Bug 467252 - Clipboard nomenclature for next and previous is confusing
Summary: Clipboard nomenclature for next and previous is confusing
Status: CONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: plasmashell
Classification: Plasma
Component: Clipboard (show other bugs)
Version: 5.27.2
Platform: Other Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: 1.0
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords: usability
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2023-03-12 20:23 UTC by David
Modified: 2023-03-29 20:51 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

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Description David 2023-03-12 20:23:13 UTC
SUMMARY
The KDE clipboard has shortcuts for "Next History Item" and "Previous History Item", but the naming is confusing - if I think of "next" and "previous", the first thing I think is the chronological order in which I put the items into the clipboard, but in history order, this works the other way around.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Try to assign shortcuts for next and previous items in the clipboard.

OBSERVED RESULT
Shortcuts are for "next/previous in history" which is the opposite of chronological order.

EXPECTED RESULT
Should have shortcuts for "next item" and "previous item" in the order that they were sent to the clipboard.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Windows: 
macOS: 
Linux/KDE Plasma: 
(available in About System)
KDE Plasma Version: 
KDE Frameworks Version: 
Qt Version: 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Comment 1 Nate Graham 2023-03-13 22:02:36 UTC
They mean "Next in the list." Do you have an idea how they could be rephrased for more clarity?
Comment 2 David 2023-03-14 18:09:34 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #1)
> They mean "Next in the list." Do you have an idea how they could be
> rephrased for more clarity?

Next History Item -> Previous Item
Previous History Item -> Next Item
Plus swapping the direction of the arrows, and maybe showing the list in reverse order so that the most recent item is at the bottom.
Comment 3 Nate Graham 2023-03-15 15:25:13 UTC
Hmm, reversing the direction of the ordering in the applet isn't practical because then it would be inconsistent with everything else, and you'd be looking at the oldest entries on top by default. You'd need to scroll down to see the newest stuff. And I don't think the other elements of that idea make sense without doing that.

Any other ideas?
Comment 4 David 2023-03-16 18:29:43 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #3)
> Hmm, reversing the direction of the ordering in the applet isn't practical
> because then it would be inconsistent with everything else, and you'd be
> looking at the oldest entries on top by default. You'd need to scroll down
> to see the newest stuff. And I don't think the other elements of that idea
> make sense without doing that.
> 
> Any other ideas?

Then I'm out of ideas, but I don't get why it couldn't have a list with the newest entry at the bottom and pop-up with the focus and scroll bar at the end.
Comment 5 Nate Graham 2023-03-27 18:48:51 UTC
Because it would look weird and inconsistent with the top-to-bottom flow in all other system tray widgets, and people would complain and submit bug reports about it.
Comment 6 Nate Graham 2023-03-29 20:51:05 UTC
So having played with these actions a bit, here's a summary of what they do:

"Next History Item" => Moves the first/active entry in the history to the bottom so it's the last item in the history, and then the item that was previously second in the history becomes first and hence active.

"Previous History Item" => Moves the last item in the history that was moved there by using the "Next History Item" item back up to the top so it's the first item and hence active; the item that was previously first/active moves to the second position in the history list.

I'm struggling to come up with better text that describes these. Maybe VDG folks can help.