XYplorer Beta Club

admin wrote:... it will reappear in that "fixed" configuration. Is rubber tab a good name for this?

I guess rubber tab is a good name to describe the behaviour of reappearing at the same position, but it lacks any reference to the "fixed" configuration.
My suggestion "freeze" might lead the users to think, that the list content is "frozen" as well.

So, why don't you name it something like a translation from German of "verankern" or "fixieren", which LEO translates as follows:
to fix - fixieren
to freeze - fixieren
to locate - fixieren
to set - fixieren
to anchor - verankern
to stay - verankern

...in combination with what object is fixed or anchored - "settings" or "configuration"

Whatever you choose, you could use an anchor to show, which tabs are fixed.

Furthermore I'm not sure, which way is the easier one, to allow users to change a "fixed" configuration of a tab and reset the settings before returning to this tab, or not to allow them to change the settings at all without "unfixing" the tab before doing so.
I think the latter is the less confusing way.

Thanks for your elaboration, Ralph.

RalphM wrote:Furthermore I'm not sure, which way is the easier one, to allow users to change a "fixed" configuration of a tab and reset the settings before returning to this tab, or not to allow them to change the settings at all without "unfixing" the tab before doing so.
I think the latter is the less confusing way.

Less confusing maybe but also inhibiting your workflow... I'll meditate on it a little more...

I think I got it! Forget "rubber tabs" -- the solution is very simple: a "named" tab is automatically a "frozen" (or rubber or whatever) tab! Once you name it, it's fixed to its current configuration. Very logical, because you would not name a tab without wanting it to keep a certain identity, right?
So the interface is already there! All I have to do is to implement the functionality, plus one more command: "update/reset (or so) configuration" (when you want to change the fixed configuration), else you would have to un-name and rename it, which would be a bit clumsy...

What do you think, folks?

I don't need the "rubber" thing, but I have another problem with the tabs: I really don't like how they look. Especially since the laste beta and especially with just 2 tabs open. They are looking like buttons rather than tabs. And we all know that pushed buttons are active. So the inactive tab looks like it is active. Also I don't think it is a good idea to have 2 different tab styles in one program.

Please let the new tabs look like the tabs of the info panel! The first screenshot was a very good beginning. Why did you change it?

And I think it would be a good idea if the color settings would change also the tabs of the info panel.

That rubber thing is very useful. I think I will use it alot. Good job, Admin. (Congratulations on TrackerV4 release too.)

admin wrote: I think I got it! Forget "rubber tabs" -- the solution is very simple...
What do you think, folks?

I like that idea very much, looking forward to see it alive...

peterbonge wrote:I have another problem with the tabs: I really don't like how they look. ... Also I don't think it is a good idea to have 2 different tab styles in one program.

Hm hm. I like them so much, that I'm thinking about making the info panel tabs the same style... I agree. however, that they look a bit buttonish, especially when there are only two. Any other opinions on the tabs' looks?

peterbonge wrote:And I think it would be a good idea if the color settings would change also the tabs of the info panel.

Yes, that would be nice. Later...

RalphM wrote:I like that idea very much, looking forward to see it alive...

OK. On a second thought: what exactly should be fixed? Location and Find/Browse mode for sure, but column widths and sort order?? Rather not, I think: imagine you go to your named (=fixed) tab, re-sort it for some reason, leave it and come back... you don't want to see any previously fixed sort order but the one when you left it, right?
So I think only [Find] Location and Find/Browse mode should be fixed.

Because of the tabs style:

This is how it looks here: Pic (removed)
It really looks like buttons and therefore it looks like the second tab is the active one. Or not?

And this is how I think it should look like: Pic (removed)
Here it is much clearer which tab is the active one. Or not? And now it looks really like tabs.

EDIT: Removed the links to the pics. They are not necessary any more...

peterbonge wrote:This is how it looks here:
And this is how I think it should look like:

Interesting, I was not totally aware of the differences between XP's Luna Style and the classic style. Thanks for your design suggestion, looks good.

EDIT: your design looks real good. I took every pixel of it!

admin wrote:what exactly should be fixed? Location and Find/Browse mode for sure, but column widths and sort order?? Rather not, I think: imagine you go to your named (=fixed) tab, re-sort it for some reason, leave it and come back...

I think column widths and sort order must not be automatically restored every time, but there should be some comand (hotkey) to restore the "fixed" width and order as they are assigned in tab's settings.

admin wrote:EDIT: your design looks real good. I took every pixel of it!

Thanx! And as always you are really fast! But the inactive tab is 1 pixel deeper than in my pic
But this looks much better. Maybe you should do this also with the info and config tabs.

Furthermore it seems that the main tabs are little bit too long. The tabs overlap too much. I can switch to the next tab by clicking on the end of the actual tab.

peterbonge wrote:But the inactive tab is 1 pixel deeper than in my pic.
... Furthermore it seems that the main tabs are little bit too long.

Eagle-eye Peter! Both on the same purpose: make the selected tab appear more important!
That little clicking inaccuracy... who cares? Actually it makes selecting the neighbor tab 2 pixels easier on each side!
But wait... there could be a problem when right-clicking in that area and not getting the context menu you assume you got... hmm... guess I have to look at it again.
EDIT: I leave it as it, it's not worth the trouble. And you know what: try any Windows tab control: it's exactly the same everywhere! So I'm just following the standard

admin wrote:OK. On a second thought: what exactly should be fixed? Location and Find/Browse mode for sure, but column widths and sort order?? Rather not, I think: imagine you go to your named (=fixed) tab, re-sort it for some reason, leave it and come back... you don't want to see any previously fixed sort order but the one when you left it, right?
So I think only [Find] Location and Find/Browse mode should be fixed.

Hi Donald

I was rather thinking to have all settings fixed, including column widths, sort order etc.
If I decide to name it and therefore fix the settings, I rather expect to get the same view (as fixed) every time. Otherwise I might unname it, change the settings and name it again, right?

It might even be worth to discuss, wether you should be allowed to change the settings of a fixed tab at all or not?!?
This might be too limiting for some users maybe, that's why I was rather thinking of a switch to fix and unfix it?!

What do others think about that

Firstly, the new tabs are much less ugly, thanks

RalphM wrote:3) Wouldn't it make sense, to move the "Refresh..." and "Rebuild..." menues from the "Edit" to the "View" menu?

I have to agree. I always look in the View menu, and then remember they're in Edit...

admin wrote:What do you think, folks?

Great! Hang on... maybe not: What happens if you select eg. a subfolder in a named tab, then switch to another, and drag something onto the named tab? Do the dragged files go to the subfolder or not? If not, then it's really just a different way of doing favourites, and doesn't fulfil my desire for tabs...

I don't really see the point of frozen tabs. They make things slower (to change the settings of a frozen tab) and more complicated. If it were to be implemented in some way, it should be optional (ie. named tabs shouldn't have to be frozen), and it should freeze everything.