Interesting idea. We are really concerned about extensions causing a lot of clutter and want to make sure that isn't a major problem. We haven't started designing the UI yet, but when we do, we'll keep this idea in mind.
Thanks, - a On Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 6:49 AM, Alg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Now that Chrome is going to support extensions, I would like to make > some suggestions regarding its interface. > > We all know that the major problem with extensions for Firefox is that > they get your browser cluttered, like in this picture. > http://tinyurl.com/5rlbe9 > > On the other side, Chrome's major benefit is its clean, uncluttered > interface. > > My suggestion as a compromise between a clean interface and the power > of extensions is to hide the clutter from the main chrome, using > something similar to MacOS's Dashboard. > > The details of this idea would be better presented with concept > drawings, but I am lazy, so just use your imagination to fill the > blanks. > > There would be only one additional button on browser's chrome, which > when pressed would bring up a translucent dashboard over the current > tab. It could also be quickly accessed by a keyboard shortcut, a mouse > gesture or even showing the top N widgets near the mouse cursor when > the user hovers over the tab. The dashboard/widget's context would be > the current tab, of course. > > Now, imagine a MacOS dashboard, but instead of a weather widget, you > would see a delicious widget, with an field for you to tag the current > page. > > To better manage the several extensions, they could be separated in > tabs. There would be a Main tab, with the most accessed extensions, > and tabs for other categories, such as Web Development, Security, > Utilities etc. All them with the current tab as the context. > (Although, the extension could also be context less) > > Another example. Instead of showing a Firebug icon on the right > bottom, like in firefox, it would appear on the dashboard, maybe > already showing some useful information if activated or not. When > clicked, it would open a pane on the bottom, just like in Firefox. Or, > in the case of a Noscript extension, probably all of its functions > could be accessed directly from the dashboard, without the need to > open another pane/window. > > Then there's the need to alert the user that something important > happened, like an extension that checks for new emails. Alerts could > be implemented by showing an alert icon on the button used to access > the dashboard, together with the number of alerts. When pressed, the > dashboard would show up with the alerts on the top of the main > dashboard tab. Or the button could be a drop down that would show the > alerts when hold pressed, whatever is better. > > Of course, the dashboard would only be used to unclutter the main > browser chrome. Other kinds of interface, like Skype clickable phone > number, would work just like in other browsers. > > I think it would be pretty cool, specially the hover over the tab, > showing the Top N widgets, so you could have a stumbledupon or > bugmenot widget quickly accessible, for instance. > > What do you think? > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Chromium-dev" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/chromium-dev?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
