1.4 Add a Desklet Dialog Mockups

I'll start:

This idea comes from dreadneat:

The idea is that all desklets will be shown in the listbox. Each desklet/skin will have an entry in the listbox: [preview] (live preview/icon) - information. Not selected entries will have only the basic information shown (name/description), a selected entry will show extended information, such as Author, Version, Desklet Name in case of a skin.

By using the searchbox, the list will be filtered directly when typed (kinda like itunes search).

The main idea behind this interface 'design' is that users will be able to quickly find their wanted desklet by either using the search or by scrolling the list and reconizing the preview icons.

When the user is just looking at all desklets he can quickly decide if he wants to add a desklet by looking at the preview icon and the big title. If he think he wants a desklet he can select it to see the extra information.

What do you think of this idea?

Do you have any other ideas/mockups?

#351838

Im not convinced that people will have so many desklets to justify the Search box feature, maybe a drop down list there would be better.

I was thinking maybe an interface like the RK Launcher Add Docklet box which comes up, where the description is in a text box to the side. If you unsure of what i mean I can post up a screenshot...

Thanks

~Z

#351842

Nice idea - but my list is already a very long scrolling afair if all the drop downs are open. If they all had icons/previews and details that list would be huge!

I like the way it is at the moment with a nice simple list on the left, broken down into the different Desklets/Script tools and the information on the right, when clicked.

Maybe combining the search feature mentioned and the previews with the existing design would be a better solution? I will gladly do mockups if you need them?

#351843

cool idea ave !

maybe you can link the search box to the web - and when you type, lets say "news" you see your own desklets (those that are on your computer) and those you can download in the same category.

just a thought :-)

#351850

perhaps they could be organized by category as well, either assigned by the skinner or by the user

#351923

And have ratings?

#352012

I think we have to different groups of users to make happy: who wants a "fast" list and who needs an "informational" list. Big icons and descriptions would be perfect for the second group. The first one would like smaller icons (even 32x32). A couple of buttons to switch between the two views ?

Icons could be even smaller, but I think it would be important to choose the skin without further clicking.

Some hardcore users may even like a text-only / 16x16-[fixed]-icons list view. Uh, that would be me

#352031

I'm liking dreadnaught's concept, personally.

Another idea might be to have a WidgetDock-esque widget that's "always on" (or can be disabled in favor of a simpler dialog), that moves on-screen either via a hotkey, or when ShowCase opens.

#352077

I'm not sure I would like Avedesk to "call home" and get a really long list of desklets even when I only want a few. But that's because I'm not fond of programs web-aware, web-connect or webever. What about a "Get more..." link at the bottom of the dialog that will send you to www.avedesk.org/desklets/ ?

Edit: I didn't know that url really existed... so that's where Avedesk could possibly get a full list :-)

#352086

Yeah, the search box would be very useful for me! Nice idea

#352157

Instead of making two clickable buttons with one "fast" list and one "informational" list, you could make a slider, where the smallest setting is the informational setting, but the further you slide, the bigger your icons become, and more information becomes visible. You could show something like the size of the desklet (both in terms of pixels as in terms of kb), the "expected ram usage" (dont know if that would be possible, perhaps some extra information in the desklet where the author can put a value?), what kind of desklet it is (sysstats, avescripter,...).

And I agree with others, it would be fantastic if there was a small rss reader in there that could parse information from avedesk.org. That way we could see if there are new desklets, and if we want them, just doubleclick them to instant install them (drool).

Probably just wishful thinking

#352225

Exactly my idea Phat-Liz0rd (screenshots below).

Integrating an "online desklet viewer" into it is an idea that I am playing with. It would be really cool if there was no difference between installed (hdd) and not installed (online) desklets. Instantiating would be the same way (yeah, double clicking). Only, for online desklets, a small progressbar will be shown that reflects the download&install status. In short: automatic download & installation = instantiating them directly.

A 'delete' button would be really usefull then.

No icons (list style)

small icons

bigger icons

#352883

Ave, I like the idea of merging available and installed desklets (though with some way to know what is installed and what's not). but making them all available at one single spot sounds GREAT.

the new dialog looks nice too, with the previews and information text

#352900

I like the slider The difference between local and online desklet could be some desaturation / trasparency in the icon I suppose - and/or a small overlay (a bit like drag-and-drop overlays on pidlshortcuts) Btw, I'm getting a bit unsure on the control layout on the dialog; they look a bit... messy :confused:

#352992

I second dreadnaut's impression.

