Closed Bug 15044 Opened 25 years ago Closed 25 years ago

Present this Address book user interface suggestion to UI team

Categories

(SeaMonkey :: MailNews: Address Book & Contacts, enhancement, P3)

enhancement

Tracking

(Not tracked)

VERIFIED FIXED

People

(Reporter: michael.j.lowe, Assigned: hangas)

Details

Attachments

(3 files)

Having a separate pane for the directory list in my opinion is a waste of space, especially on small screens, since it usually only contains a few entries and it is currently allocated a full column. It also adds unnecessarily to the visual complexity of the user interface, since the user will most likely only infrequently switch between address books. The users primary visual focus will be on the list of cards and on the details of the currently selected card, so having a full column pane for the directory list only pulls the users focus away from where it should be. These problems were not so much an issue in 4.x (where there were only two panes), but after adding the additional pane for the address book card in Mozilla, the space available for viewing the list of address book cards becomes too small on lower screen resolutions. Please find attached my suggestion for how I would like the address book user interface to be implemented. There are only a few, but I think significant, changes I have made to the visual layout: 1. Changed the directory list from a full column list pane to a popup combo box menu. This gives much more room for the card list pane, providing space to show more of the available columns in this list. It also simplifies the window making it easier for the user to focus on the most relevant parts and parse the visual layout. 2. Reordered some of the toolbar buttons to group them together by semantics, and added some toolbar separators. 3. Moved the "Show names containing" field from the top toolbar down to the next row to give it more room. Note that the first point also applies to the Mail Compose "Select Address" dialog, and hence the same change should be made to both. I hope you agree that my suggestion is an improvement over the current design, and that it can be implemented in Mozilla.
Attached image Screenshot (deleted) —
Michael: Thanks for the input, I have added German to the list to consider the toolbar button order. There are a number of items that may land in the left pane of the address book. At a minimum there are LDAP directories, once these are added we also need a way to drag address book cards from one address book to another, this left pane allows for this. Users that need that extra space will be able to click once on the gripper to collapse the left pane, which will allow then to work without it taking up extra space.
Ok, how about a merging both approaches. Maintain the three pane layout, but add the toolbar from my proposal (which is almost how 4.x is currenty layed out). If the user has minimised the directory pane then they would still have the option of having the my directory popup on the toolbar to see what the current directory is, and change it, without having to open the full directory pane.
Status: NEW → ASSIGNED
Summary: Address book user interface → Present this Address book user interface suggestion to UI team
Target Milestone: M11
I will present the toolbar suggestion to the UI team. Changed the Summary to reflect this. The bug will be closed when the suggestion is presented, regardless of the outcome. Michael: Thanks again for doing this.
Attached image 2nd revision screenshot (deleted) —
QA Contact: lchiang → nbaca
cc: nbaca (toolbars) and esther (address book)
Status: ASSIGNED → RESOLVED
Closed: 25 years ago
Resolution: --- → FIXED
The UE group liked the button order proposed by Michael in this bug. The spec will be updated to have a new button order. The left pane will continue as it was. Thanks again Michael. Marking as fixed, since this bug was to present the suggestion to UI and this is done. The code will be updated to match the spec after it arrives.
Status: RESOLVED → VERIFIED
Build 1999112208M12: NT4, Linux, Mac Verified Fixed because the buttons are present. There is a problem displaying the Address Picker buttons but this problem is reported in bug# 19604.
Product: Browser → Seamonkey
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