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I was playing with GNOME and watching various youtube videos of it. One of the things I REALLY liked playing with it was noticing a number of apps use configuration GUIs wihout any Apply button. Options were of course immediatley applied.

There are times when you probably can't avoid having an Apply but considering all the times I've loaded up a new Plasma plasmoid I want to check out for example, with lots of options to play with, I'll end up doing a lot of:

Right-click settings, toggle some option => OK. [check effect]. Right-click settings, toggle back last option [if I don't like it], toggle a different option => OK. [check effect]. Repeat

And if the plasmoid is in an auto hide taskbar.. ugh.

Maybe immediate settings application can only be really useful in a few places like core components: desktop, plasmoids, some systemsettings, and such, or maybe it has a wider range of applicability around KDE. Either way I don't have much doubt myself that where such capability can be useful, it truly is quite so - just consider for example Plasma panels and the cashew options which themselves are immediate-application.

So anyway, something to think about.

I really really hate the automatic applying of settings in Gnome, I want the option to cancel before I commit changes

I'd like to have auto apply BUT with new revert button

Revert button should restore settings since this settings session start

This does not sound like a good concept. Especially with changes that are intensive such as changing widget theme, or its settings which require all applications to completely redraw.

Not to mention this wouldn't even be possible until KDE 5 and even then all existing KCM's would have to be rewritten ( some date back to KDE 1 and quite a few are unmaintained meaning quite a bit of configuration functionality would be lost )

bcooksley wrote:Not to mention this wouldn't even be possible until KDE 5 and even then all existing KCM's would have to be rewritten ( some date back to KDE 1 and quite a few are unmaintained meaning quite a bit of configuration functionality would be lost )

Strong argument

i happen to be one of those who would like to see this being implemented ... +1

Again this is not necessarily an idea that would be implemented across KDE but only where it makes sense, so it need not necessarily target all existing KCMs here in a way that forcibly loses functionality for some, unless of course the code is now written in a way that say merely extending existing classes [for only those that want it] can't provide this functionality. I'll defer on that because don't know. If and only if this is the case though, then lack of such extensibility may perhaps even provide an added argument in favor making KCM more extensible at some time in the future, anyway. [And I'll leave the argument whether it's good to have unmaintained KDE1 code in KDE4+ to someone else, for another time ]

But I guess that's only true if no-Apply settings extensibility seems like a worthy enough concept to spend time on in the first place.

I know this is a matter of preference: I actually think changing the theme in general is a good example of a time when Apply just gets in the way. Taking a look at Desktop Settings for example, Theme is the only item in the 'Desktop Theme' section and nothing else in the dialog really affects Theme at least as it's applied there. You can otherwise save a bit of waiting for individual settings application by applying Theme and some Wallpaper settings for example -maybe include the Desktop Activity- all at once, but I generally wonder how often this is a daily use case when you know and have a number of relatively unrelated things you want to change all at once vs what I find is my own experience: wanting to change something specific and most often: test it out as a toggle or test each of its options if it has more than one [like Theme selection].

So from my own perspective, I spend more time trying to find the theme I want or the wallpaper I want or scaled vs tiled, or whatever, and to accomplish that need to actually see what they look like: change->apply->change->apply->.., and essentially I end up waiting for the intensive redraws anyway with the added bonus of having to Apply and reposition each time. And if I like none of my new themes/wallpapers/etc? Hopefully I remembered the one I had originally, then I go find it, reselect it, and apply/ok, vs as Lukas suggest and I agree wholeheartedly: Revert to original 'session settings' [state when dialog was opened].

Hopefully also a new Revert would alleviate any associated pains due to lack of Cancel as Angel Blue 01 notes, but I personally would prefer the tradeoff where any 'damage' is relatively minimal, again just based on my own use case experience... Well, I guess you know, so long as things to go overboard and start auto-applying password/id changes and the like before I'm entirely sure

Anyway to sum up.. I agree the nature of this core change, depending on its implementation could take a long time given the KDE development process, I don't agree it's not a good concept, I do agree on uber leet Revert, and as it continues to stand now anyway, I myself can't help but agree with NoobSaibot haha

Apply->Apply->Apply seems like horrible Windows installation process....
But I understand the reason. This is not intuitive, but proposed method is computer consume(people gets angry while short computer hangs up).

I think you should add show fullscreen preview option. This button should show new plasma activity at first plan(like a dashboard) with new option and some qt widget(don't uses plasma theme) to show qt theme. What do you think? It can present when user don't touch anything after do some changes.

1. User change plasma theme.
2. User click preview or wait 4 seconds
3. KDE will show fullscreen preview(at top of other Windows) with some plasma widget and one simple Window.
4. User can gets fun with new plasma activity(add new widgets/moving them/resizing them) [Optional]
5. User exit preview
6. User can apply changes.

Everything will looks like:
1. User change some settings, but don't applying
2. After 4 seconds we showing preview
3. User exit preview
(Jump to first if user prefer other settings and different than current)
4. User applying changes

The preview should be configurable.

Would it be possible to have an option in System Settings to simply turn your "Apply" button into a "Revert" one? That way, people who want their apply can have it, and the ones that want instant action but the ability to revert back to what they had before adjusting their settings can do that as well. I am personally all for the automatic apply, saves me a ton of time. Note that this would really only apply to the main KDE settings such as plasmoids, window decoration, and so on. For now.

I think a preview button might be a good idea, but not the auto-apply.

I think a preview button is a waste of space, you can just hit apply, and if you don't like it, you choose the last option. More clicks, in my opinion. An auto-apply with a revert button would allow you to click once for each item (click on the item you want, such as a Plasma theme, not two clicks because there's no apply button), and if you don't like it all by the time you're done, just hit "Revert". Auto-apply is almost exactly what you want out of a preview button, minus one click.