On 2002-02-16, Sven Neumann wrote: > "Branko Collin" <collin@xxxxxxxxx> writes: > > These options could be beneath buttons in a dialog that appears on > > start-up instead of or along side the tool box. > > > > Sure, they only save some scrolling in a menu, but I believe these > > extra transactional costs become a burden to a user who has gotten to > > know the alternative method. > > > > This dialog should also be optional, so that power users will still > > keep that power feeling. WinZip does this very nicely (unfortunately, > > I do not know a Linux tool that gives you the choice between wizard > > and power access). > > I'm against adding optional GUI stuff. IMO it will only confuse > people, bloats the code and doesn't really solve the problem. If > there is a problem with the current user interface it should be solved > properly instead of being worked around.
It depends on how this new feature is implemented. If it is only a dialog with row of buttons that is pre-configured to help the new users to access some common functions, then indeed its usefulness is rather limited.
On the other hand, this could also be a generic dock for action buttons that could be configured by the user. This would provide a single-click access to some functions (opening/saving a file) or to some plug-ins. IIRC, Simon has been working on that. This could be extended further by allowing some buttons to call the plug-ins with some preset values, so that you could have a "blur 5" button and a "blur 20" button. Some buttons could also be conditional (if the name of the file is already known, call "Save" - if not, call "Save As").
The default installation of the GIMP could start with a set of buttons that are suitable for new users, but the power users could add more interesting buttons if they want to.
Of course, some of this could also be done by defining appropriate keyboard shortcuts (not for calling a plug-in with preset values, though). But key combinations are more difficult to remember for casual users. It is probably not an accident if most of the relatively complex applications (office suites, web browsers, and many GNOME or KDE applications) are now using button bars providing direct access to some common functions.
-Raphael
