unity-design team mailing list archive

[Thorsten Wilms <t_w_@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On 05/18/2011 02:32 AM, Felix Lawrence wrote:

> http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/05/os-xgnome-3-style-dialog-sheets-coming-to-ubuntu-11-10/

> Firstly, Ubuntu's dialog sheets should be draggable inside their
> parent window.  The sheet could even be dragged to be mostly outside
> the parent window, with only a small region of overlap.  The sheet
> would not be able to be dragged completely outside the parent window
> - it must at least partially overlap its parent at all times.  This
> allows the user to see/select any text in the parent window, while
> the sheet is still 'stuck' to the parent window.

The only sane reason I see for wanting to move the sheet is to get a 
better view of the application window (usually the content area, 
specifically). That desire should only come up if you need a second look 
to decide on something to be carried out via the dialog.

But why obstruct the content area in the first place? A movable sheet 
would be better than a fixed one, but it adds to the window management 
hassle. These thoughts led me to create the following mockups (in 2007, 
explaining that brutal GNOME look):
http://thorwil.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/save_changes_01_i.png
http://thorwil.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/save_changes_02_i.png

The window should be resized to make room for the embedded dialog. If 
the window already fills the screen, the content area would have to 
shrink (and zoom out). After being told the resizing would be too hard 
to make happen, I made:
http://thorwil.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/save_changes_03_i.png


BTW, I think dialogs should not have window close buttons, because it is 
not obvious if those are equal to Cancel or not. Also, providing several 
means of doing the same thing can slow users down because of requiring a 
decision.

One could even consider to style the bottom area of a dialog like a 
title bar, as the most common commands there will Close the window.


--
Thorsten Wilms

thorwil's design for free software:
http://thorwil.wordpress.com/