Re: new modules consensus



> >> gnome-keyring-manager
> > It needs to be a little simpler to use.
> Can you give some specifics? It seems to do the job fine for me.

Ask and ye shall receive! :)

Some UI organization would probably do wonders for this application's
user-friendliness.

When you open the keyring manager, you are presented with a list of
items in the 'default' keyring, with the caption "Items". In the user's
mind, what goes on a keyring? Keys do! The "Items" caption should
therefore be changed to "Keys", or the more verbose "Keys on this
keyring".

Below the list of keys on the keyring, there is a section entitled "Item
Attributes". I would be all for removing this section from the window
entirely. Most of the information in it is present in the key's name,
and all of the information is available in the "Advanced" dialog box, so
there's really no point in duplicating it here - it's just visual noise.
The key name is enough for a user to identify the correct key; they can
click "Advanced" if they need more information. Perhaps the "Advanced"
button should be renamed to "Key Properties", and moved up next to the
list of keys.

The expandable "Show Secret" section does not visually express the link
between the selected key and itself. Is it the keyring's secret or the
selected key's secret? I should be able to tell at a glance. Moving the
"Show Secret" section into the "Key Properties" window would fix this.
So would modifying the "Show Secret" caption to read "Show secret for
<keyname>"

As to the "Drag this image to copy the secret" widget, I had never seen
this style of control before and it took some playing to figure out what
it is. A "Copy Secret to Clipboard" button would probably be easier to
comprehend.

The caption for the Advanced Editor window should read something along
the lines of "Key Properties for <keyname>". In a window list, "Advanced
Editor" isn't clear about what the window actually is. Is that a text
editor with a file open via a VFS SMB connection, or a property window
for a key? ;)

Also in the Advanced Editor view, it seems that we have two separate
editors visible at the same time! Attributes and Application Access
Rights should probably be on separate tabs in this window.

Once I discovered the window that lists _keychains_ , I was surprised it
wasn't the first window to appear when starting the application. I'm
guessing the editor for the default keychain is shown in an effort to
avoid confusing the user. I'll reserve judgement on this behaviour - I
don't like it but I can see how it might be beneficial to some users.

All of the above are opinions. I'm no usability guru, but I think these
suggestions might result in a cleaner, clearer keyring manager.

-- 
Gabriel Bauman <gabe bravenet com>




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