GUI and interface suggestions [pics]...

A collection of especially useful xplorer² topics and ideas. New users may find it helpful to look here before searching the other forums for information. >>>>>> Please post new material in the relevant forum. (New stuff posted here will be removed.) Thanks. -fg-

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fgagnon
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Post by fgagnon »

Mr.Pleasant wrote:... I admit, I'm also the kind that switched the default XP style back to classic windows style two days after purchasing it...
Me too :)

But I do agree with TsunamiZ that a little extra pizzazz would speed recognition of which tab is active.  Maybe the active tab's style could be set to that of the active window's titlebar text & background. That would give the use control of how it looks, although putting in into lockstep with Windoze Active pane titlebar style.  For minor variety, background might be assigned to "color 2"
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Post by Gandolf »

I also like the tabs as they are and certainly have absolutely no problem seeing which is the active tab.
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ZoNi
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Post by ZoNi »

I agree that tabs should be better - see next pic attached: in the upper part you can see how tabs are shown in xplorer2, and in the lower it is from UltraExplorer. imho, it is better how UE shows this...

Image
that's rubbish talk, surely!
check for "under the hood" additions: keyboard customization, mini scrap (bookmark pane), quicksearch...
well, rubish or not, that was just my opinion! sorry if you, as a developer, were hurt! that was not my idea, nikos!

I personaly don't need any of those three thing - to be honest, I have no idea what is "mini scrap" or "quicksearch", and I prefer to use mouse over keyboard, so that customization is not important for me! So, all those were MY personal thoughts!
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nikos
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Post by nikos »

you have to get your priorities right
ultra explorer looks good (to the eye of the beholder) but all these eye candy make it as snappy as my grandmother, and it crashes every other CPU instruction. It's more of a showcase than a tool that you use for your daily tasks.

of course as my grandmother used to say, peri ore3ews koloky8opita ie. whatever takes your fancy! If you value tab looks more than mini scraps, then you are in the wrong forum ;)
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Post by TsunamiZ »

im only about 2 features short of switching over to directory opus 9 as they have a far more modern and customizable interface.  but i still hope x2 gets an interface makeover, cause user interaction with the interface also factors in speed of a program.  hard to see things = slower user response.
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Post by ZoNi »

nikos wrote:whatever takes your fancy! If you value tab looks more than mini scraps, then you are in the wrong forum ;)
click on a link in my signature, to see what is my prefered file manager! ;) I think that many (MANY!) people, especially here in Serbia, have heard for xplorer2 (and before, for 2xExplorer) from me! And that is cause I do like this program and cause I do want this program to become even better!

UltraExplorer was just to show how things can be done (although, it is nice file manager - not a single crash here!)

so, x2 now has almost all things I need - and that is why I think it is time for a little eye-candy!
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Bells & Whistles

Post by Robert2 »

nikos wrote:If you value tab looks more than mini scraps, then you are in the wrong forum ;)
Hi,

One of my teachers back in the sixties used to say that we were witnessing the triumph of style over substance.

I always wonder what he would say of the current area…

By the way, I have no trouble identifying the active tab. Maybe some users need a better graphic card or more simply to adjust the contrast on their screen.

Cheers,
Robert
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nikos
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Post by nikos »

what we need now is a quick world war or other major calamity and then people will see the real value of "style" :)

zoni, i know you are a committed x2-er but sometimes your style-over-matter pisses me off :)
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Post by ZoNi »

nikos wrote:1. what we need now is a quick world war or other major calamity and then people will see the real value of "style" :)
2. zoni, i know you are a committed x2-er but sometimes your style-over-matter pisses me off :)
1. well, we had here war just few years ago, so I don't have this problem :)
2. it is your fault - you have already put in x2 all the things I need - now I have to wait for those cosmetic changes :)
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nikos
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Post by nikos »

we had here war just few years ago
i can hear you complaining well major, this outfit is green and green is so out this season -- doesn't match my skin complexity at all!  :D
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Post by ZoNi »

hehe...

now, real question:

is it realy so big problem to make tabs in x2 to be like in other Win programs? (I am not a programmer, so to me, it seems like this should be no problem!)...

and why is it problem to add possibillity to change skin (actually, I am interested in option to easy change only icons, not complete GUI!)? To be honest, I would prefer little bigger icons - those in x2 looks good (regarding size!) on my 1024x768 CRT, but are little to small on my 1440x900 TFT (and I just don't want to think how that looks on bigger resolutions)
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nikos
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Post by nikos »

if it was simple i would have done it ages ago
these skinning frameworks are huge, heavy on resources, it's next to impossible to get a uniform look across all windows (remember x2 still supports w95) and in the end of the day my graphics skills are minimal

the only solution would be to pay somebody else for it, but because of all the crackers i cannot afford this :(
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Post by TsunamiZ »

im not asking for skinning as those may slow x2 down etc.  what im asking for is practical standard support for xp / vista styles--most a majority of programs already have nowadays and it doesnt noticably impact the speed for modern PCs.
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nikos
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Post by nikos »

in your case the fault is with the program you use to simulate vista looks under XP, so why do I have to fix it? why don't you throw this to whoever done this program?

if you were in true vista, then the latest v1.7 tabs look quite good and well defined!
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Post by wasker »

nikos wrote:if it was simple i would have done it ages ago
these skinning frameworks are huge, heavy on resources, it's next to impossible to get a uniform look across all windows (remember x2 still supports w95) and in the end of the day my graphics skills are minimal
Skinning is something to be avoided like a plague for a program like x2.
I'm using Xplorer2 - the only file manager that does not suck. Actually, it rocks!
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