Split View in dolphin usability issue

[Frank Reininghaus]

Hi,

2013/1/7 Daniel Kreuter:
>
> Hi,
>
> Am 07.01.2013 13:47 schrieb "Todd":
>
>> On Jan 7, 2013 1:44 PM, "Daniel Kreuter"
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Hi Frank,
>> >
>> > Am 07.01.2013 13:21 schrieb "Frank Reininghaus"
>> > <frank78ac at googlemail.com>:
>> >
>> > >
>> > > Hi Daniel,
>> > >
>> > > thanks for your message!
>> > >
>> > > 2013/1/7 Daniel Kreuter:
>> > > > Hi,
>> > > >
>> > > > While using the split view in dolphin I found a strange behavior
>> > > > where I
>> > > > don't know if this is the way it should behave.
>> > > > When I'm finished using the split view I would expect the currently
>> > > > active
>> > > > half to become the new single view but just the opposite is the
>> > > > case.
>> > > > I would like to change this behavior so that the effect the user
>> > > > gets isn't
>> > > > surprising or annoying.
>> > > >
>> > > > Is there anyone else who would like to see this change in dolphin?
>> > > > If so i
>> > > > will start working on it.
>> > >
>> > > I understand that one might often want to keep the active view, rather
>> > > than the other one. However, a quick Bugzilla search did not yield any
>> > > indication that the current behaviour is a problem for many users.
>> > >
>> > > On the other hand, any behaviour change is likely to break workflows
>> > > that people got used to (does anyone remember what happened after the
>> > > automatic resizing in the Places Panel was disabled [1] ?). Therefore,
>> > > I think that it might be better not to change it.
>> > >
>> > > Best regards,
>> > > Frank
>> > >
>> > > [1] https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=301959
>> >
>> > Maybe I can introduce a new setting for this change so the user can
>> > decide which behavior suits his needs. The default would be the old
>> > behavior.
>> >
>> > I will create a feature request on bko later when I'm at home.
>> >
>> > Greetings,
>> > Daniel
>>
>> I am not sure a setting is necessary, another toolbar button with the
>> alternative functionality would probably be sufficient.
>
> I don't think that a new toolbar button would be the ideal solution because
> this may confuse the user as there would be two buttons which do the same on
> the first sight but only react different when closing the split view.

Adding a new setting often looks like the easiest way to make everyone
happy. However, every option makes the settings dialog (which might
have too many options already) less usable, and therefore, one should
only add new options if there is a very good reason to do it. IMHO,
this might not be the case here, considering that we did not get many
requests for a different behaviour of the button yet.

Adding another action (including a new toolbar button) looks slightly
better, but this should also be done only if there is a good reason to
do it, and I'm not sure if that is the case. Moreover, one would need
a new icon and a descriptive name for the new action that prevents
confusion (not easy given that the name of the current action changes
based on the current state, Split/Close) and, no matter which approach
would be taken, quite a bit of code that needs to be maintained.

Best regards,
Frank