Emphasize locality graphically

[Claes H]

On 8/10/07, Peter Penz <peter.penz at gmx.at> wrote:
> Dolphin remembers the following things for each directory already:
> - current view mode (icons, details, columns)
> - preview on/off
> - grouping on/off
> - sorting (name, size, type, date, ...)
> - show hidden files on/off
>
> Especially the different view modes and the grouping mechanism gives already
> much "identity" to each directory visually.

Although this identity relies on the user making choices, right? It
will not be visually distinctive unless the user makes these choices.
My idea is to give every directory a visual identity no matter what
actions the user has taken on it. Just like things in our everyday
environment appears different without us asking for it.

> > This I think would ease browsing in several windows at once, and when
> > browsing certain directories many times over. With visually
> > distinctive features, this is faster and easier than if you have to
> > read the text of icons and path, I believe.
> >
> > For example, the background could have a slightly different color
> > and/or shade. Or there could be difference in pattern in a corner. The
> > color or pattern could be randomly generated using the directory path
> > as seed. Or it could be computed from the directory depth. Or some
> > other algorithm.. The important features are
>
> I personally don't see any improvement when having different backgrounds for
> different directories. Also calculating them by "some algorithm" is.. well, I
> cannot imagine that people will like it when the algorithm calculates a light
> green color which overwrites their custom background color ;-)

True. I think the problem here is that this idea would work terribly
unless the design of the identity blends in well.  Ideally you should
not think about it, it should just be there.
Realizing this might be hard, especially with computing algorithms
rather than, let's say, a large supply of suitable images. Therefore I
can't really say how it should look like . But one example on my mind
is a very faint background image that changes shape and/or location in
each directory.

> >  - that the graphic for a directory should always look the same when
> > returning - that it should be different between directories
> >  - that it should work for every directory
>
> This works already.
>
> > I imagine this graphic separate from its icon, although perhaps it is
> > possible to join somehow.
>
> Sorry, I don't understand this one...

Basically what I meant is that a directory has an icon that represents
it when viewed from the parent directory. If there would be (for
example) a color displayed "in" this directory, the icon could share
this color.

> > Going further, you could imagine plugins generating the graphical
> > part: given a directory path - return the graphic.
> >
> > Does this make sense to you?
>
> I agree that each directory should remember its view properties [1], but I
> don't see the background or a pattern as part of such a property...

Fair enough!

Thanks,
Claes