[DISCUSS] K HIG Toolbars

[seele at obso1337.org]

i think the floating toolbar is key to tool-based applications such as
drawing programs.  my two concerns with floating/side toolbars are:

1) is there a better way?
2) how can we define proper context of these kinds of toolbars so they
arnt abused.

i see they are necessary because we dont know of a better way or this *is*
the best way.  in that case we need to define what they are used for and
why.

as a sidenote, id like to comment on something ive heard floating around:

the HIG isnt meant to stifle innovation or interface evolution. it is
meant to give developers guidelines on consistency, function and usability
principles they may not be familiar with.  that doesnt mean developers
cant think outside the box; the hig just protects users from experimental
design that hasnt been tested yet.

> Thomas Zander wrote:
>
>> In fact; if you start karbon you will see a toolbar "Tools" appear at
>> the
>> top, which would surely look much nicer if it started at the left (or
>> even floating).
>
> There is talk of dropping floating toolbars.  There are some problems
> with them, but I think that it would be a mistake to drop them -- much
> better to fix the problems.
>
> --
> JRT
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