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Sidebar containment

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TheBlackCat
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Currently there are only three types of plasma containments: panel, desktop, and screensaver. This idea is for a fourth containment: the sidebar. The containment is essentially the same as the panel containment, being attached to one edge of the screen. It can be resized horizontally and vertically, automatically hidden, it can be made so windows can cover it or not. The only real difference is this: it used the desktop form factor for applets instead of the panel form factor. This allows you to have full-sized desktop plasmoids that can be stored and used independently of your activity and pulled up even when the desktop is not visible (if you use auto-hide). They can also be used to give a place for plasmoids on the side of a wide-screen display that is never covered if you disable the "windows can cover" option.

It would be somewhat similar to the vista sidebar, but has the added benefits of being used alongside the desktop applets, can be auto-hidden, can be resized in any way, can be placed at any desktop edge, and you can have as many of them as you want.

Although this is a guess based on someone fairly uninformed, I would expect that a lot of, if not most, of the existing panel code could be re-used since the functionality of the two containments would be essentially the same.

Last edited by TheBlackCat on Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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Hans
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RE: Sidebar plasma containment

Sat Mar 21, 2009 8:00 pm
There are already a couple of desktop types (default, Folder View etc.) so different panel types would make sense in my opinion. A sidebar would be nice.


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Primoz
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RE: Sidebar plasma containment

Sat Mar 21, 2009 8:39 pm
I don't know how is it different from a vertical panel?
OK vertical panel does have a problem with some widgets, but that could be just added to a normal panel.
While I like an idea for a new plasma container I don't know if sidebar is needed.


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Lachu
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RE: Sidebar plasma containment

Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:07 pm
Maybe simple Contaiment as plasmoid? We can put it into panel and set the icon/label. When we move mouse above then, plasma-desktop will appear. We can also put it into plasma-desktop/folder view to manage many plasmoids.


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Primoz
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RE: Sidebar plasma containment

Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:23 pm
Lachu wrote:Maybe simple Contaiment as plasmoid? We can put it into panel and set the icon/label. When we move mouse above then, plasma-desktop will appear. We can also put it into plasma-desktop/folder view to manage many plasmoids.

I just wanted to propose this as a new idea!
I would like to have a container plasmoid in which you could add other plasmoids, just like panel/ desktop/ screensaver are, just that it could be put anywhere on panel or on desktop.


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TheBlackCat
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RE: Sidebar plasma containment

Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:24 pm
Primoz wrote:I don't know how is it different from a vertical panel?
OK vertical panel does have a problem with some widgets, but that could be just added to a normal panel.
While I like an idea for a new plasma container I don't know if sidebar is needed.


When you put a plasmoid in a panel, the plasmoid is told that they are in a panel containment and they change their appearance to better suit the panel size and use (at least they should). When you put a plasmoid on the desktop, the plasmoid is told that it is on the desktop and similarly sets its appearance accordingly. This means that a plasmoid on the panel can behave radically different from the same plasmoid on the desktop.

As an example, when the folderview plasmoid is on the desktop it show a box with the files from the folder in it. However, when folderview is on a panel it acts as a button that when click pops up a list of the files in the folder. Both the appearance of the widgets and the layout of the files in the widget is completely different in the two cases, even though it is the same plasmoid.

The sidebar is different from the panel in that it tells plasmoids it contains that they are on the desktop, so they take the appearance they would have on the desktop rather than the appearance they would have on the panel.


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Primoz
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RE: Sidebar plasma containment

Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:30 pm
TheBlackCat wrote:
Primoz wrote:I don't know how is it different from a vertical panel?
OK vertical panel does have a problem with some widgets, but that could be just added to a normal panel.
While I like an idea for a new plasma container I don't know if sidebar is needed.


When you put a plasmoid in a panel, the plasmoid is told that they are in a panel containment and they change their appearance to better suit the panel size and use (at least they should). When you put a plasmoid on the desktop, the plasmoid is told that it is on the desktop and similarly sets its appearance accordingly. This means that a plasmoid on the panel can behave radically different from the same plasmoid on the desktop.

As an example, when the folderview plasmoid is on the desktop it show a box with the files from the folder in it. However, when folderview is on a panel it acts as a button that when click pops up a list of the files in the folder. Both the appearance of the widgets and the layout of the files in the widget is completely different in the two cases, even though it is the same plasmoid.

The sidebar is different from the panel in that it tells plasmoids it contains that they are on the desktop, so they take the appearance they would have on the desktop rather than the appearance they would have on the panel.

OK you convinced me :D +1


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TheBlackCat
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Is there anything anyone can think of regarding this that cannot be handled by resizing the panel to be very large, assuming it was actually used properly by applets (which it does not appear to be yet)? If not this can probably be closed as implemented.

See here:
http://www.notmart.org/index.php/Softwa ... asma_Quake


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bcooksley
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Yes, Panels declare themselves as "Panel" containments, which is what causes applets to become icons and "pop" out of the panel. A new containment type would be needed to allow applets to go fullsize.


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Angel Blue01
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Couldn't this be implemented as a feature of a panel: check a box to make it into a "sidebar"? I can see a lot of users getting confused if they have such similiar objects that can be added to the interface since the difference isn't obvious until it gets added and plasmoids are added.

But I think a sidebar containment is a great idea!


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Lukas
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I believe it is much better to be able to set default mode for desktop/panel to either Mini (panel) and Normal (desktop) modes.
+ each plasmiod could have
DISPLAY MODE
(*) inherit form container
( ) Normal
( ) Mini

Since in some cases user might like to have modes mixed together and to send mode flag to plasma I don't think is a big deal :)
chetankhona
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Sidebar containment

Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:58 am
What I like most about this is if I have set it as non hidden then the windows will not cover plasmoids. This will avoid to move / minimize windows to see them.
The User
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Sidebar containment

Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:30 pm
-1.
This solution for the problem ist not proper. It would be better to allow flexible layouting+Lukas' suggestion.
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TheBlackCat
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Sidebar containment

Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:25 pm
I disagree, you lose a lot of flexibility that way. If you assume there are only desktop and panel containments, that is fine. But how will the newspaper containment be inherited by a panel? It doesn't even make sense. What about the media center containment? MID containment? Developers are adding more and more activity types for specialized applications. And it assumes there are only panel and desktop form factors. Lucas's approach would require that all containments be designed to be compatible with all form factors, which I think is far too restricting. I just don't think that approach is feasible in practice.


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The User
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Sidebar containment

Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:32 pm
When it is incompatible - use a fallback. Display it the normal way or do not allow to place the plasmoid. What's the problem? A sidebar-containment would be very redumdant, there are only two differences: The default view-mode and the layouting. Make it possible to change layouts and view-modes and you will get even more possibilities without having to write redumdant code and to add yet another containment.


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