New Attachment display ideas

Posted July 19th, 2003, 2:15 pm

Using all the great feedback from:

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... 765#100765

I've gone off and done some more work on re-writing the UI for displaying attachments in the message pane.

What follows are some *unpolished* but real (not mock ups) screen shots of some of the possibiltiies. All of them are based on option #2, with mockups by nostromo and mozmike (http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... 732#101732) as that seemed to be the most popular option.

It took a long time to right a new toolkit widget which could display these attachments horizontally (and wrap them if the window isn't wide enough), but now that I have this widget, I can explore different variations of this presentation theme.

For all of these new possibilities you can:
1) navigate through the attachments list
2) select multiple attachments for opening or saving
3) can right click to get a context menu for open/save/save all
4) attachments will wrap to the next line if they don't all fit

Option 1:
<img src="http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/specs/images/attachments-1.png">

Option 2:
Same as 1, but lose the white background & border around the attachments. Show the attachments on the same line as the Attachments label. I think I like this option the least as it reminds me the most of outlook xp.

<img src="http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/specs/images/attachments-2.png">

Option 3:
Move the attachment box so it appears AFTER the message body instead of up with the headers. Use a white background box like option 1.

<img src="http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/specs/images/attachments-3.png">

Option 4:
Again, AFTER the message body, show a box listing the attachments. Use 32x32 pixel icons with the attachment name below the image. Lose the 'Attachments:' label. This could probably be spruced up to have a thicker divider between the message body and the attachment list.

<img src="http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/specs/images/attachments-4.png">

Again please keep in mind that none of these are polished, just rough functional things I've been trying. So don't just an option because it looks rough around the edges. Also there are many variations we can do on any of these proposals (like making the attachments look like they are in a box (option 1) or inline with the headers (option 2). We can mix and match until we get something that looks right.

Thoughts / opinions / suggestions on these themes are most appreciated.

Posted July 19th, 2003, 2:25 pm

I think Option #3 is very beautiful. I would very much like that implemented. In any case, below the preview pane please..

Edit: if you lose the label 'Attachment' it would take even less screen space (that's why I chose #3 instead of #4)

Posted July 19th, 2003, 2:38 pm

I'd go for Option #4, without the 'Attachments' tag above it.

I wonder: can you drag the selected attachments out of this box to your desktop or any other folder? Or do we have to go through the 'save as/save all' contextual menu?

Posted July 19th, 2003, 2:42 pm

Is there a bug for adding or fixing alpha blending in /icon?

Posted July 19th, 2003, 3:07 pm

swalker wrote:Is there a bug for adding or fixing alpha blending in /icon?

I don't think there's a bug on the .ico image decoder. What seems to be missing? In my ignorance, the .ico image seems to render correctly =).

Posted July 19th, 2003, 3:16 pm

mscott wrote:
swalker wrote:Is there a bug for adding or fixing alpha blending in /icon?

I don't think there's a bug on the .ico image decoder. What seems to be missing? In my ignorance, the .ico image seems to render correctly =).

Save http://www.phoenity.com/bird/icons/bluethunderbird.ico and view it in windows. Then compare that to bluethunderbird.ico as attached to or sent in an email.

Hrm, http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=198293?

Posted July 19th, 2003, 4:43 pm

IMO I prefer number 2... Number 4 wastes too much screen space. #3 wouldn't be bad, but would prefer it up by the headers so it doesn't get in the way of QuickReply.

Posted July 19th, 2003, 5:09 pm

I like option 2 the best.

Posted July 19th, 2003, 6:01 pm

I'm suggesting mergine 3 and 4 to make 7...

seriously:

Make the default 3. if the user double clicks in the box, it goes to style #4. Double click to go back to 3. Perhaps a UI preference later to control which, if it's a big debate.

It would be the most intuitive for the user. 1 is to cluttering at the top (which is already cluttered with necessary info). 2 is very cumbersome to the user.

3 saves lots of space. 4 is the easiest to see/play with.

So merge 3 and 4 together. To make a nice clean UI element.

End users recognize files better by icon, not extension. So giving them the nice icons makes it a better end user product.

Being able to hover and get information (format/default app/file size) would be nice too. Right click to "save as" or "open with..."

That would be the most friendly to the end user.

Posted July 20th, 2003, 12:15 am

I rather like Option 4 - very "eudora'ish" (my old mailer), so I'm used to that motif.

cheers, and great work!

JH

Posted July 20th, 2003, 2:45 am

Mscott, could you answer my previous question please? Can you drag the selected attachments out of these boxes to your desktop or any other folder? Or do we have to go through the 'save as/save all' contextual menu?

Posted July 20th, 2003, 2:55 am

I think mscott is asleep.. Ssstt...

Posted July 20th, 2003, 4:20 am

I would like the possibility to have an option to choose between number 1 and 4. (If I had to make a choice I prefer no 4.)
The white box marks more clearer that it is "content".

Suggestions:
* No "Attachments" label if it's not above the text.
* Drop'n drag possibility.
* Display of size etc. when hovering over the attachments (with right click save as.. etc.).

Luxury:
* Fully customizable attachment display: You choose if below or above, big icons or small icons or none icons, with or whithout size, with or whitout "Attachments" label etc.
* Automatically change the display when number of icons is above/below a specified number. E g: If more than 20 attachments display them below the text.
..

Posted July 20th, 2003, 6:49 am

Hi!

How about Option #4 but right beside the message and downwards?

Posted July 20th, 2003, 6:53 am

It seems a lot of people like #4, and while it's not a bad option, IMO it takes up too much space! If you decide to implement #4, please give us one of the other options as well. I don't think we need that much space taken up for attachments. Not everyone runs at a high resolution, and if you're using that much space for attachments, it wastes a lot of space in the message window.

Also, how would this affect quick reply?

New Attachment display ideas

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