[KimDaBa] Default layout, no selected images, removing properties, member-groups.

[Jean-Michel FAYARD]

Hello, I have let a computer-illiterate user (my mother) use Kimdaba for 
a  quite long period and have observed her, and while she was able to 
use this software generally well, there is a couple of things that can 
be improved :



*** about the ability to drag off part of the setting-properties dialog 
box : apart that it should be explained in a hint, it is very useful.
But my mother frequently ends up with a messy setting-properties dialog
after having hiding _randomly_ thing1, thing2 and trying to show thing2 
again and dragging thing3. I had no other solution than restarting Kimdaba.
Solution : add << restore default layout >> in the << options >> menu


*** Kimdaba needs to rethink what it should do when no images is selected:

I wrote this complaint earlier :
===
  about the export in html :
     Imagine a typical case : i have photo with my girlfriend, and I want
     to send that album to her. I « search » those photos, then click on
     « view images », then « File > Export to html »
     Currently, kimdaba complains that there is no item selected, and
     seems to export to an album, but this album is empty.
     This is wrong IMHO : in this case like in most case, I just want
     to export all photos which are in the current view.
===

I know understand it was not just about html export. Kimdaba should act 
if no image is selected as if all images were selected :
+ if you want to launch a slideshow, just click on one image, and start
the slideshow with 'S' (my user wasn't able to understand the current 
behaviour). Digikam act like this.
+ when my user wanted to set properties one by one, she just hitted 
Ctrl-1 on one picture, and then didn't understand where were the 
<<previous>> and <<back>> buttons. I had to explain, she must go back,
and select all images.
+ exception : Ctrl-2 should not work on all images. too dangerous
+ not to mention : you just cannot currently apply an action (export to 
html or whatever a future plugin will do) on all images : you can
just apply it on the first 100 images matching the current filter.



*** Removing properties
Problem : my user had to remove some properties on a picture. She just 
removed the ones that she was able to see without moving the scrollbar.
It was not very intuitive that there was other (hidden) selected properties.
Solution : move the properties already set on a images in the top of the 
list (in a way we can still benefit from the Last Recently Typed algorithm)



*** member-groups
they are not as easy as they could be. My user didn't use them.

Jedd wrote a few days earlier :
<<  Member groups are good for some things, but can't guarantee that
  every image will be represented in the parent group.  That is, you
  have to manually ensure that sydney, brisbane, melbourne, hobart,
  are all part of the australia group -- and when you add a new city
  group, you have to remember to add it into the parent group.  With
  small data this is easy, but there's no way to force you do this. >>

I think they are two main problems : 1) you have to remember to group 
items in a group AFTER   2) if you do remember to do it and you have a 
long list of items (I have 144 persons) it is difficult and boring to 
find them all.
An example when it was very boring : I discovered a old picture with all 
pupils of my class in a primary school. I wrote their 25 names to be 
sure to remember them all after, and I had, to close the property 
dialog, open <<Configure Kimdaba>>, hit <<member groups>>, choose 
<<locations>> and find thoses 25 names in the big list.

My solution to problems 1) and 2) : in the setting properties dialog 
box, we could have for each category an entry box labelled <<add 
selected items in group...>>. (the group is created if needed)

With this solution, if I have a picture of 10 members of the family 
Addams and two other persons, it's OK : I type the names of the members 
of the family Addams, add selected item in group <<Family Addams>> and 
then type the name of the two other persons.



-- 
Puisque le débat sur l'intelligence est posé dans notre pays, il existe 
aussi une intelligence de la main et elle n'a pas de complexe à avoir 
cette intelligence de la main, parce que elle, elle communique 
directement avec le coeur
	Jean-Pierre Raffarin