[Epiphany] Re: Statusbar

["David Adam Bordoley" <bordoley msu edu>]

Marco Pesenti Gritti writes:
> 
> I think fullscreen should have a "fixed" layout.
> Somthing like:
> Back Forward Stop Reload Home Location Spinner
> I dont feel secure/unsecure important there ... I dont use it all time.
> On the few sites where I'm interested to that info I can just keep it in
> normal mode. 
> 
> Marco 
> 

I think the main issue is why use fullscreen over a maximized window. With 
the exception of people on exceptional low resolution monitors (640x480) I 
can see little benefit for the extra screen space. Fullscreen prevents the 
user from easily multitasking, and is somewhat reminiscent of the old 
single-tasking dos (one application at a time) interface. So my basic 
premise is that for everyday browsing fullscreen has no benefit over 
maximized windows. 

Ok so why use fullscreen. I've only come up with two use cases: HTML based 
presentations and web kiosks. I think both of these are important, but agree 
with marco that they need to be handled in a different manner. 

Presentations require a very limited interface. Many interface elements are 
just not needed, this includes imo, the statusbar, tabs, menubar. I think it 
can even be argued that the toolbar is actually unneeded here, because most 
web based presentations tend to provide their own navigational controls 
inline. When you give a presentation you want the audience to concentrate on 
your presentation, not your web browser, so limiting to the greatest extent 
possible the amount of onscreen chrome is very important. 

Kiosks provide a different challenge. I don't think that ephy is really up 
to the task yet actually. Kiosk mode requires that admins be able to 
strictly control all interface elements in the ui, they should be able to 
disable almost all features and meld the browser towards their needs. For 
instance, a kiosk user will want to disable all configuration options 
(toolbars, prefs etc.). They may also want to disable specific context menus 
etc. This needs alot of thought. 

Hope my comments are useful. 

dave