[Thunar-dev] Some UI Ideas

[Jasper Huijsmans]

On Mon, Mar 07, 2005 at 09:47:47AM -0500, Adam Scheinberg wrote:
> Hey everyone, 
> 
> I'm new to this list, so please forgive me for not being complete up
> to speed on the conversations so far.
> 
> I have used many different varieties of Linux for several years, and I
> really believe that XFCE4 is a great environment.  One thing I'd like
> to chime in on, as an end user more than anything else, is the spatial
> metaphor.
> 

As it looks now the file manager will be navigational. The gtk file chooser can 
hardly be called spatial, can it?

[...]
> 
> I've a fan of Rox and the way it works on the new FreesBIE like CD.  
> 

Is that different from default Rox behaviour?

> Some things I really enjoy in a file manager: 

Remember, our goal is not to make the perfect file manager. Our goal is to
make a very simple file manager that works well for basic file management
tasks.

> 1. The ability to preview text files in the icon, and preview audio with a hover

Not sure this is within the scope of a simple file manager.

> 2. An easy-to-add address bar.  Not everyone loves them, but I don't
> think the idea of browsing should be separated from the fm.

Currently we're evaluating the use of gtkfilechooser-like path buttons and
have a Ctrl-L location dialog. That's my personal favorite layout of all the
ui mockups that we (read: benny) made.

> 3. The ability to easily mount and browser remote systems via SSH,
> FTP, NFS, and SMB.

I don't think so. Use a 'big' filemanager, like nautilus for that. That's only
my personal opinion though.

> 4. A "smart" view.  It should default to icons for a folder with only
> a few files, but list view when you're browsing a folder with lots of
> files.  If I choose a specific view, like "Detailed," it should
> remember that for that folder.

A spatial feature ;-) One of the most confusing/annoying things in windows
explorer is how it sometimes does and at other times doesn't remember layout.
Not sure about this one.

> 4a. A simple, clean, small list view that shrinks down for directories
> with lots of files and subfolders.  In Gnome and KDE, when I browse
> into a huge folder full of mp3s, it doesn't layout in a simple compact
> way.  One thing about most Linux DEs is that everything always feels
> so damn big, from KDE's kicker to Gnome's huge file icons.  It would
> be nice if it felt as compact as when I'm using Windows.

Interesting. Rox can do that as well, IIRC.

> 5. When you traverse up the directory structure, it should, a la Rox,
> blink around the folder you just exited.  This may not be useful when
> moving from, say, /usr to /, but it could help if you're going from
> ~/downloads up a level - because you might have directories called
> ~/torrents, ~/gift, ~/media, etc.
> 

The filechooser buttons solve this nicely by showing the deepest hierarchy in
the history, i.e. going up one level doesn't remove the button of the last
directory.

> Anyway, just wanted to pipe in a few thoughts.  Apologies if they are
> re-hashes.
> 

Thanks for joining the discussion ;-)

	Jasper