Re: Control Center items (Was Re: Online Accounts panel for 3.2)

[Frederic Peters <fpeters gnome org>]

David Zeuthen wrote:

> >> I would imagine Telepathy/Empathy to use GOA to get the Chat accounts
> >> that is configured in GOA (in the above example, it would be Google
> >> Talk from zeuthen gmail com and Facebook Chat for davidz25). I would
> >> use an Empathy specific preferences window (not appearing in
> >> gnome-control-center I think) to add e.g. my ICQ account.
> >
> > Could you elaborate on this, e.g. why would ICQ and other types of
> > online accounts be deported to a specific preferences window?
> 
> I was mostly just thinking out loud - and that thought came out
> because it would seem weird to both "Online Accounts" and a "Messaging
> and VoIP Accounts" items in the control center (that, and we have
> limited space there).

> I guess my view is that mainstream/branded accounts (such as Google,
> Facebook etc.) would be handled by the "Online Accounts" panel while
> something as baroque as ICQ (it was once big but isn't really anymore)
> would be handled by app-specific preference windows. Or maybe "Online
> Accounts" is used to configure not only something like GOA (e.g.
> branded accounts) but also Telepathy. I don't know. I'm not the best
> person to make that call - ask the GNOME designers?

I am also of the opinion we want a single panel; but I think the
design of the "online accounts" panel should allow the accounts that
are currently in the "messaging and voip accounts" panel; nothing
really new here, I had that old mockup in mind:

  http://gitorious.org/gnome-design/gnome-design/blobs/master/mockups/control%20center/web-services/web-services-2.png


> > This is somehow related to the "Contacts" thread, where it is said we
> > could replace the empathy contact list with the shell; in this scheme
> > there's no place any longer for that specific preferences window, and
> > it makes sense (to me) to have it in the online accounts panel, along
> > others.
> 
> Sure. FWIW, I think we probably need some high-level design input that
> takes all these currently moving pieces and proposals into account.
> Again, I defer to the designers here.
> 
> (Sorry if this sounds like a cop out. It's not. I agree this is an
> important thing.)

No problem, GNOME is driven by design.


        Fred