"new activity" choices

[Aaron J. Seigo]

On Sunday, October 31, 2010, Chani wrote:
> On October 31, 2010 17:14:31 Aaron J. Seigo wrote:
> > On Sunday, October 31, 2010, Chani wrote:
> > > -remove the choice of plugins, default to "desktop"
> > 
> > which effectively relegates them to a hidden option. it's really not
> > discoverable when it is in the configuration dialog.
> 
> umm... by that logic, wallpaper is also a "hidden option".

it is. the saving grace is that many people have learned that the coniguration 
for it usually exists  in the context menu somewhere or that you can drop an 
image on the desktop to change it.

the wallpaper isn't a valuable / critical enough setting to try to elevate it 
further, however.

> > worse is when you really _do_ want to use, say, "Grouping Desktop". then
> > you have to create an activity, then go to its configuration dialog and
> > make changes there. versus just selecting what you want right away.
> 
> what makes the choice of plugin more important than the choice of wallpaper
> or the name of the activity?

wallpaper is not particularly tied to key functionality: it's a nice addition. 
it also usually requires more than just a choice: it begs for further 
configuration (e.g. just picking "slideshow" isn't useful enough on its own 
usually; "weather" even less so).

the name isn't selectable from a menu (for obvious reasons). it probably isn't 
the first thing one thinks of when defining what it is they want.

so if we have to pick one of those three things to offer at the moment of 
selection, i'd suggest it should be the containment type.

> > and what's the difference, to the user, between a plugin and a scripted
> > template? i don't think there is any, really: they both create a type of
> > layout for your activity. that one is a stand alone plugin and one is a
> > script that loads stand alone plugins is pretty much an irrelevant
> > detail.
> 
> fair enough (although the templates will hopefully have less confusing
> names, at least. one of the disadvantages of the menu is you can't see the
> long descriptions.)

those can be added as tooltips or we can do a "fancy" menu at some point that 
has the descriptions as "subtext" to the entries.

> > 	Grid
> > 	Grouping Desktop
> > 	Search and Launch
> > 	Sunny Fun Template By Someone
> > 	... etc
> > 
> > ?
> 
> yes. hmm. technically it's templates & plugins, though...

technically, but nobody cares.

> "Templates" or "More"?

Template is a well known term, both in software and in the real world. it's 
more specific than "More" which is rather vague.

-- 
Aaron J. Seigo
humru othro a kohnu se
GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA  EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43

KDE core developer sponsored by Qt Development Frameworks
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