Dolphin had the nice property that it created a New Folder when pressing Control-n. Whereas Konqueror had the annoying property of making a New Window when pressing this. Unfortunately, with KDE4, Dolphin has changed and now also makes a New Window. How can I get the old behavior back?

Moreover, is it possible to disable the annoying "Copy here / Move here / Link here" dialog? Even the stupid Microsoft Windows knows how to do this properly: "Move" if source and destination are on the same disk, "Copy" otherwise, and display this menu only when the right mouse button is clicked. How do I teach Dolphin to do it this way also? Surely if even Microsoft can do it, then Linux can too.

T. Warner wrote:Dolphin had the nice property that it created a New Folder when pressing Control-n. Whereas Konqueror had the annoying property of making a New Window when pressing this. Unfortunately, with KDE4, Dolphin has changed and now also makes a New Window. How can I get the old behavior back?

Menu (far right in the toolbar; or Settings if the menu bar is shown) -> Configure Shortcuts... -> Create Folder.

Moreover, is it possible to disable the annoying "Copy here / Move here / Link here" dialog? Even the stupid Microsoft Windows knows how to do this properly: "Move" if source and destination are on the same disk, "Copy" otherwise, and display this menu only when the right mouse button is clicked. How do I teach Dolphin to do it this way also? Surely if even Microsoft can do it, then Linux can too.

Please leave statements like "Even the stupid Microsoft Windows knows how to do this properly" and "Surely if even Microsoft can do it, then Linux can too" out. There are reasons why the menu is there and many people like it this way. If you don't, fine, but statements like the ones I quoted don't add anything constructive to the discussion.

As far as I know there's no way to disable the menu in the configuration, but you can hold down Shift or Ctrl while dragging if you want to move or copy the file, respectively.

Hans wrote:Menu (far right in the toolbar; or Settings if the menu bar is shown) -> Configure Shortcuts... -> Create Folder.

Thanks!

Hans wrote:As far as I know there's no way to disable the menu in the configuration, but you can hold down Shift or Ctrl while dragging if you want to move or copy the file, respectively.

OK. I knew about Shift/Ctrl, but that introduces the possibility of human error which is actually quite frequent. Personally I select the wrong menu entry or key about 1 time in 100, and even more often when at somebody elses keyboard / touchpad.

When you hold down Ctrl there will be a plus sign next to the mouse pointer to remind you that it'll copy.

Personally I had more problems with the Windows implementation because of unexpected behavior. With Dolphin's menu I always know what it'll do.

Hans wrote:When you hold down Ctrl there will be a plus sign next to the mouse pointer to remind you that it'll copy.

True. The keys are OK, but once the "Copy here / Move here / Link here" dialog comes up, it is too late, the keys don't work any more, and the mouse must be used to select the right entry.

Which is a problem with some notebook computers whose touchpads create unwanted left-button-clicks when you just put your finger on them, a very common problem. This left-button-click often selects the "move" option when the user wanted "copy" (because the "move" submenu pops up closest to the mouse pointer), and this leads to unintended data loss unless the user is fully aware of the problem.

Typical data loss scenario: user wants to temporarily back up important files by copying them to USB stick. User drags files between appropriate dolphin windows. Aforementioned problem appears, submenu disappears. User visually inspects target folder, sees files there, concludes backup went OK. But in actuality, original files were silently deleted. If the "duplicate" backup is later deleted, originals cannot be restored and are lost.

Hans wrote:Personally I had more problems with the Windows implementation because of unexpected behavior. With Dolphin's menu I always know what it'll do.

It is not just about knowing, also about getting what you want. See above for a scenario with data loss. And if your touchpad misbehaves (many do), you are out of luck.

I would like to know if there is a way to disable the "move here / copy here" dialog yet, please? Maybe "some people like it" but it's bizarre behavior. I've been on Windows for 25 years and that's how Windows does it. And if I were a Linux guy I would say "so what". But Nautilus, Thunar, and FilemanFM all do it that way, too. I really wish there were a way to turn the "copy here/ move here" off.

Dolphin is really kind of a weird bird. It almost seems like it's an Apple product. Is it a port from BSD or Apple?

cbugle wrote:Dolphin is really kind of a weird bird. It almost seems like it's an Apple product. Is it a port from BSD or Apple?

Please respect http://www.kde.org/code-of-conduct/ when posting here. Thanks for your understanding.