Re: [Banshee-List] [feature suggestion] library structure

[Nicholas Doyle <niskel gmail com>]

On Tue, 2009-02-10 at 09:16 +0800, Chow Loong Jin wrote:
> You could stick it in a tooltip, or make a similar dropdown to that of
> the search dialog. See the attached screenshot for an example of such an
> interface in DownThemAll. In DownThemAll, fields are in a tooltip, and
> clicking on a button brings that tooltip up. In addition, the tooltip is
> clickable so clicking on each field inserts the pattern into the field.

I agree entirely that the ability to customize the file hierarchy in the
library is a very useful feature but I am going to have to say that when
I have seen important information (like variable definitions) presented
in tooltips it has always angered me.

The problem with tooltips is that they force your mouse to be in a
particular position to keep the tooltip active; it is useful when
dealing with lists of variables and things of the sort to point the
mouse at pieces of information too keep track of what you are doing.

The second problem is with track pad users. Often when I am typing with
a track pad, the palm of my hand will brush against the track pad moving
the mouse. It is frustrating to have to look at a tooltip to type
something to have your mouse move away by brushing the track pad and
have the tooltip disappear.

The third problem depends on the tooltip implementation. All too often,
a tooltip will have a long list of information (such as a list of
variables) and the tooltip will 'time out'. So many tooltip
implementations have a set time they are visible on screen. If I am
using a tooltip to reference variable names, the last thing I want it to
do is to disappear because the tooltip thought I have had enough.

Problem the fourth. Depending on window location, tooltips will often
float right above the widget I am trying to type in. This is incredibly
annoying not being able to see what I am typing but needing the tooltip
for reference.

So, I believe library file hierarchy customization is important but I
believe that storing the customization information in a tooltip is one
of the worst ways to do it.