Widget Explorer usability problems

[Hans Chen]

Hey,

On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 21:48, Aaron J. Seigo <aseigo at kde.org> wrote:

> > 6. An option is needed to remove running widgets.
>
> why? (and just to warn you, we've already been through this one; i have yet
> to
> see any compelling reason to add this to the UI)


I would like this option as well since are some (third-party) widgets that
aren't visible. (And just to warn you, I haven't followed the other
discussion; I apologize if I bring up the same old stuff). Some I can think
of:

   - Widgets that only show up after an event or "randomly" - for the latter
   see bkodama[1].
   - Invisible widgets such as PanelShadow[2] and iHateTheCashew[3] (which
   I'm sure has been mentioned in the previous discussions).

While iHateTheCashew isn't exactly a good example (remove it to show
something - kind of backwards), but I wonder how such invisible widgets
should be handled otherwise.

My idea is to turn the "Running Widgets" category into a kind of task
manager, but for widgets. I see that Sean is thinking along the same lines.
This would mean:

   - No running indicator - all widgets in the Running category are running
   after all. The other categories are acting as a "start menu" - the purpose
   is to add widgets, you don't care which are running or not.
   - No grouping - if there are two Folder View widgets on your desktop(s),
   show two Folder View icons in the Running category.
   - Remove from tooltip - the tooltips should show information about a
   specific widget, e.g. which activity it's in. There should also be a remove
   button to remove that specific widget.
      - It would be great if it could get a effect similar to "Highlight
      Window" - hovering an icon shows the corresponding widget (this would
      require compositing of course). Would this be possible?
      - The tooltip could also show a configure button, to configure
      invisible widgets.

Seeing this list, I agree that it doesn't fit in the Add Widgets bar. The
Running category is too different from the others (what would happen if you
tried to add a widget from it - create a "copy" of a specific widget?). I
don't know how this Activity bar is supposed to work, but maybe such a
"widget manager" could fit there?

With best regards,
Hans Chen

-
[1] http://kde-look.org/content/show.php/bkodama?content=106528
[2] http://kde-look.org/content/show.php/PanelShadows?content=92056
[3] http://kde-look.org/content/show.php/I+HATE+the+Cashew?content=91009
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