Small improvements to the UI/Tab container

Ideas for improvements and requests for new features in XnView MP

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stankovic
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:17 pm

Small improvements to the UI/Tab container

Post by stankovic »

Let me first say hello to you all! :D

I know xnview for a very long time but it happened two days ago that i discovered xnview mp. It took just few minutes to see the improvements on the ui and many dialogues: xnview mp looks much cleaner and userfriendlier. Thanks for your work, xnview!

However there remains one ui element that i always considered as ugly in xnview: the tab containers, especially that one which includes the browse mode and the view. Not only that it looks ugly in my opinion it also causes a fluttered appearance. I have some minor suggestions and one more important one. Let me start with the minor suggestions. I know that for someone that might seem pedantic because it is only about visual appearance but on the other side i think that a clean and pleasant look has its eligibility.

Smaller suggestions
  • In the folder/favorite/categories tab container i don't like the tabs which appear on the side. In some layouts normal tabs on the top of the container are appearing. Maybe i overlooked an option but it would be nice to have in all layouts the latter tabs which appear on top.
  • In the info tab container the tabs itself doesn't have a border on their top. Also the empty container in case of no selection doesn't have the upper border. (I am aware how minimal that "issue" is, but however! :P) Image
The main suggestion
In my eyes the worst part of the ui are the main tabs that switch between browse mode and view mode. Using the options related to these tabs even cause a more horrible look: if you place these tabs on the bottom a part of the status bar will be hidden and on the upper part remains an empty and useless space. My suggestion is now to use that type of tab container that is already used for the info tabs: i know these type of tabs from foobar2000 and the advantage of them are that they are drawing a border around the contained window so that a clean and calm look&feel can be achieved. Last but not least imo the main menu should be placed (like in xnview) above the tabs: that matches more the expectations and conventions inside window programs.

I produced a mockup with foobar2000 that mimics xnview to show how it would/could loook like if these type of tab containers would be used at all parts and not only on info tabs: Image

What do you think? At least i would give it a try! :wink:
Last edited by stankovic on Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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budz45
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Location: UK

Re: Small improvements to the UI/Tab container

Post by budz45 »

stankovic wrote:
  • In the folder/favorite/categories tab container i don't like the tabs which appear on the side. In some layouts normal tabs on the top of the container are appearing. Maybe i overlooked an option but it would be nice to have in all layouts the latter tabs which appear on top.
I agree with this one, perhaps it could be changed by default from the developer or perhaps (for users that like them displayed on the side) there could be a right-click option on those side-tabs named like "Display as horizontal" which could be enabled/disabled via right-click on that UI part. Good suggestion,never thought of that one as I use the Browser less.

I like the mock-up you made:
Image
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stankovic
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:17 pm

Re: Small improvements to the UI/Tab container

Post by stankovic »

It is not really a mockup in that sense that i used photoshop or such stuff. I just created a layout inside foobar2000 to show how it looks like if a border is drawn from the main tab around the whole browser. In my eyes it indeed looks clean and calm

Edit
Now i see your screenshot. Another advantage of these tab containers are that you can place other parts apart from main window inside the container and it keeps looking good. I am f.e. thinking now about the match option in the tree pane.

Image
stankovic
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:17 pm

Re: Small improvements to the UI/Tab container

Post by stankovic »

budz45 wrote:
stankovic wrote:
  • In the folder/favorite/categories tab container i don't like the tabs which appear on the side. In some layouts normal tabs on the top of the container are appearing. Maybe i overlooked an option but it would be nice to have in all layouts the latter tabs which appear on top.
I agree with this one, perhaps it could be changed by default from the developer or perhaps (for users that like them displayed on the side) there could be a right-click option on those side-tabs named like "Display as horizontal" which could be enabled/disabled via right-click on that UI part.
Just discovered that there is already an option: main menu -> view -> tree panes -> vertical tabs
stankovic
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:17 pm

Re: Small improvements to the UI/Tab container

Post by stankovic »

When i wrote the opening post i already expected that the interest to the topic would be minimal due to the minor importance of such aesthetical issues. I just want to use the opportunity to add some last thoughts to the visual appearance of xnview:

1. I hope that you all can retrace what i mean with "ugly" in regard to the main tabs. Please don't confuse my suggestion as concrete request: it was just one of surely many possibilities to let xnview look nicer - another could be to let the main tabs look like in firefox. Also here in an older screenshot of xnview mpit looked much better in my eyes (placing main menu above the tabs is a must! :wink: ).

2. There seems to be a bug in theme selection: once i change the theme in main menu i can't come back to the first appearance of standard windows 7 theme. (Sometimes a restart helps)

3. Many of the chooseable themes are looking bad in the sense that they have an old school charme or that they contain inconsistencies. My question is now: Is it necessary at all to have all that different themes? It seems to me that in the last years the popularity of "skins" decreased and that more people like a clean standard theme with nice icons. Xnview has a distinctive and good-looking logo; also it has due to mezichs great work awesome and unique icons rather than the same old tango or whatever icons. Wouldn't it be the best to provide just two themes: a light/clean one (the standard windows theme!) and a dark one. In that context i like to say that budz45's suggestion of greyed out icons in the dark theme makes absolutely sense.
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JohnFredC
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Re: Small improvements to the UI/Tab container

Post by JohnFredC »

With regard to No. 1... Some years ago, Pierre built a version of MP with the main menu below the tabs. Old forum posts show that some of us did resisted the new design and (user-centric as he is) Pierre reverted to placing the main menu above the tabs in subsequent MP builds.

On revisiting the issue after a year or so of using other software that implemented this new concept of the menu subordinate to the tab, some of us revised our opinions and he again built an MP version with the menu subordinate to the tab.

This new UI paradigm (menu below tab) appeals to logic, IMO. It is also consistent with the UI design much of the new software be written today (q.v. Chrome par example). When Pierre implements "tear-off" image tabs in MP, the menu below the tab implementation will be mandatory...
John
stankovic
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:17 pm

Re: Small improvements to the UI/Tab container

Post by stankovic »

JohnFredC wrote: This new UI paradigm (menu below tab) appeals to logic, IMO. It is also consistent with the UI design much of the new software be written today (q.v. Chrome par example). When Pierre implements "tear-off" image tabs in MP, the menu below the tab implementation will be mandatory...
While i was talking about pure aesthetical issues you already mentioned some functional arguments - means: yes, you are right! it would be senseless to put main menu above the tabs and implementing at same time "tear-off" tabs! So (concerning the main tabs) it remains the request to have a clear border between tabs and the bottom part and between tabs itself.

Example (from Opera)
Image