Constructive criticism: Winstripe

logan · Post by **logan** » June 10th, 2004, 2:48 pm

tmeader wrote:As for the grey URL history... for me anyway, on XP, it's white as it's always been.

Well, this isn't the first time things have been different between windows and gtk builds. Guess I could figure out where that's set and override it in my userChrome.css. :P

richardtallent · Post by **richardtallent** » June 10th, 2004, 3:19 pm

Another small nit after using WinStripe for a few days: the Close Tab button is WAY too small, I keep missing it unless I'm looking straight at it.

On size: While padding hacks are nice, what we really should have is at least two choices of icon sizes: 16px and 24px. This is a standard in just about all Windows apps. I would hope, in addition, that 32px and 48px would be available for the high-res users who don't want to squint to aim, but at least a full 24px would be appreciated.

On home: I agree about the "freakiness." I think it has to do with the steep pitch of the roof or height of the thing overall.

Up? Since the Googlebar extension seems to be hosed right now in 0.9RC, I'm *really* missing my Up button. Is this even an option for theme builders? Probably not.

New tab: Regardless who moved it, the New Tab button should be right next to the Close Tab button IMHO. Tried to get the "Basic" extension to work yesterday but had no luck.

tmeader · Post by **tmeader** » June 10th, 2004, 3:36 pm

richardtallent, assuming you are using the Bookmarks Toolbar, you can simply place the new tab button directly above close tab if you wish it to be on that side of the screen. Can't say I understood the reason for removal of the "new tab" button either, but the likelyhood of getting that put in is pretty slim unless you can convince Ben Goodger of the benefit it provides over simply 1) having it slightly above where it used to be on the Bookmark Toolbar, or 2) either double clicking in the tab bar (yes I realize that isn't very viable if the bar is full) or hitting Ctrl+t to open a new tab. In either case, it's not something that the Winstripe designers have any control over unfortunately.

tmeader · Post by **tmeader** » June 10th, 2004, 3:37 pm

Also, what exactly does an "Up" button do for a browser?

shill · Post by **shill** » June 10th, 2004, 3:50 pm

tmeader wrote:Also, what exactly does an "Up" button do for a browser?

The same thing it does in Windows Explorer. It goes up a directory.

richardtallent · Post by **richardtallent** » June 10th, 2004, 3:54 pm

Shill is correct. It's great when Google dumps you somewhere on a site and there's no easy way back up the navigation path. Sure, you can edit the URL, but the Up button is a great shortcut. I just didn't know if it is implemented optionally already in Firefox but perhaps unavailable with current themes, or whether a theme itself can perform enough scripting capability to accomplish it.

esavior · Post by **esavior** » June 10th, 2004, 3:56 pm

http://www.mydomain.com/help/fish/monkey
*presses the up button*
http://www.mydomain.com/help/fish/
*presses up again*
http://www.mydomain.com/help/

quite a nifty button. unfotunatly I dont think it comes with fx by default. :(

Well, this isn't the first time things have been different between windows and gtk builds. Guess I could figure out where that's set and override it in my userChrome.css. :P

or wait till gnomestripe comes out :)

logan · Post by **logan** » June 10th, 2004, 4:19 pm

if anyone gtk users care to have a white history/autocomplete popup...

Code: Select all

popup[type="autocomplete"] tree { background-color: -moz-Field !important }

AstroBlue · Post by **AstroBlue** » June 11th, 2004, 1:11 am

If you're going for "cross-platform consistencey" the best idea would be to go for halfway between Mac's "monochrome minimalism" and XP's "pastel asthetic puffiness".. currently Winstripe is doing neither.

It's not minimalistic or asthetically puffy because it's way too fiddly. For instance, the new window button has miniature buttons and toolbars on the representation of a "new window", that's not needed, you can see it's a new window without them. And the shadowing effects are way too much, at that size it just makes the icons look "dirty" or like they have compression artefacts. When you're working with such small areas, it's better to make things as simple as posible, rather then complex and flashy.

I know this might be considered off topic, but I think the project should seriously question it's policy of "cross platform consistency". That would only be a good idea if all platforms were identical, but they are not. If you go for the lowest common denominator, you will apease all, but please none.

lordmedikit · Post by **lordmedikit** » June 11th, 2004, 4:33 am

I believe Winstripe is only for Windows and Gnomestripe for Linux. Pinstripe will stay on the Mac.

johnleemk · Post by **johnleemk** » June 11th, 2004, 5:48 am

Nope - Linux is getting Gnomestripe eventually.

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » June 11th, 2004, 7:08 am

Hi all,
Over the next few weeks we'll be evolving the Winstripe style to bring it closer to Windows XP. We'll post on the forum when we have something to show you :)

One thing that would be very helpful to me is if you could point out applications (maybe even post links to screenshots) that you think follow the Microsoft Icon Guidelines well and provide a great XP experience. We've been using IE and OE and native XP dialogs as a guide, but I haven't seen many non-Microsoft products that have embraced the XP look and feel. This might be because I'm using mainly pre-XP apps.
Thanks for the constructive comments so far.

thenightfly42 · Post by **thenightfly42** » June 11th, 2004, 7:18 am

richardtallent wrote:Up? Since the Googlebar extension seems to be hosed right now in 0.9RC, I'm *really* missing my Up button. Is this even an option for theme builders? Probably not.

I do this with a JavaScript button; drag this to your toolbar:
<a href="javascript:void(location.href=location.href.substring(0,location.href.substring(0,location.href.length-1).lastIndexOf('/')+1))">Up</a>

thenightfly42 · Post by **thenightfly42** » June 11th, 2004, 8:42 am

Kevin wrote:Hi all,
Over the next few weeks we'll be evolving the Winstripe style to bring it closer to Windows XP. We'll post on the forum when we have something to show you :)

Thanks for letting us know. Any chance you could incorporate some of your changes before the 0.9 final release? Just hoping to forestall some of the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments...

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » June 11th, 2004, 9:13 am

We only have a few days till 0.9, and the "evolution" I speak of is more than a quick fix, so no, I wouldn't expect any changes real soon. I expect the gnashing and the rending to happen regardless of what we do :)