gtg-gsoc team mailing list archive

[Luca Invernizzi <invernizzi.l@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 09:51:29AM +0200, Bertrand Rousseau wrote:
> Paul Natsuo Kishimoto wrote:
> >Hi,
> >
> >  First, administrivia: if Karlo joins ~gtg-contributors (SoC will
> >certainly make him a major contributor!) then it will be a superset of
> >~gtg-gsoc. We can use the former list and get free input from people who
> >are neither students nor mentors.
> >
> >UI-related thoughts...
> >
> > * Some previous discussion: https://launchpad.net/gtg/+bug/336623 .
> >
> >
> > * I agree the backend UI should be easy to get to. Some applications
> >(e.g. I use Back-In-Time) have a preferences button directly in the main
> >interface. Is this desirable/not for GTG?
> 
> I'm not really for this, but I agree this is nice sometimes. If
> someone as a good feeling, he can post a screenshot/mockup of that.
I agree with Bertrand
> 
> >
> > * How about making the backend UI the first tab of the preferences
> >dialog? As you say, the first preferences tab is currently quite empty.
> >Even if it weren't, "configuration is *always* necessary" means that
> >backend config is more important than the other behaviour options,
> >therefore the tab can be first.
> >
We could do that, but if we want to display the list of  backends and their
configuration in one window, well'need a window format that is short-and-wide
instead of tall-and-thin. Your mockup too has that format.
> >
> > * I would still advocate for something like the UI I describe at the
> >link above. A simpler concept is: backend names in one column, and a
> >list of tags in a second column (instead of one additional column per
> >tag).
> 
> On my side, I would recommend to put down a list of information that
> need to be displayed to the user. Here's what I can think of:
I'll expand the list
 - backend name (must be editable, since we can have multiple instances of the
   same backend
 - tags associated to the backend (must be very easily editable)
 - add/remove a backend
 - backend icon
 - "something is wrong with the backend" (e.g.: not configured
    properly, or bad communication with the server)
 - backend description (only when adding a backend) /author (like plugins)
 - backend enabled/disabled
 - password / some way of get authorization
 - filenames
 - username
 - if we should sync also closed tasks?

Anyway, the list is long and every backend is different. That is why I'm
proposing and Empathy-like ui. I think that Paul's UI is great for advanced
users, but it could be a little confusing for most of our users. I don't think
that the amount of backends per user will be so great that we need an overview
of which tags are associated with which backend.
To lessen that need, I'm thinking about the possibility of showing the backend
icon at the side of the tags in the tags pane (should be optional, and not show
the default backend).

> 
> if I want to edit the backend/add one:
> 
>  - backend form
> 
> >  The point is that the user should be able to see, at-a-glance, which
> >tags are assigned to which backends, instead of going up and down the
> >list in listing_backends.png and assembling that overall picture
> >mentally.
> >
> >
> > * When adding a new backend, it should be possible to choose a backend
> >offered by a plugin that is disabled but *can* be enabled (i.e. is not
> >missing dependencies). Then the plugin is automatically enabled without
> >the user having to touch the 'Plugins' tab.
> 
> I agree with this. I'd let the user know about this, though (simply
> mentionning that activating the backend will enable the plugin
> should suffice I guess).
Do we really want plugins that add backends? Isn't that a bit convoluted?

> 
> >
> > * Icons for backend types — solid idea. Does <> = readwrite, or does it
> >represent XML syntax? Nontechnical users won't understand the latter
> >meaning.
> 
> I guess I would use a generic "file" icon for local file, and the
> service name for other (RTM excepted since we can't seem to have the
> right to use it - how lame)
eheh, you're taking me too seriously. I just needed an icon to use as a test for
programming, and I sketched up that. It should be an xml tag, but I agree is
horrible. We'll be thinking about icons in a couple of months :)
> 
> >
> >On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 00:59 +0200, Luca Invernizzi wrote:
> >>Hello there,
> >> I've started working on the multi-backend support expansion, and I'd
> >> like to discuss with you the UI.
> >> I'll keep it short :)
> >>
> >> First of all, here's the current status:
> >> - added support for keeping only a subset of tasks in the backend (depending
> >>   on the tags)  (70%)
> >> - refactored the handling of the backends. We now have a BackendTypeManager
> >>   which is in charge of backend *types* and generation of new backends, while
> >>   the instances of backends are handled in the datastore. (60%)
> >> - started working on defining a prototype for backends  (50%)
> >> - ui for adding and managing backends   (20%)
> >>
> >>Point of discussion:
> >>- ui for managing backends: the current "preferences ui" is fine for plugins,
> >>  but backends differ from plugins in two points:
> >>  - configuration is *always* necessary
> >>  - they need to be added and removed (since we can have two instances of the
> >>    same backend)
> >>  Therefore, I was evaluating to take backends configuration out of the
> >>  preferences window, in the Edit menu (which is quite empty). This would be
> >>  easier to find for the user and let us use a different interface.
> >>  I've started experimenting with a ui similar to the Empathy account dialog
> >>  (picture attached). Attached you'll see my little experiment.
> >>  I think this ui suits backends better because:
> >>  - we have just one window, not a preference window for each backend.
> >>    This means that everything is one click away and the user always has a
> >>    global view
> >>  - (Ubuntu) users are used to empathy
> >>  I know that this is quite similar to the old plugins preference window. Well,
> >>  fashion is cyclic :D
> >>
> >>  Tell me what you think!
> >>    Luca
> >>
> >>Ps: Yay! I actually remembered to attach pics!
> >
> >Cheers,
> >
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
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