Bug 189709 - Please make the navigation bar icons take less space
Summary: Please make the navigation bar icons take less space
Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME
Alias: None
Product: okular
Classification: Applications
Component: general (show other bugs)
Version: 0.8.2
Platform: unspecified Linux
: NOR wishlist
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Okular developers
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2009-04-15 12:53 UTC by Michael Schuerig
Modified: 2009-06-24 12:13 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
Proposed solutions (32.80 KB, image/png)
2009-05-23 13:16 UTC, Kamil Neczaj
Details

Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.
Description Michael Schuerig 2009-04-15 12:53:52 UTC
Version:           0.8.2 (using 4.2.2 (KDE 4.2.2), Debian packages)
Compiler:          cc
OS:                Linux (i686) release 2.6.28-1-686

For whatever functionality they add, the four navigation bar icons, Contents, Thumbnails, Reviews, Bookmarks, take up an inordinate amount of screen real estate.

I don't usually maximize windows to full screen size, instead I'm using several visible windows at the same time. Some of them Okular parts embedded in Konqueror. In such a case, half of my screen is cluttered with icons I don't need or use. For each document, I select once, whether I want to see the Contents (if there are any) or Thumbnails, and then I'd like these switcher icons to all but disappear. I don't think anyone needs them displayed as prominently as they currently are.

Please (optionally) move these icons to small tabs at the top of the navigation panel, in a way similar to what Kpdf did.
Comment 1 Pino Toscano 2009-04-15 13:03:00 UTC
Right click on the sidebar and choose the icon size and whether show the text.
Comment 2 Michael Schuerig 2009-04-15 13:24:52 UTC
That's better, but not very much. It reduces the wasted space to about half. Just to give you an idea, on my screen, with big icons and text, there are 100x700 (70000 sq) pixels wasted. With small icons and without text, it's 40x900 (36000 sq) pixels.
Comment 3 Kamil Neczaj 2009-05-23 13:16:17 UTC
Created attachment 33944 [details]
Proposed solutions

I agree with Michael Schuerig. The navigation bar take too much space. I propose to make vertical tabs or something like now has amarok - four vertical buttons: files, playlist, internet, collection.

Do you imagine such a navigation bar, which okular now has, instead of amarok's files, playlist... buttons? It would be so inconvenient and take too much space without any need. Now this situation is in okular.

On attached screenshot there is presented also another component - "tool box", which may be also useful to solve this issue.
Comment 4 Pino Toscano 2009-05-23 13:24:47 UTC
> I agree with Michael Schuerig. The navigation bar take too much space. I
> propose to make vertical tabs or something like now has amarok - four vertical
> buttons: files, playlist, internet, collection.

Vertical text is not natural to read. No way.

> Do you imagine such a navigation bar, which okular now has, instead of amarok's
> files, playlist... buttons? It would be so inconvenient and take too much space
> without any need. Now this situation is in okular.

Comparing Okular and Amarok is unfair, given Amarok has lot more of other UI elements scattered around, both on the left ans on the right.

> On attached screenshot there is presented also another component - "tool box",
> which may be also useful to solve this issue.

Toolbox was the previous implementation, which has a number of usability issues (no keyboard navigation, moving target areas for activating some pane, etc).

The current solution will stay for now, sorry.
Comment 5 Kamil Neczaj 2009-05-23 15:54:02 UTC
I've just installed acrobat reader to see how it in work in another pdf reader. There are also icons at left side of sidebar, but smaller (the middle size) and without text. Maybe it's the solution?
Comment 6 Pino Toscano 2009-05-23 16:00:15 UTC
(In reply to comment #5)
> I've just installed acrobat reader to see how it in work in another pdf reader.
> There are also icons at left side of sidebar, but smaller (the middle size) and
> without text. Maybe it's the solution?

Like you can do already in Okular way before acroread did it? See my comment #1.
Comment 7 Kamil Neczaj 2009-05-23 19:34:31 UTC
Yes, exactly, but you should consider make it default ;)
Comment 8 Kamil Neczaj 2009-05-26 23:49:22 UTC
I want to ask one more question. Why these icons on sidebar take such a lot of space by default? In my opinion there isn't any logical explanation. The middle size without text is enough.
Comment 9 Albert Astals Cid 2009-05-27 01:18:30 UTC
Because some people called Usability engineers that are supposed to have a better knowledge of what "most" people wants/needs than you or me told us to go that way.
Comment 10 Terry Barnaby 2009-06-24 12:13:29 UTC
Can I add my request to at least have an option to get rid of these side-bar
icons ? I have come from kpdf which uses simple tabs at the top of the side bar. These do not waste significant screen real-estate. Having these icons makes okular an unsuitable choice  as an embedded firefox PDF viewer.