Various alpha-related concerns

[xnview]

1. How to easy navigate in such big tree? You need to scroll alot and look for items.

Yes, i agree, so i think we must have Folder AND Favorites/Categories/.. (2 tabs).
What do you think?

[Nelson]

Really on a new panel? I think that it's not very good to have many panel.
But perhaps i am mistaken!
And yes currently you can't view picture AND EXIF/IPTC!
I don't know which is the best solution...

I agree with you. Having many panels would make things complicated.
I prefer the current layout, because I don't need the EXIF/IPTC informations while browsing pictures.

But if you'd like to impliment the feature (add the panel to Browse mode), I think user should have the option to switch it on/off.
Or maybe you can create a sidebar to show the EXIF/IPTC informations:
When user moves mouse to the side, the sidebar slides in, and slides out when mouse is moved out of it.
(Like what FastStone Image Viewer does.)

[Nelson]

1. How to easy navigate in such big tree? You need to scroll alot and look for items.

Yes, i agree, so i think we must have Folder AND Favorites/Categories/.. (2 tabs).
What do you think?

Can anybody tell me how to use the Categoires feature?
I can't figure it out.

Regards.

[marsh]

Can anybody tell me how to use the Categoires feature?
I can't figure it out.

Create category by right click. Drag and drop to it to create a reference/index.

[JohnFredC]

Well, if the tabs were along the side of the XnView window (with rotated text) instead in a row at the top, it would feel more natural (for me) to use.

But...

From a programming point of view, wouldn't it be easier to add new kinds of items to a tree (such as slide shows and filters) than to have to design new panels for them? With the tree metaphor, you have an infinitely expandable paradigm for presentation, organization, and interaction. With tabs, you are limited by screen space and by increasing complexity of control interaction.

Perhaps two tree panes: Folders and Organizer (Categories, Favorites, Filters, etc).

One of my concerns about tabs is dragging and dropping. Would the tabs be drop points for folders and images?

Perhaps by looking at how other developers have solved these problems (or at least tried) better solutions could be found.

If it would help, I can post some screen shots from other softwares to aid discussion.

[dcakovan]

...I have another project for a true Data Management

Any more info on this? Is there a page, blog, etc I can go to, to see what you are up to?

[xnview]

...I have another project for a true Data Management

Any more info on this? Is there a page, blog, etc I can go to, to see what you are up to?

Not yet

[xnview]

Well, if the tabs were along the side of the XnView window (with rotated text) instead in a row at the top, it would feel more natural (for me) to use.

Ok, but if we use only 2 tabs, there is enough space here...

Perhaps two tree panes: Folders and Organizer (Categories, Favorites, Filters, etc).

Yes

One of my concerns about tabs is dragging and dropping. Would the tabs be drop points for folders and images?

What do you means?

Perhaps by looking at how other developers have solved these problems (or at least tried) better solutions could be found.

If it would help, I can post some screen shots from other softwares to aid discussion.

Yes, please...

[nightflyer]

1. How to easy navigate in such big tree? You need to scroll alot and look for items.

Yes, i agree, so i think we must have Folder AND Favorites/Categories/.. (2 tabs).
What do you think?

Putting items of different kinds in one tree will always make a problem to navigate. Why we escape from tabs when it is easiest way to navigate from one kind of items to other? Why we separate just Folders from other items, not Categories? Why not preserve tabs and make possible to turn off unused tabs?
I think it is reasonable to put creations in one tab (like slideshows, HTML pages or something else like this), but for others it is reasonable to allow fast access (click on a tab), not scrolling through big tree.
A lot of other softwares uses such approach and it works well. Why change something that works well?

-=nightflyter=-

[Clo]

—> Pierre

Hello !

These .lng are used by plugins, do you translate all plugins for TC

Yes, I do and Paul-"Ouistiti" helps me a lot at this !

- We are almost the only ones to translate into French a lot of plugins and also some specialized tools (standalone, but for TC only or general purpose like "Imagine"). This is a lot of works…

KR
Claude
Clo

[Troken]

Please do not put everything in a big scrollbar, it wouldnt be very user-friendly. Maybe practical in some points of view, but tabs are easy to understand, easy to locate, easy to use, its a nice concept that works for most people.

[xnview]

Please do not put everything in a big scrollbar, it wouldnt be very user-friendly. Maybe practical in some points of view, but tabs are easy to understand, easy to locate, easy to use, its a nice concept that works for most people.

But do you think that only 2 tabs is better than 3, 4, ....?
One tab for folder, and one tab for 'organize' (favorites/categories)

[JohnFredC]

One advantage of the "combined" tree is that anything you select in it would show its corresponding members (files, folders, favorites, what have you) in the file list/thumbs panel (as well as in the tree). For instance, select the Favorites root entry and all the "Favorites" folders would show in the file list panel. Select a Slide show from the Slide Show tree and all of its member images could appear in the file panel.

Also, interaction with a "combined" tree becomes standard and intuitive: Select a file in the file pane and drag it to the Slideshow item in the tree to add it to a slide show. Etc.

Heirarchical data is heirarchical data. I prefer to use only one set of tools to interact with it.

[JohnFredC]

Be that as it may... (see prior post)

All of the screenshots I had intended to show were from "combined" trees, such as described above. Since a "combined" tree, no matter how elegantly implemented, appears to be less desirable than tabs for most of you, I won't waste everyone's time with examples of tree implementations.

[JohnFredC]

One problem with the two tabs approach (Folders AND Navigator) is that there is no clear way for the Folder tree and the Navigator subtrees (Favorites, Categories, etc) to appear on the screen simultaneously.

For instance, I would like to browse the Folder tree to find appropriate images (in various folders) and drag them to a Slideshow, or to a Category, or an Album, or whatever. If the slideshow tree is in the Navigator panel (which would be hidden if I have selected the Folders tab) then drag-and-drop wouldn't ever work for that.

Further, why waste all that screen space for just two tabs? (NOW I understand why Pierre chose buttons...): tabs take up too much real estate if there are only two or three of them to display).

So, instead of two tabs (er, buttons), what about this alternative approach:

a single sidebar (no tabs) with collapsable sections/panels, one each for Folders, Categories, Favorites, etc.?

The interaction with such a schema would show the benefits of tabs (easy to understand) AND the interaction benefits of a tree (drag and drop between subpanels/sections), but without complicating the XnView interface with lots of extra layout items (ie. nested tabs/panels) and also without merging everything into a single tree.

I am sure most of you are familiar with this approach from other software.