Scott, On Wed, 2011-04-20 at 11:32 -0600, Scott Pledger wrote:
> Oh, I see! Well here are links to it: > > http://pledgecomputers.com/LibreOffice/Redesign/Concept.pdf > http://pledgecomputers.com/LibreOffice/Redesign/Concept.odg > > Thanks! > Scott R. Pledger > > > > On Wed, Apr 20, 2011 at 11:11, RGB ES <[email protected]> wrote: > > > 2011/4/20 Scott Pledger <[email protected]>: > > > Hi all, this is my first time proposing something to such an important > > Open > > > Source project, so I hope I'm doing this correctly. > > > I've had this idea for a while now and I wanted to see what everyone here > > > thought of it, so here it goes! > > > > > > Its based on two simple premises. First, I noticed that monitors are > > > getting wider but the documents we type up are still vertically oriented. > > > Secondly, I find floating toolbars to be extremely cumbersome. So I > > decided > > > I'd try to tackle both of these issues in a simple, easy-to-use manner. > > > Attached to this email is the concept that I currently have (or at least > > > the beginnings of it). So, here's my plan: > > > > > > 1. Have a single toolbar at the top that contains actions that can be > > > used no matter what application you're using. > > > 2. Move any additional toolbars to the right hand side and organize > > them > > > into groups based on what the user currently has selected. So let's > > say > > > you're editing a Writer document and you have some text selected that > > is in > > > a Table. You would have 3 primary categories (at the top of the > > right-hand > > > part of the screen): Document, Table, and Text. 'Document' is always > > > present and handles document-wide settings. Table might contain > > > subcategories of Row, Column, Cell, and Display. All of these would > > contain > > > toolbar items to modify aspects of these subcategories. Text then, > > might > > > contain Font, Paragraph, and Section as subcategories. And so on and > > so > > > forth. I also had the idea that hovering over a primary category or a > > > subcategory might emphasize what would be affected in the main document > > area > > > by shading everything else, but I also know that that would not be a > > > necessity. For the purposes of the design, this right-hand area can be > > > called the context tool panel. > > > 3. Move the menus to the left-hand side, placing them above whatever is > > > typically the left side of any given LibreOffice application. > > (Impress/Draw > > > -> Slides, etc.). Clicking one of these would then cause a panel to be > > > displayed categorizing items in the same manner as the context tool > > panel > > > which would contain the different actions the user can take. > > > 4. Possibly: Allow for LibreOffice to run everything from a single > > window > > > by having a tab row at the top of the screen. (I'm still not sold on > > this > > > idea, so let me know what you think.) > > > > > > When it came to actually designing this new layout, I tried to pull from > > the > > > current LibreOffice icons as much as possible, mainly because I think > > they > > > are absolutely awesome! > > > > > > Also, I do want to be forthcoming - I'm no UX or Design professional. > > I'm a > > > Computer Science major in the US, but I think that this kind of layout > > can > > > not only give LibreOffice one of the most unique and (in my mind) usable > > > User Interfaces on the planet, but I also think that it can help > > LibreOffice > > > to be the very best office suite on the planet. Also, let me know if > > this > > > was the wrong place to post - like I said, I'm new to this particular > > > project! > > > > > > Thanks! > > > Scott Pledger > > > > > > > This mailing list do not allow attachments, so if you sent one we > > cannot see it ;) > > The concept you present is quite similar to calligra suite interface: > > http://www.calligra-suite.org/ > > which, I agree, has very good concepts and a great potential. > > > > -- > > Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to [email protected] > > Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette > > List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/www/design/ > > All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be > > deleted > > > > > I agree the ideas are good and has great potential. A historical note, the "normal" menu system was adopted in the 80's because of the display size, the monitors were may 10" wide. There was no room for the type of display you are describing, it works well with the wider displays of today. I like that the main work is full height, tool bars on the side do not shorten the work area. Pinguy Linux uses a variation with docked bars to the left side and bottom. Microsoft is trying something like what you mentioned with the ribbon. Your idea may not require changing the actual tool bars, only which are displayed and the location. -- Jay Lozier [email protected] -- Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to [email protected] Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/www/design/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
