The right hand option (the one that's like a tweaked version of what we have now) would be a good, solid, perfectly acceptable solution that would be very practical so that one's fine by me

I agree that:

1 - whichever option we go for there's no point at all having the top level of the heirachy in the side panel when you're in the part where you're looking at the KCM (as long as there's a Back button as mentioned)

2 - the search results should replace the whole content area below the scrollbar - preferably IMO in a single column like in this screenshot of an older version of Ubuntu (I'm not sure if it's still the same), rather than in multiple columns:

An idea - for each search result it would be good to have the location of the module in the heirachy included in some way (for example Workspace > Window behavior included in the search result for Screen Edges or whatever it should be). I hate the way in Win7 SySe, you do a search & do get straight to the module you want, but you've no idea where you are - people would at least have an awareness of where that module is and start to learn their way around, it might help distinguish between similar KCMs from different places too. Maybe having smaller text below the name of the actual search result (so the result Screen Edges would have Workspace > Window behavior below it in smaler grey letters??

Great work Andrew. Some changes

1. Overview page
I like the recently changes in the bottom bar. As I saw that it's the design of the sidebar, maybe we can move the recently changes in the sidebar. also the search and the settings. now we are consistent on the main frame and on the module section.

left Andrews mockup right some changes

2. module section
I would recommend to show all modules from the main section. why because the modules from one main section fit together. I show in the mockup the main section with the most modules and it fits the sidebar without scrallbar. Behind All settings I moved a search icon like the settings icon on the overview page. Push on the search button and you get the search if needed. as you can't search in modules the search isn't needed in the module section, but when you want to switch the module, search icon is there.

To me this is perfect:


One TINY thing about the layout within the modules:



It would be good for forgetfull folk like me to have a heading on the sidebar somewhere that said what top level category you'd clicked down into - for example a heading of Personalization at the top of the sidebar (below the All Settings & Search button). I'd style all the text & icons for the rest of the KCMs in the sidebar to make it obvious that Personalization is the category you're in & all the individual modules such as Account, Translation, Formats etc. are 'under' Personalization (indenting? smaller text??). That would make sure that:

1 - it was crystal clear that the KCMs listed in the sidebar were ONLY the ones from the Personalization category & that it wasn't a long list of all of them and there's no point scrolling up & down looking for a KCM from another category - go back to the front screen

2 - you always knew what category you were looking at (particularly if you've been distracted and come back to the SySe screen) and that would help you learn where the particular modules they're accessing are (relevant if you've got to the module using the Search or Recent changes functions - especially new users)

One last thing - could Recent Changes on the front screen be simplified to just Recent??

Here's a mockup i did ages ago to see what a digital clock would look like rather than an analog one - ignore everything else!!:



I don't know if this kind of clock with it's big click areas to make adjustments is more suited to the overall Plasma 5 / Breeze look & feel than the analog one with the little area or spin box to adjust it underneath??????

Another thing about the layouts within the KCMs - Heiko suggested in the past a See also section that would list other KCMs that might be of interest to you - for example a link to the Formats KCM if you were in the Date & Time KCM so that you could change from 12 to 24 hour clock etc.. that sounded like a good idea to me, should we try & fit that in too??????

ken300 wrote:2 - the search results should replace the whole content area below the scrollbar - preferably IMO in a single column like in this screenshot of an older version of Ubuntu (I'm not sure if it's still the same), rather than in multiple columns:

Interesting I idea Ken. It might be useful to have a consistent representation on the same kind of data. So I think a module or a group of modules should use the same visual language whether in the overview, the sidebar or the search results. That would bias me towards making it look similar to how they're represented elsewhere in the design. But, if there's a good reason to make it look different in the search results then we just make sure to employ similar visual elements.

ken300 wrote:An idea - for each search result it would be good to have the location of the module in the heirachy included in some way (for example Workspace > Window behavior included in the search result for Screen Edges or whatever it should be). I hate the way in Win7 SySe, you do a search & do get straight to the module you want, but you've no idea where you are - people would at least have an awareness of where that module is and start to learn their way around, it might help distinguish between similar KCMs from different places too. Maybe having smaller text below the name of the actual search result (so the result Screen Edges would have Workspace > Window behavior below it in smaler grey letters??

+1. Great idea!

andreas_k wrote:1. Overview page
I like the recently changes in the bottom bar. As I saw that it's the design of the sidebar, maybe we can move the recently changes in the sidebar. also the search and the settings. now we are consistent on the main frame and on the module section.