I think this would have a more consistent look & feel.

Replace the 'Add' caption with 'OK' and wire the ENTER key to it.

Replace the 'Close' caption with 'Cancel' and wire the ESC key to it.

Move the buttons to the bottom and stretch the listbox to fill the entire width.

IMHO, a slider that enumerates three states is overkill. A dropdown toolbar button like in explorer list view details will suffice, unless you really intended a continuous zoom feature...

This should result in the ability of the user to:

Select one or more, hit enter

(OK button that is grayed as long as listbox selection count is null) and support dragging them from the list onto the desktop desired position

#353008

about button labels, we have two different possibilities:

- Ok/Cancel

when you press OK, the selected desklet will be added and the dialog closed, if you press Cancel you leave the list without adding any desklets. You can only press the Ok button once, so you can only add one [group of] desklet at a time. Drag&drop (of desklets outside the dialog) solve this problem, but it is not natural: a main feature with no visual complement. Moreover, If I select a desklet and drag it outside (a positive action) then I have to press the Cancel button (the negative button !) otherwise I will get a duplicate... not straight-forward IMO.

- Add/Close

when you press Add, the selected desklet will be added - the dialog will not be closed. You can add multiple desklets and, when you're finished, you can leave the dialog with Close. Drag&drop is a plus for adding more than one desklets, but is needed for positioning.

I agree on control positions: Add/Close or Ok/Cancel are "final" operations and should be at the bottom. Detail selection and search should be at the top - the current trend is to put the search on the right

A slider is very stylish / macish, but it won't be continuous :slant: Instead of the explorer-like drop-down, I think 3 different buttons would be faster to use (finder style? see my mockup in this thread)

Being a list, I also see the dialog higher what wider

#353021

I'm still playing with the control layout.

- OK / Cancel -> Is wrong for dialogs that don't ask questions. For example, a propertypage asks a question (what do you want setting XYZ to be), a messagebox asks a question, but this dialog let you do something.

- I already wanted to add drag-'n-drop to the dialog. However, as dreadnaut points out, drag-'n-drop can not be the only thing.

- The slider is continuous, lemme show a movie of it:) http://mpj.tomaatnet.nl/clip0076.avi

- About the search on the right: personally I hate that latest trend

#353105

ahhahaha continuous slider :cool: you could hide the description under a certain size.

About the search on the right: personally I hate that latest trend

I understand, but people will look for it on the right first

#353108

@Ave: a feature to group desklets as the user wants would be VERY nice.

#353153

I'm still playing with the control layout.

- OK / Cancel -> Is wrong for dialogs that don't ask questions. For example, a propertypage asks a question (what do you want setting XYZ to be), a messagebox asks a question, but this dialog let you do something.

- I already wanted to add drag-'n-drop to the dialog. However, as dreadnaut points out, drag-'n-drop can not be the only thing.

- The slider is continuous, lemme show a movie of it:) http://mpj.tomaatnet.nl/clip0076.avi

- About the search on the right: personally I hate that latest trend

Looks fab ave!

About the slider: I think it might be a good idea not to show information about the desklet if the icon size is below a certain value. Otherwise, sliding becomes a little bit useless: if you slide just a bit, you'll see just the top part of the description, the bottom being clipped. (this happens at 00:06 in your movie)

It would be nice if the information only started showing when the slider is at, lets say, 32 pixels, because that would enable you to see at least one (or two) lines of the description. At 48 pixels, you could add the version of the desklet, at 64 the size, etc etc. I dont know if that makes any sense and/or if that is even possible, but damn, when I see all you've done till now...

#353175

Hmm, how about skinning?

#353409

http://mpj.tomaatnet.nl/clip0082.avi drag-'n-drop added, with cool effects! (another one: http://mpj.tomaatnet.nl/clip0085.avi 886kb).

@about skinning: no, but there will be an easy interface to the functionality (either COM or plain old C).

#353483

COM! I vote for COM automation object! It would be great to have all features and commands available in the program to put in COM.

And if you dont like skinning... maybe... just try to change the font in the list. System is boooring. Try using the sysmetrics for the shortcut label font, or just let the user customize it... Or Tahoma at least...

#355113

New mockup, whaddya think?

In the left column, one would select the source of desklets (installed, on line, sysstats, avetunes, ...), and the right pane will show desklets that can be added / installed.

#365490

I like it, especially the left/right pane organization...looks really nice

#365495