[Sugar-devel] [DESIGN] control panel window

[Sascha Silbe]

Excerpts from Walter Bender's message of Fri Jun 25 10:19:14 +0000 2010:

> It is nt clear to me what are the tasks that require the CP to be
> modal. For many operations, it seems that already, when we change a
> setting that is going to impact activities, etc., we request a restart
> already, Why not wait until then to "go modal". Meanwhile, we could
> behave as a normal activity, full screen with vertical scrolling (and
> perhaps a more prominent indication that there is more below. (I heard
> in both lpy and .uy that people are not discovering controls that are
> off the screen to the right.)
+1

Let's make the control panel behave like an activity (including showing
a matching icon in the Frame).

In general, if you feel a desire to make something modal, please take a
step back and rethink your entire approach. Chances are you're doing
something fundamentally wrong. In just about every system I've used so
far, modal dialogs (!= application modes) are a major PITA for the user.

Our WiFi pass phrase dialog is a nice example of what not to do: It can
pop up randomly on a currently inactive screen and prevent me from typing
in the current activity without any indication why it's not reacting to
my keystrokes anymore. I also can't look up the password while the dialog
is open - I need to close the dialog, look up the password and retry the
connection. In this particular case I don't even see a reason for the
dialog to be modal.
One way to approach the pass phrase dialog problem would be to make it
similar to a notification: Flash the WiFi device icon in one of the
corners and highlight it in the Frame. Add an indication about the
missing password to the device icon palette, with an option to take the
user to the corresponding control panel (again, non-modal). Alternatively,
provide a way for the user to enter the pass phrase directly on the
palette (we already have widgets for that, used in activity tool bars).

Sascha

--
http://sascha.silbe.org/
http://www.infra-silbe.de/
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