Re: I have a problem

[Dylan McCall <dylanmccall gmail com>]

On Sat, May 28, 2011 at 2:01 PM, Benjamin Otte <otte gnome org> wrote:
> …
> * There's button(s) that say  ( Notes | Edit )
> How are these buttons different from notebooks? Is it just visually
> different or is it a completely different interaction? Because from
> the interaction described it looks like a notebook to me, just with a
> different UI. But I can't really pinpoint what's missing from
> GtkNotebook for this. Also, should we try to get rid of notebooks and
> replace it with buttons like these in other places?
> …

I think there is a huge distinction here. A notebook evokes different
places; different data, different views. The combined buttons evoke
different modes with the same data and (practically) the same view.
Functionally, they are the same as a row of grouped toggle buttons,
but the design makes that functionality more explicit (and more
attractive).

Notebooks are also frequently customized, though. I think there is
another distinction within the Notebook widget, perhaps: notebooks
where the pages are static, perhaps sections in a config dialog; and
notebooks where the pages are dynamic, such as tabbed documents in
gedit and Epiphany.

I wonder if there is a way the same designers who are coming up with
all these neat UIs can provide direct input to GTK in general? Perhaps
we could have people do redesign mockups for gtk-demo the same way
they might do Evolution or GNOME Contacts…

--
Dylan