Arguably, the default unfolded behavior of the navigation bar uses too much space when the reader focuses instead on the PDF content. I know one can fold it, but this has to be done for each open document, again and again. Eventually I opt for disabling it, even though it is useful. I wish the default appearance of the side bar would be folded, or to have an option to set it that way. That would gain visibility of its functionality without interfering that much with the PDF content. Sorry in advance if there is such an option, I couldn't find it.
Does the F7 shortcut work for you? I mean, press F7 and there is no sidebar, press again and it shows again. Isn't it a handful way to solve the problem? Thanks in advance for your answer.
Yes, the shortcut indeed works and it is an option. In fact that was what I meant by disabling it. The problem of making it disappear is that users (at least this happened to me in the past) may forget about it (and its functionality). Please note that I do not consider myself a newbie user, I use Okular on a daily basis for my work and have been do so for more than 15 years now. I probably disabled the bar years ago, and over time forgot about its functionality, and then rediscovered it. That functionality, while not essential, it is very handy in occasions, but to me it feels too intrusive. That is why I recommended the option of the folded bar, as the best compromise.
(In reply to avlas from comment #2) > I use Okular on a daily basis for my work and have been do so for more than 15 years now. Mmm, not sure Okular is 15 years ole. Perhaps I used kpdf at the begining :)
According to this https://github.com/KDE/okular/releases/tag/v3.2.0, yes > 15 years old [Sorry for diverging so much, I couldn't help myself from checking this out]
I see the problem, but an option to show/hide it at opening new documents would not do it for me. When I open an email attachment, I usually do not need the side bars. But when I open a microcontroller datasheet, I really need them. So, the side bar should only be shown if there are more than, say, 15 pages. This number would be configurable: "When opening new documents, show side bar if document has more pages than [spinbox]", with range -1 (never), 0 (always), 1..1000.
(In reply to David Hurka from comment #5) > I see the problem, but an option to show/hide it at opening new documents > would not do it for me. > > When I open an email attachment, I usually do not need the side bars. But > when I open a microcontroller datasheet, I really need them. So, the side > bar should only be shown if there are more than, say, 15 pages. This number > would be configurable: > "When opening new documents, show side bar if document has more pages than > [spinbox]", with range -1 (never), 0 (always), 1..1000. You are talking about showing the navigation bar or not according to the number of pages of the opened PDF file. Am I right? Correct me if wrong but this doesn't seem to refer to folding/unfolding the bar. If so, I think this deserves another bug report, as this one is just for an option to select at which status folded/unfolded the bar should be shown by default when opening new PDF files.
(In reply to avlas from comment #6) > (In reply to David Hurka from comment #5) > > I see the problem, but an option to show/hide it at opening new documents > > would not do it for me. > > > > When I open an email attachment, I usually do not need the side bars. But > > when I open a microcontroller datasheet, I really need them. So, the side > > bar should only be shown if there are more than, say, 15 pages. This number > > would be configurable: > > "When opening new documents, show side bar if document has more pages than > > [spinbox]", with range -1 (never), 0 (always), 1..1000. > > You are talking about showing the navigation bar or not according to the > number of pages of the opened PDF file. Am I right? > > Correct me if wrong but this doesn't seem to refer to folding/unfolding the > bar. If so, I think this deserves another bug report, as this one is just > for an option to select at which status folded/unfolded the bar should be > shown by default when opening new PDF files. Perhaps I should have also said that the selected option (folded/unfolded) requested here is subordinate to having the navigation bar enabled.
Created attachment 117615 [details] Words used by David
Maybe I understood you wrong, so I will try to clarify. I thought you are talking about showing/hiding the Thumbnails/Contents Panel when opening a new document, provided the Navigation Bar is already shown. Currently, Okular remembers the state of the Navigation Bar (in menu Settings), and selects the Thumbnails/Contents Panel when a new document is opened. If the Navigation Bar is hidden permanently, it is likely to forget about it. So I thought you just want to hide the panel when opening a document. Then I suggested to hide the panel when opening a document with few pages. The image shall explain my word usage.
(In reply to David Hurka from comment #9) > Maybe I understood you wrong, so I will try to clarify. > > I thought you are talking about showing/hiding the Thumbnails/Contents Panel > when opening a new document, provided the Navigation Bar is already shown. > > Currently, Okular remembers the state of the Navigation Bar (in menu > Settings), and selects the Thumbnails/Contents Panel when a new document is > opened. > > If the Navigation Bar is hidden permanently, it is likely to forget about > it. So I thought you just want to hide the panel when opening a document. > > Then I suggested to hide the panel when opening a document with few pages. > > The image shall explain my word usage. Yes, we are talking about the same, but talking about it in different terms. I was referring to hide/show (or enable/disable) the bar as the behavior you can see by the F7 shortcut. You use those terms for what I refer as folding/unfolding. So, we use different terminology but refer to the same thing, and your comments indeed belong here.
Seems like there is an obvious solution here: remember the collapsed or expanded state of the navigation bar. If I collapse it and quit Okular and then re-open it, it should be collapsed. If I then expand it and quit Okular and started it again, it should be expanded.
Sounds good to me. Talking about remembering, in addition to F7 status (ON/OFF and expanded/collapsed), could Okular remember "F6" ON/OFF status as well?
This is fixed in the upcoming 1.11.0 release.