder in the breadcrumb bar, right clicking a folder in the places
panel, right clicking a folder in the folders panel, and right
clicking an area of the file browser all give different options from
one another.  None of them are consistent in that regard, so I don't
think that is a good criteria.  Yet, besides the tab bar, they all
have the same thing happen when you drop something on them.

Even if it you don't think they are similar objects, there is still
the issue that it is much, much faster and considerably less
disrupting to your workflow if you want to stay in one folder.

Further, it is the only part of the user interface that I can think of
where you might conceivably want to be able to drop a file or folder
but can't.  The only other user interface elements available are the
toolbar and status bar, and I can't think of a reason to drop
something there, and the information panel, which would be useless for
dragging and dropping unless you want to drop a folder on itself, and
for that task it has no advantage over the file browser area or
breadcrumb bar.  However, there is a good reason to drop files on a
tab (it can allow moving files to multiple different folders that are
not in the places panel and are not easily accessible from the folder
panel or breadcrumb bar).  It is also something that I don't think
would interfere with the work-flow of people who do not want to use
it, but could greatly help the work-flow of people who do want to use
it.

> I think it's very important to keep the role of selection very clear.
> It's easy to forget how much trouble novice users have conceptually
> distinguishing between hover, selection and focus. Anything that blurs
> those lines is only asking for trouble.

Fair enough.  I agree.

> Sorry. I wasn't understanding your original proposal. As Harsh
> mentioned, Dolphin already has the functionality you're describing via
> the keyboard. Just select the files and hit enter. You're just
> proposing to add this action to the context menu. I think this is a
> good idea, but I would lean toward just "Open" as the action name.

It is good it is already possible with "enter", that should make it
easier to implement.  As for "open", I considered that, but I was
concerned it might be too ambiguous.  I could see people wondering
"open in what?" or "why did these all open in different applications?"
 But I am not really happy with the name I proposed, either.

What, exactly, was unclear?  If I know this I might be able to do a
better job explaining it at the other mailing list.

> Anyway, I should again point out that these are just my personal
> opinions as a Dolphin user. I'm not a member of the Dolphin team, so
> my thoughts hold no real weight. Which reminds me, you should probably
> take this to the kfm-devel list as that's a better place to discuss
> this with real Dolphin developers.

Thanks, I will do so.

-Todd