[Panel-devel] Systray (was Re: Drag'n'drop everything)

[Vince Negri]

Georges A.K. wrote:

> This [the systray] has been discussed God knows how many times ! And
> although it's has been impossible to form a consensus, we did agree
> on that the systray shouldn't become a 2nd taskbar. If anything, the
> taskbar has to be modified to suit the needs of the users. The
> systray is more of a notificaiton area (although it's not that black
> and white).

There are some general principles that for me define the essence of 
systray-ness:

1) There can be only one (Highlander principle ;) Given that it 
primarily displays notifications or activity signs - shall we say 
"at-a-glance info"? - it makes no sense for the user to have to scan N 
different screen locations. Contrast with launcher/applet panels, which 
can be usefully distributed over the screen.

2) Objects in the systray are singular: that is to say, you don't want 
two icons that look the same in the systray, even it they relate to 
different instances of something. This is because
identical icons need to be differentiated by hovering the mouse over 
them, and then you lose the at-a-glance-ness. Contrast with a taskbar, 
where you do have to potentially negotiate 12 identically-iconed 
document windows.

3) Objects in the systray relate to something that is already "working"
on the machine. So they can relate to hardware (which is obviously 
always "running") or a running program. Contrast with launcher buttons, 
which start something running that wasn't running before.

4) Objects in the systray are dynamic (they can change appearance, show 
toaster popups etc.)


Also, the systray contents (what objects are in the systray) are a 
slow-changing set, unlike a taskbar. Systray objects are things you want 
to monitor day in, day out: programs in AutoStart, daemons, etc. The 
systray wants to get your attention when something has changed, and this 
is most easily achieved when the user becomes very familiar with its 
contents.

Lastly, anyone who wants to put something in the systray which isn't 
hardware/system monitoring needs to ask "how does this improve workflow?"