This topic is for brainstorming future development of the admin UI. Please do not report bugs with the current one in this topic, since its purpose is not fixing the current admin.
Here are a few ideas. 1. Sites section 1.1 Workbench The workbench would be the space below the current top panel. It would occupy the entire space below the panel and would contain icons representing apps, as well as some miscellanous features such as twitter feed. The admin would be expandable via plugins, and plugins would provide workbench icons that would appear on the... err... workbench. :) 1.2 Admin bar The admin bar would be an extension to the current panel at the top. It would contain menu items that open modal dialogs containing the functionality of the items in the current sidebar (web2py update, creation of new apps, deployment on GAE, etc). The functionality that is already in the top panel would become part of the admin bar with the same status (importance) as the ones currently on the sidebar. 1.3 Twitter feed The twitter feed would be presented as a separate non-modal window which can be closed (minimized to an icon). This feature will represent an example of the admin plugin as well, and it should be developed separately but included by default. 1.4 App icons The workbench app icons should behave more or less like desktop icons. Clicking on them opens the design view, and hovering over the icons opens a toolbar with less commonly used features like packaging and testing. All apps can have custom 128x128px icons in png format. The icon can be placed into the app directory as ``appicon.png``. The icon can also be uploaded at (a) app creation time via the admin bar, or (b) later via design view, or (c) during creation via the wizard. 2.0 Design window The design window will be a non-modal window expandable to 100% space of the workbench. It is has the functionality currently offered by the design view. The design window will behave much like a desktop IDE. It will have tabbed edit space, and a file list on the left. The file list will be a panel that is separated horizontally into two boxes. The top box (top panel) contains the project tree, and the bottom panel will contain various information about the file (what method it exposes, etc). The specific advantage of having a non-modal design window would be the ability to open multiple design windows at once, enabling copying of code between projects, etc. 2.1 Project tree Project tree is a expandable node system. Multiple root nodes correspond to current design view subsections (Models, Controllers, etc). Child nodes correspond to the directory/file hierarchy. Clicking on the root node expands it or collapses it. Right-clicking the root node offers options like "Expand all children", "Collapse", "Collapse all sections", etc. By default, all root nodes are expanded. Child nodes can be either file nodes or directory nodes. Dir node behaves the same way as root node. File nodes have a context menu that offers functionality such as testing, editing, or deletion. Clicking on a file node updates the info panel (bottom panel). Double clicking the file node opens it in the editor in the edit panel (right panel). It would be interesting to see revision control integrated with the file panel as well. 2.2 Editor panel The editor panel (edit space) on the right is a tabbed interface containing the editor of choice. It enables editing of multiple files and switching between them using the tabs. A tab has an X mark that allows closing it. 2.3 Design bar The design bar has the appearance similar to admin bar, but with options specific to design view. It doesn't replace the admin bar, but it appears attached to the design window. All design bar functionality should open non-modal windows of their own. This allows you to, for example, view the code and the ticket(s) side-by-side, etc. This philosophy extends to pluigin view as well, so plugin view opens a new non-modal design window containing the plugin-related functionality. That's it for now. I'll keep adding things as I think of them. -- Branko Vukelić [email protected] [email protected] Check out my blog: http://www.brankovukelic.com/ Check out my portfolio: http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxbunny/ Registered Linux user #438078 (http://counter.li.org/) I hang out on identi.ca: http://identi.ca/foxbunny Gimp Brushmakers Guild http://bit.ly/gbg-group
