Bug 424494

Summary: Select and tile windows on demand
Product: [Plasma] kwin Reporter: manuelchaves
Component: Custom TilingAssignee: KWin default assignee <kwin-bugs-null>
Status: RESOLVED FIXED    
Severity: wishlist CC: nate, notmart
Priority: NOR    
Version First Reported In: unspecified   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: Other   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed/Implemented In: 5.27
Sentry Crash Report:

Description manuelchaves 2020-07-21 01:35:57 UTC 
Right now it's possible to have 2 windows in a column through quarter tiling. But when a user needs to have 3 windows in a vertical column the only way to do it is by manual resizing. I think adding more tiling options is something a window manager should strive for. 

Here's how I think it could work: 
- Use alt+shif+drag to "draw" a rectangle to select the windows you want
- OR trigger some popup with a list of windows in the current screen to pick
- After selecting the windows ask what kind of tiling arrangement you want
- For instance if 3 windows are selected allow picking a 3 window column (or row)
- This could be represented visually or by text descriptions
- The windows get tiled

This is a basic idea.
Right now what I do is manually resize windows and make them remember the size and position.
I know kwin tiling scripts exist, but I don't use them and I don't think they're tightly integrated into the workflow since they depend on keyboard shortcuts.
The idea is to make it painless to discover and use.
Comment 1 manuelchaves 2020-07-21 01:47:20 UTC 
Instead of alt+shift+drag, it could be alt+shift+click to select windows, put a border around them for feedback. This could be useful for many functions that depend on a list of windows not just tiling. Automatically removing any selected windows after x seconds to avoid cases where the user accidentally selects one and doesn't know they can click again to remove.
Comment 2 Nate Graham 2023-01-25 18:21:13 UTC 
This is now possible using KWin's new "Custom Tiling" feature in Plasma 5.27!