Interesting Andreas. That could work. Although I would keep the search field and menu button in a toolbar to keep the top level application layout consistent with the HIG layout patterns. One upside with this is that it introduces the sidebar pattern right from the start. One downside is that the information/interaction relationship between the sidebar and the content area is different here than it is for the module layout - an inconsistency that the user has to deal with. Hmm, I'm torn on this one.

andreas_k wrote:2. module section
I would recommend to show all modules from the main section. why because the modules from one main section fit together. I show in the mockup the main section with the most modules and it fits the sidebar without scrallbar. Behind All settings I moved a search icon like the settings icon on the overview page. Push on the search button and you get the search if needed. as you can't search in modules the search isn't needed in the module section, but when you want to switch the module, search icon is there.

Hmm, this one I'm struggling with a bit more. See we already have a representation of the contents of a top level group in the Overview. This would duplicate and provide a redundant way to navigate the same information. Also the interaction and transition from the Overview screen to this screen becomes a little odd: The user clicks on the Regional Settings group in the overview and gets the entire Personalization section in the next screen (albeit with the first module of the Regional Settings group selected). It almost compels the user to process information they already considered and specifically excluded. I think it would be better show only the group the user specifically selects from the Overview.

Hope this helps!

ken300 wrote:Here's a mockup i did ages ago to see what a digital clock would look like rather than an analog one - ignore everything else!!:

[pic]

I don't know if this kind of clock with it's big click areas to make adjustments is more suited to the overall Plasma 5 / Breeze look & feel than the analog one with the little area or spin box to adjust it underneath??????

ken300 wrote:Another thing about the layouts within the KCMs - Heiko suggested in the past a See also section that would list other KCMs that might be of interest to you - for example a link to the Formats KCM if you were in the Date & Time KCM so that you could change from 12 to 24 hour clock etc.. that sounded like a good idea to me, should we try & fit that in too??????

These might be good candidates for discussion in the module layout thread.

Overview Page
maybe it would be better to have the sidebar in an icon bar. I moved the search into the sidebar to have the search always there. here the look and feel when you search. you can remove the recently because you search. however. the good thing is the main window is nearly like it is now and the only new thing is the sidebar. in the sidebar you see only the search results and in the main page all modules like you know it.


2. module section
as Andrew suggested.

Alake,

My thinking behind having the search results presented in a single column was just that it would give a little room for text to say which category the module had come from and a very brief description to say what it did to help someone decide whether to click on that result or a different one - the same thing could be achieved with tooltips though. But i wonder if that will work well - it seems a bit odd having the small search results in the sidebar as Andreas_k's latest front screen mockup below with large pop ups saying 'it's from Personalisation > Regional Settings & in there you can change this' when you hover over them.

alake wrote:These might be good candidates for discussion in the module layout thread.

mmm - sorry, i think you could be right!

Andreas_k

Refering to:


I previously suggested adding a heading at the top of the sidebar to say what top level category all the KCMs in the sidebar were from, but that was when the sidebar contained all of the KCMs from that top level category - for example have the heading Personalization to show that listed underneath were all the KCMs from the Personalization category. If we're now just showing the other KCMs from the next level down (so the KCMs from Personalization > Regional Settings) then IMO if you just left the Regional Settings heading in the sidebar exactly as it is and removed the Personalization from the All Settings button above it (leaving it as just All Settings) I think that would be better.

Plasma active clock setting
http://pactivehandbook.sourceforge.net/ ... _thumb.png

Modules Settings use please this thread viewtopic.php?f=285&t=124487
And of course the settings should be fitted for ALL devices.

Why dont you add proper navigation (like a menu lancher) to the sidebar:


(categories are wrong but you get the idea)
This way the sidebar is only used for navigating the categories and search results and recently changed go to the main view.

ken300 wrote:I previously suggested adding a heading at the top of the sidebar to say what top level category all the KCMs in the sidebar were from, but that was when the sidebar contained all of the KCMs from that top level category - for example have the heading Personalization to show that listed underneath were all the KCMs from the Personalization category. If we're now just showing the other KCMs from the next level down (so the KCMs from Personalization > Regional Settings) then IMO if you just left the Regional Settings heading in the sidebar exactly as it is and removed the Personalization from the All Settings button above it (leaving it as just All Settings) I think that would be better.

I agree ken300. Clicking that button will take the user back to the Overview layout, which indeed shows All Settings, not just the Personalization group. Remember we have to think about how each of these layouts work together to navigate the content structure. The Overview layout allows navigation of the top two levels while the module layout allows navigation of the third level. If we want to change that, then both layouts would need to be harmonized.

To aid in orientation could we not breadcrumb in the window decoration title bar too?