"new activity" choices

[Chani]

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".
(I have had to show people where to find the wallpaper config actually. so 
there is something in that.)

> 
> 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?

> 
> being able to say "i want a Grouping Desktop" is much more like what we do
> in the real world as well: we open a drawer and select the tool we want.
> we don't very often pull out a hammer every time and then turn the hammer
> into a screwdriver later on.

true - tbh I find it kinda weird that you *can* change the plugin after the 
fact.

> 
> 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.)

> 
> > -put one "empty desktop" option in the root menu
> 
> aligns well with "Empty panel".
> 
> > -put templates in a sub-menu (if there's >1 of course)
> 
> agreed. and put plugins in there too. be sure to alphabetize the list :)

ok :)

> 
> > and perhaps also:
> > -put one good template in the root menu.
> 
> "empty desktop" is that good template, no?

perhaps. I'm not certain, and I wonder if it'd be worth letting distros 
decide...
well, we can just do empty-desktop for now, and I can think about the 
implications of promoting a special template. it's an easy feature to add 
later. :)

> 
> so we'd get:
> 
> Empty desktop
> Clone current activity
> Templates ->
> 	Grid
> 	Grouping Desktop
> 	Search and Launch
> 	Sunny Fun Template By Someone
> 	... etc
> 
> ?

yes. hmm. technically it's templates & plugins, though...
"Templates" or "More"?

-- 
Chani
http://chani.ca
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