Ubuntu Wiki

• Launchpad Entry: https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/extra-desktop-planning

• Created: 2005-10-31 by SebastienBacher

• Contributors: JeffWaugh, MarkShuttleworth, MattZimmerman, ScottJamesRemnant

• Packages affected:

Summary

Changes to the default Ubuntu desktop configuration for Dapper will include improvements to GDM's language list; incorporating NetworkManager; changes to the logout/shutdown workflow, the update notifier, and the "Add to Panel" dialog; and tweaks to various applets.

Rationale

• Michael finds the list of language screen of the login screen pretty ugly. It doesn't match the nice default theme.
• Scott thinks that the in/out activity of the default network applet is pretty disturbing.
• Claire has just discovered how to change workspaces while clicking by error on the corresponding applet. She thinks that's a nice feature but it should be easier to figure what these squares on the bottom panel do.

Desktop Changes

GDM

See also GdmRoadmap.

The current language list is ugly and doesn't match the login screen theme.

We are going to:

• add icons to the context menu (shutdown, restart, suspend, change language, session)
• replace all the bottom/left actions with a single "Advanced" item that brings up the context menu
• remove the language and session options, because they can be accessed through the "Advanced" menu
• we may come up with a different string for the "Advanced" menu button
• change the way to list the languages
• give indications on how to add a new language in the language list selector.

The options for the list of languages are still to discuss:

• list only the language (i.e. english) with a disclosure widget for the variants

• sort the languages by region?

The session menu has a "Default System Session" item. [http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=302165 What it does is not clear], so we are going to rename it.

network-applet vs. Network Manager

The in/out activity of network-applet is annoying. This will be fixed by moving to Network Manager. It should be pushed as soon as possible to get feedback on it.

"Log Out" is not easy enough to find

We are going to put a button in the top-right corner for this. This will bring up a new logout / shut down session dialog (see below), with no radio buttons, and "Cancel" as the default button.

The session dialog need to be reworked

The current dialog is quite ugly. We are going to design a new one, which:

• uses different categories for logout/switch user and shutdown/reboot
• doesn't use radio button, but has each option as a button instead
• has "Cancel" as the default action.

Workspace switcher

We want to keep this applet on the default panel because it's a nice, powerful feature that users like and that Windows doesn't have. It's not obvious though, so we are going to add a tooltip for it (like the clock applet one). The tooltip will say "Switch between Workspaces" or "Switch to Workspace X".

battstat applet or gnome-power-manager

The battery-on-panel (whether implemented as battstat or gnome-power-manager) artwork needs to be reworked. Nokia has a nice icon for this. The icon should take no more space than the current battstat, and it needs to have the same basic style (battery when on battery, plug when on power), but it needs to show the battery charge level while the battery is charging too. The best proposal we have so far is a subtle but visible overlay of power plug over the current charge level battery icon.

update notifier

• We will try to behave similarly to the Windows user experience
• The notifier popup will just have an [x] to close it, to click on.
• Clicking anywhere in the notifier popup will actually close it.
• This means that the only way to activate the update manager is to click on the notifier icon itself, not on the popup.

"Add to Panel" dialog

We are going to rework the first category ("Launchers & Menus").

• Make clear the difference between "Main Menu" and "Menu Bar" with icons that represent how they work: "1 menu opening up" and "3 menus opening down".
• move the renamed "Main Menu" and "Menu Bar" items into "Utilities"
• change the "Create launcher" and "Launcher from menu item" icons into buttons, so it is seperated from the rest of the applets, due it requiring further interaction by the user

• having tooltips on mouseover would be nice but GnomeCanvas doesn't support this. This needs to be done upstream

  MatthewPaulThomas: Using menu direction to distinguish the kinds of menu will fail almost every time, since the Add to Panel dialog has been invoked from a particular panel, and any menu added to that panel will open in the same direction. How about "All-in-one Ubuntu Menu" and "Applications, Places, and System Menus"?

applets

SebastienBacher and JeffWaugh are going to review all the applet icons, labels and default configurations and add the resulting actions to this spec after UbuntuBelowZero (it is not appropriate work for the conference).

Top panel icons

We will remove the Help icon, but keep the web browser and email icons.

Workrave

Workrave should use the applet icon, not the status one, and show the time for micro/rest breaks next one to the other. We need to fix the icon for it which is not set at the moment.

contact-lookup-applet

The search entry is disabled if no contacts category exists in evolution-data-server. We're going to fix this bug for good.

Implementation

These changes will be implemented early for user feedback, and possibly updated based on that feedback.

Future work (not for Dapper)

Recently used applications

• menu item that shows the recently used applications
• popup notification to tell users when it adds an application

Discussion

Duffman25:

• During breezy development, I made a comment in gnome's bugzilla about the dropped "run applications" menu item. A gnome developer told me that there are plans to make the gnome menus completely editable: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=167090#c8. Could this be discussed to see if it's possible to include in dapper? Maybe help out with the implementation?

  SebastienBacher: that's probably not going to happen for the next GNOME or dapper and is not related to this spec, we already have a menu editor.

• On another note, but related to this, as a user, I don't understand why I have a menu item to capture a screenshot but I don't have one to run any application, which it's even more frustating since I can create a menu item for the screenshot app since there's a command for it: gnome-screenshot, but I can't re-add the application launcher to the menu since it's a built-in command in the panel and therefore there's no command for it, just an keybinding or applet.

  SebastienBacher: The screenshot item will be moved to the applications menu. You may be interested by the MenuRevisited spec.

  • MatthewPaulThomas: Taking a screenshot isn't an application, it's an action.

• I think something cool could be to add the posibility of creating menu items out of applets, for example adding the run application dialog applet as a menu item, this would satisfy the previous comment.

OlafurArason: Doesn't deskbar solve the run applications usecase and also add a nifty search capibility if combined with beagle, plus loads of other cool features. I think it also replaces contact-lookup-applet.

• Duffman25: Not exactly. While I agree that the deskbar is cool, the version provided in breezy doesn't let you launch applications with parameters. Try launching rhythmbox with --play

  HiddeBrugmans: Deskbar has been completely reinvented since, and the version living in gnome cvs is not comparable. It should be quite functional for Dapper.

ØivindHoel: How about using libnotify or similar to tell the user something like "You are currently working in workspace 1" ?

MatthewPaulThomas: The only thing I strongly disagree with in this spec is adding a placebo close button to the notification balloons. In the long term that will slow people down hugely (because they are being shepherded into a ~99%-smaller mouse target), and confuse them when they click somewhere other than the close button and nothing else happens. A better approach would be to make the whole balloon more obviously clickable, by editing a subtle relief effect to it.