Ubuntu Wiki

• Launchpad Entry: https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/menus-revised

• Created: Date(2005-10-27T20:38:18Z) by JaneWeideman

• Contributors: JaneWeideman, CoreyBurger

• Packages affected:

Summary

The Gnome menu system has not had a good review in quite some time. There is some issues that need to be addressed. Menus Revisited - Preferences menu - how to make it less cluttered. Putting system tools to pasture.

Rationale

The Current menu structure is less than ideal in certain places.

Use cases

• Sally uses Ubuntu because her stepson installed it for her. She is confused by System Tools and System menus. She doesn't understand the separation.
• Ernie is a car salesman who uses Ubuntu for accounting, e-mail with Evolution, and occasional Web browsing. One day he realizes that there is an "Evolution" item in the "Office" menu that does exactly the same thing as the "Evolution Mail" item in the "Internet" menu. "That's a bit silly", he thinks.
• Lorelle uses Ubuntu's Text Editor regularly to edit wiki pages before pasting the text into the wiki itself. As a result, she mouses over the "File Browser" menu item several times a day on her way to the "Text Editor" item. One days she decides to try this "File Browser" thing -- only to discover that it does exactly the same thing as the "Home Folder" item in the "Places" menu. "That's a bit silly", she thinks.
• Alan, an experienced user in Linux and Gnome, has difficulty distinguishing "Multimedia Systems Selector", "Preferred Applications", "Removable Drives and Media" and "Sound", when he wants to change the default action when an audio CD is inserted.

Scope

The Gnome menu structure

Design

Feel free to use [https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QuimGil Proposal: System menu reorg for Ubuntu (and GNOME)] if you find it interesting. - Quim Gil

Implementation

Migrate the items out of Applications-->System Tools. Some of them can die, others to Accesories, others to System-->Admin.

Code

Data preservation and migration

None

Outstanding issues

We should probably coordinate with upstream (Gnome) during their 2.14 cycle.

BoF agenda and discussion

Comments

Mike Ginou: Just a quick note. File Browser does have some utility for those who prefer spatial Nautilus. Though, since it is no longer the default, presumably those who can change to spatial can also use SMEG.

Program names versus descriptions

I think programs are much easier to find in the menu if they don't have both the name and the description. I tend to prefer the generic name if it is the default program, or the program's name where it has good name recognition or where it not the default program in the same class.

Compare the Applications->Internet menu

Current:

• BitTorrent Client

• Epiphany Web Browser
• Evolution Mail
• Firefox Web Browser
• Gaim Instant Messenger
• Liferea
• X-Chat

Suggested:

• BitTorrent

• Firefox
• Instant Messenger
• IRC
• Mail
• RSS Reader
• Web Browser

(assumes both Epiphany and Firefox are installed, where Web Browser indicates Epiphany, as the most GNOME Desktop integrated application in the category, and of course Firefox is best known as Firefox, not Firefox Web Browser or Web Browser).

I've made this change on my desktop, and find it works well with a moderate number of packages installed.

For those that have installed several programs in the same category and wish to know exactly which program is being invoked, the application icon is a good visual clue.

MichaelWardle, 20051025

File Browser does have some utility for those who prefer spatial Nautilus. However, it may be safe to presume that those who can change the default behaviour are also capable of using SMEG. MikeGinou, 20051028