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:

Reviewer Comments

MarkShuttleworth: please restructure this spec. It needs to have:

1. An overall set of policy guidelines... like "things that need sudo should not be under applications except in extreme cases".
2. A set of specific Dapper decisions.

These things should be at the top of the spec. The use cases are nice but fluffy, and should be pushed further down.

Summary

The menu system has been completely reviewed for Dapper. This spec talks about general policy that has been followed and specific actions that are going to be taken to match the policy.

Rationale

General Policy

The following general policy guidelines are followed in each decision

• If an item is primarily launched by a specific MIME type and works with one file at a time, it can be hidden

• The seperation between Applications > System Tools and the System menu must be removed. This will be achieved by removing the items in Applications > System Tools

  • With above, items that are mostly system administration tasks and/or use gksudo should be moved to System > Administration

  • Items which affect only the current user are to be moved to System > Preferences

  • Anything else that is not going to be hidden/removed is moved to Applications > Accessories

• Tools which are likely to simply confuse users are to be hidden or removed
• Tools which have their functionality replaced with another simpler tool are being hidden or removed
• There should be a single point to access each function of the system

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.

Outstanding issues

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

Implementation

Specific Menu Item Actions

• Each of the following items has been reviewed and a decision has been made on it. Any item not listed will be kept.

Purging "System Tools"

• Applications Menu Editor

  • - replace with Alt+dragging and D&D from gnome-app-install? - move to "System" > "Preferences"? - Known issue - already has a "Menus & Toolbars" item!

• Avahi Zeroconf Browser
  • - hide if installed by default in Dapper
• Bluetooth file sharing
  • - make appear as gnome-session service, if new gnome-session comes in Dapper/Gnome 2.14 - hide if new gnome-session doesn't appear
• Bluetooth manager
  • - hide due to being crap
• Bug Report Tool

  • - nuke bug-buddy (obsolete with LaunchpadIntegration)

• Configuration Editor
  • - Hide, useful only for powerusers
• Floppy Formatter

  • - Hide due to [http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=302038 Replace "Floppy Formatter" with item in Nautilus's File menu]

• Gparted

  • - move to "System" > "Administration"

• Network Tools

  • - move to "System" > "Administration"

• New Login
  • - replace with button in gnome-screensaver
• New login nested window
  • - remove entirely
• Run as different user
  • - remove, not hide
• System Log

  • - move to "System" > "Administration"

• System Monitor

  • - move to "System" > "Administration"

• Ubuntu Device Database
  • - hide (may be available during install and/or in About Ubuntu)

Accessories

• Archive Manager
  • - hide, as it's available as right click in Nautilus. Inexperienced computer users may find right click less "discoverable".

    - [http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=302035 Add "Make Compressed File..." to Nautilus's File menu]

• File Browser
  • - remove, because it duplicates with the Places menu

Graphics

• Image Viewer
  • - Hide, as it is best accessed by launching a file - post-dapper - Slideshow item in Nautilus? (the Finder has it...)
• XSane Image scanning program
  • - Scanners now accessible via GIMP, so hide.

"Internet" and "Office"

• GNOME BitTorrent

  • - hide, as it is best accessed by launching a file

• "Internet" > "Evolution Mail" vs. "Office" > "Evolution"

  • - upstream is working on seperate icons for each item ("Calendar", "Tasks", etc.) - if the above doesn't come for dapper, fix the menu item in Office to say Groupware and to use a better icon

• OpenOffice from Template

  • - hide, can be accessed from within OO

Sound and video

• CD Player - nuke, replaced by Sound Juicer
• Recording Level Monitor
  • - hide/nuke for Dapper - should be incorporated into Sound preferences
• Rhythmbox Music Player
  • - keep
• Serpentine Audio-CD Creator
  • - keep for dapper - post-dapper, integrate into Nautilus/Rhythmbox in an obvious way
• Sound Juicer CD Ripper
  • - keep for Dapper, - post dapper, integrate into Nautilus/Rhythmbox in an obvious way
• Sound Recorder
  • - keep
• Totem
  • - hide, as it is best accessed by launching a file
• Volume Control
  • - hide for dapper, available on panel - should be incorporated into Sound preferences
• Volume Monitor
  • - hide for dapper - should be incorporated into Sound preferences

Shortening "System" > "Preferences"

See also [http://live.gnome.org/PreferencesRevisited PreferencesRevisited]

• File Management

  - remove (redundant with "Edit" > "Preferences" in Nautilus)

• Login Photo - remove (redundant with "About Me")
• Multimedia Systems Selector
  • - hide, due to confusion for users and likelyhood of users messing their system up
• PalmOS devices
  • - remove - accessible from the Pilot applet, and not useful without the Pilot applet

    - [https://launchpad.net/malone/bugs/3787 Better handling of handhelds]

• Windows
  • - hide, power users only

Other tasks

• Generate list of applications that install a menu item in Applications > System Tools

• Make certain hiding application on menu does not hide it on Open With...
• Develop way to right-click on menu item and select "Hide"

Coordination with Gnome

• Pass ideas and rationale to upstream
• Encourage upstream to do the following integration work:

  • "About Me" + "Users & Groups" + "Sessions"

  • "Font" + "Theme"
  • "Keyboard" + "Keyboard Shortcuts"

Random Quote

"We must be proactive, eternally vigilant, forever fighting, overwhelmingly clever and handsome." - Robert Love