Re: [Ayatana] Message Indicator: Listing apps in menu even if they are not on

[Mark Shuttleworth <mark@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Scott E. Armitage wrote:

I disagree. If the menu options clearly invite you to DTRT, then you shouldn't have to worry about things like "the process is running". You click on the menu, you start watching email, you get notifications, you jump to your relevant email folder.

Mark

Yes and no.. I agree that you shouldn't have to worry about it, but there should still be some sort of visual indicator. Just as an example, the OS X dock leaves a little blue indicator below icons of processes that are running, but for which you have closed all windows. It does not affect the behaviour of the dock (clicking the icon will still either focus the most recent window or, if there are none open, start a new one), but the user can see the difference.

It's a good point, but I think it's more applicable to applications which are focal points in their own right. I think messaging is moving into the background - it's just there, and shouldn't be a focal point in its own right. In UNR in 10.04 we'll have a launcher on the side of the screen. If you put the email client in your launcher, then you'd see the indication that it's running. But if you don't think of that service as a first class citizen and just leave it in the background, then let it stay there, exposed only in the menu.

Let's try it out with more appropriate menu items. If that's not enough, we'll do something more specifically visual to indicate that a messaging service is on or off in a future iteration.

Mark

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