[kde-guidelines] HIG for search needed (?)

[Thomas Pfeiffer]

Hi everyone,
David just pointed a change to the new Kickoff Plasmoid out to me which 
- at least to me - makes it clear that we need an HIG for the 
implementation of search functionality.
The change in this case was that the visible search/filter bar was 
replaced by a hidden one, which only becomes visible as you type. This 
is basically what GNOME/GTK apps do (e.g. Nautilus or Pidgin).
I think whether search/filter bars should be always visible or appear as 
the user types is debatable (KDE apps currently go for always visible 
and work fine with it, GTK apps work okay with hidden ones as well). 
What is not debatable is one Plasmoid going against all the rest. While 
I think convincing the Kickoff people to change it back should be easy 
enough, this clearly shows to me that an HIG for search features is 
necessary.
It should not only define whether search fields are always visible or 
not, but also how search results should be presented, whether the search 
be within or only from the beginning, etc.

Do you guys agree that such an HIG is necessary? If so, I think we 
should first decide whether KDE should stick to always visible search 
fields or switch to hidden ones, then I can start writing the guideline 
(unless Heiko would like to step up to do it ;) ).

Cheers,
Thomas