Being a KDE user for quite some time but new and not familiar with this community forum (this is my first contribution) I still decided to post this. I post it here because I found it too general for the ideas category. I want to look if there are more people feeling the same way or whether my view is a rather isolated one among KDE users.

1. Easy configuration of places where user data go
Users should have a easier way to configure the place where there data are stored. If you want your mail under "~/data/mail" that should not be a problem but a simple option. Same with Kjots and Okular. As to the latter: I would find it extremely useful if there was an option to store annotations in the same directory as the pdf-file you are annotating instead being confined to some cryptic place somewhere. Ok, the place may be not cryptic but it makes it more difficult to keep your personal data together, backup and transport them if you have to pay attention to several (hidden) KDE directories.

2. Extensibility should be given more attention
Tools like dolphin etc. should be easier to extend in their functionality and there should be proper documentation on how to achieve that. On the promotional level I found that the Thunar website http://thunar.xfce.org/index.html does it the right way when saying:
"Using the Thunar Extensions Framework it is easy to extend the basic functionality provided by Thunar to integrate even complex tasks into the file manager ..."
I didn't look if and how they are keeping their promise but the way they pay attention to that issue I find attracting and desirable e.g. for Dolphin. I also believe that many people who could do a little stuff would prefer Qt over Gtk2.

Keep up the good work!

I agree that paths should probably be more configurable but it is also difficult to get the user interface for that right while still making sure the requirements of each application are met.

KMail for example has special requirements, e.g. one "root" directory for all its mails.

For PIM data this will become more modular with Akonadi, since each Akonadi resource can be configured separately.

As for extending the file manager, maybe this can help you:
http://techbase.kde.org/Development/Tut ... vice_Menus

Cheers,
_

I completely agree here. An extensible file manager can be unbeatable, especially if it's easy to write extensions with scripts. Then you can get more through GHNS.

What specific sorts of extensions do you want for dolphin? For instance the right-click menu can already be extended with service menus.

TheBlackCat wrote:What specific sorts of extensions do you want for dolphin? For instance the right-click menu can already be extended with service menus.

Thank you for your kind answer. I know about the service menus option. What I was having in mind was actually more than that. A kind of programmable filemanager that does not let you down if you have special requirements and the stamina to work yourself through API documentation for writing plugins and extensions. But proper documentation is a prerequisite, of course.
And the same with other applications like KMail etc. Compare KMail and Thunderbird. KMail is not less powerful but Thunderbird can be extended (even if not so easily) KMail can not (to the best of my knowledge). So at the end of the day Thunderbirds offers you more. My idea was to change this.

TheBlackCat wrote:What specific sorts of extensions do you want for dolphin? For instance the right-click menu can already be extended with service menus.

This is great news. I googled immediately but alas no joy. Is there a howto you can point me to?

Many thanks in advance

You can find many existing servicemenus here:
http://kde-apps.org/index.php?xcontentm ... 357f9cbdf7

The guide for making new ones is here:
http://techbase.kde.org/Development/Tut ... vice_Menus