Preferences Consolidation

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bengoodger
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Preferences Consolidation

Post by bengoodger »

I have begun to work on consolidation and further UI improvement within the preferences dialog. I have reduced the number of panels to 7 - which would allow us to replace the panel tree view and move to something cleaner.

I have published my proposed reorganization here: http://www.bengoodger.com/software/mb/preferences.txt

Note - some options have been removed. Many of these may find a home in an "Additional Browsing Enhancements" pack.
Last edited by bengoodger on January 30th, 2003, 6:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by alanjstr »

Is Surfzilla the new name? What is this "Additional Browing Enhancements" pack you refer to? Where will Extensions put their settings (like TBE, which currently builds off Advanced/Tabs)
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Post by bengoodger »

alanjstr wrote:Is Surfzilla the new name? What is this "Additional Browing Enhancements" pack you refer to? Where will Extensions put their settings (like TBE, which currently builds off Advanced/Tabs)


I was imagining extensions would have their own settings dialog. I haven't really explored the mechanics of how that would happen yet. Likely some dialog location or some API to be implemented.

Additional Browsing Enhancements being a pack of more advanced utilities that the more advanced users tend to like, although still not an ultra-geek-fest. Following this tangent - also was thinking Additional Developer Tools would be another such pack.
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Post by alanjstr »

Still not sure what you mean by "pack." And thanks for joining Phoenix.
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Post by David James »

Ben,

Some bugs on the subject that may be of interest to you:
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=179560
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=187989

Great to have you onboard.
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Post by Chris Cook »

bengoodger wrote:
alanjstr wrote:Is Surfzilla the new name? What is this "Additional Browing Enhancements" pack you refer to? Where will Extensions put their settings (like TBE, which currently builds off Advanced/Tabs)

Did you evade the name question or do you just not know?

bengoodger wrote:I was imagining extensions would have their own settings dialog. I haven't really explored the mechanics of how that would happen yet. Likely some dialog location or some API to be implemented.

I really like the sound of this plan. I have wished that extension options or even details about them were closer to where you find them (in the extensions area) instead of helter skelter wherever the developer puts them.

bengoodger wrote:Following this tangent - also was thinking Additional Developer Tools would be another such pack.

YES! Does this mean that we may get the DOM inspector back in someday?

Great to see some new blood in this project.
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Re: Preferences Consolidation

Post by djst »

bengoodger wrote:I have begun to work on consolidation and further UI improvement within the preferences dialog. I have reduced the number of panels to 7 - which would allow us to replace the panel tree view and move to something cleaner.

I have published my proposed reorganization here: http://www.bengoodger.com/software/surf ... rences.txt

Hi Mozilla Newbie ;)
I would strongly recommend separating Extensions and Themes totally. They should not be tabs within the same node, or sub-nodes either. Extensions is an important part of Phoenix and should not be taken for just a "skin feature".
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Post by akrabat »

bengoodger wrote:I was imagining extensions would have their own settings dialog. I haven't really explored the mechanics of how that would happen yet. Likely some dialog location or some API to be implemented.


K-Meleon puts a "configure" button in the plugins page of their preferences. So, you can access the configuration options for every plugin in a consistent manner. This is a good approach in my opinion.

bengoodger wrote:Additional Browsing Enhancements being a pack of more advanced utilities that the more advanced users tend to like, although still not an ultra-geek-fest. Following this tangent - also was thinking Additional Developer Tools would be another such pack.


This is a good idea too!
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Post by Nate »

How about getting rid of the "downloads" section entirely? Both settings can be set to reasonable defaults.
  • The choice between remembering the last download location and setting a default is a subtle one. If it remembers the last place you downloaded, that is a default download location as far as most people are concerned. Hard-coding it is a manual override that is rightly available in the user preferences file, but doesn't belong in Phoenix preferences.
  • Changing the anonymous FTP password is something most people won't care about. In addition, the existing UI is confusing because by default it is unchecked, with the text box left blank. To me this indicates that it could be sending my real e-mail address. Of course, it's not -- it sends "mozilla@example.com" -- but to find that out I actually had to read my FTP server's logs. (Phoenix, not having an e-mail component, shouldn't know my real e-mail address -- but it's confusing enough that I had to check).
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Post by djst »

Nate wrote:How about getting rid of the "downloads" section entirely? Both settings can be set to reasonable defaults.
  • The choice between remembering the last download location and setting a default is a subtle one. If it remembers the last place you downloaded, that is a default download location as far as most people are concerned. Hard-coding it is a manual override that is rightly available in the user preferences file, but doesn't belong in Phoenix preferences.
  • Changing the anonymous FTP password is something most people won't care about. In addition, the existing UI is confusing because by default it is unchecked, with the text box left blank. To me this indicates that it could be sending my real e-mail address. Of course, it's not -- it sends "mozilla@example.com" -- but to find that out I actually had to read my FTP server's logs. (Phoenix, not having an e-mail component, shouldn't know my real e-mail address -- but it's confusing enough that I had to check).


I agree on both points.
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Post by alanjstr »

Also, Ben, please take a look at http://www.vbrad.com/pf.asp?p=articles/art_phoenix.htm (linked from the MozillaZine front page) which highlights some of the features people look for.
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Post by Thumper »

I agree with removing the Downloads panel.

"re-use existing windows for other programs' links", off by default, should be in the navigation pane. Current behaviour is stupid and annoying and requires a hidden pref to be activated. Function is on by default in IE but can at least be changed easily. To be honest I think the default behaviour is abhorrent and completely useless and I'd rather the default was simply changed without an available pref.

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Post by alanjstr »

Also, with Mozilla (and thus Phoenix) has reconfigured the download dialog. The only problem is if you tell it to remember the decision and change your mind later.
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bengoodger
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Post by bengoodger »

Nate wrote:How about getting rid of the "downloads" section entirely? Both settings can be set to reasonable defaults.
  • The choice between remembering the last download location and setting a default is a subtle one. If it remembers the last place you downloaded, that is a default download location as far as most people are concerned. Hard-coding it is a manual override that is rightly available in the user preferences file, but doesn't belong in Phoenix preferences.
  • Changing the anonymous FTP password is something most people won't care about. In addition, the existing UI is confusing because by default it is unchecked, with the text box left blank. To me this indicates that it could be sending my real e-mail address. Of course, it's not -- it sends "mozilla@example.com" -- but to find that out I actually had to read my FTP server's logs. (Phoenix, not having an e-mail component, shouldn't know my real e-mail address -- but it's confusing enough that I had to check).


Good points. I think the download directory vs. ask option has merit though, although by itself I think it's probably better of being shuffled over to General and getting rid of Downloads as you suggest.
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Re: Preferences Consolidation

Post by bengoodger »

OK, here's what I have so far. Look at the pref_* images in this dir on my site:

http://www.bengoodger.com/software/mb/

I've noted things that still need to go or be modified (frequently - terminology) in red.
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