[video]Suggestions for GUI development

[SimpleSi]

Instead of writing - I've rambled on for 10 mins in this video trying to explain my suggestions for the main GUI layout :)

http://youtu.be/s8jWCY9kMEs?hd=1

[JohnM]

Thanks for taking the time to make this video. You're right, its definitely easier to show what you mean by resizing panes and pointing at areas as you talk than it would be to write it all out.

You have a couple of goals: You'd really like to maximize the height of the scripting area (possibly giving up some horizontal space). You'd also like to be able to see all the block categories without scrolling, at least in non-developer mode. Finally, you'll like to be able to see as many blocks as possible in the palette for any given layout, with "operators being the category with the most blocks right now.

Although you didn't spend much time talking about your preferred Scratch-like layout (that you've suggested before), your video made me better understand why you prefer that layout: it maximizes the vertical space for the scripting area, allowing the user to fit longer scripts on the screen without scrolling. A Scratch-like layout, with the ability to resize the panes, would offer the most vertical space and a lot of flexibility in how you divide up the horizontal space.

Allowing categories to be in several columns is a good idea. Our current "list" widget doesn't support multiple columns, and it would take some time to build one that does, but in the long run that would be worth doing. However, even without that, the Scratch-like layout may still be a good option. With the current single-column category list, one could imagine using the entire vertical space for a column of category names, with the blocks palette to it's right and the scripting area to the right of that. A variation would be to put the categories above the palette in a single column. Do you have a preference between those?

If we did this, we could also move the "find" box to the left side and center the class name above the scripting area.

I'll think about all of this. It may take some time to make the changes. There's also a timing question; it might be best to wait until the winter break to make the change so as not to disrupt any classes currently using GP (although this change would probably not be too confusing since it's just rearranging the existing UI elements).

Thanks for the ideas...

[SimpleSi]

Thanks for the response :)

Given that
1. GP Isn't short of horizontal space

2. Category multi-column is a bit of work

then
Categories on left, Block palette next, Script area next

sounds like the way to proceed :)

[JohnM]

Yep, that would be the easiest thing to do right away.