Bug 436800

Summary: Huge sidebars waste too much space, make multitasking impractical. Suggestion to move the tools into the toolbar and menus.
Product: [Applications] calligracommon Reporter: leftcrane <leftcrane>
Component: usabilityAssignee: Calligra Bugs <calligra-bugs-null>
Status: REPORTED ---    
Severity: normal    
Priority: NOR    
Version First Reported In: unspecified   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: Other   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description leftcrane 2021-05-08 22:21:10 UTC 
This is a general UI problem that affects the entire suite. The sidebars take up anywhere from a quarter to a third of the window area on normal screens. This means you can't tile a calligra window with anything else and expect to be able to see the content.

The worst thing is that most of the space in the sidebars is completely empty. Most of the tools are tiny buttons that could fit into a two-row toolbar - the gargantuan sidebars give them five times the space they actually require. I've never seen software where whitespace crowds out content to this degree.

I would urge Calligra developers to adopt the kind of interface seen on other office suites and move the tools out of the sidebars. Maybe just put them all in the menubar, at least for starters, so users have at least some alternative to the sidebars. 

It's sad to see such an impressive project completely crippled - at least for me, though I suspect I'm not the only one - by one strange UI decision. Otherwise, a native office suite like Calligra could be a great asset for the desktop as a whole.