[Bf-taskforce25] User Preferences Mockup and Suggestion

[William Reynish]

Hi Brian,

First, here's a cheers to someone willing to take the time and make a  
mockup explaining an idea. We need more of this in the community -  
people who actually care to consider how features might be implemented  
instead of just requesting stuff.

On the idea itself:

Changing the way the preferences work is a good idea. Currently they  
are very obscure, having to drag down the menu bar.

However, I'm not entirely convinced that using OS X sheets is a good  
fit for this. OS X-style sheets are good for one-off tasks, such as  
saving, or asking if the user wants to quit. These things block the  
user from accessing the current document, which is okay in these  
situations.

For preferences however, sheets are not really optimal. No OS X  
applications even use sheets for this! Applications on OS X instead  
open a window that is non-modal, and allows users to change settings  
on the fly. The users can jump back and forth between preferences and  
the main content freely, and never has to 'Accept' or 'OK' his changes  
- they are simply taken into account immediately.

So the OS X-style preference windows (not sheets!) is what we ended up  
with at WinterCamp. Another option, like you suggest is simply to  
integrate preferences into the properties window, which is not a bad  
idea:

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/bobStaub/buttonsWindowMockup_withUserPrefs00.png

Only issue with that is that preferences are really on a different  
level than other properties. They relate to the application, and not  
the content, and preferably don't get saved with documents at all.  
They are, as the same says, user preferences, where the user might  
prefer certain settings that fit well with his/her workstation or  
workflow.

So, ultimately, I'd prefer to keep it separate from properties, in its  
own non-modal window. The windows contents can be a regular screen  
type that can also be opened inside the main window if desired.

Cheers,

-William


On 1 Apr, 2009, at 6:47 PM, Brian Staub wrote:

> Hello, Devs.
>
> I've created a Mockup of how i think the User Preferences Pane would  
> work well (i'm not a coder, so this is just conceptual artwork)
>
> http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/bobStaub/preferencesPanelMockup00.jpg
>
> the idea is that when you click on the User Preferences Icon at top  
> left (or wherever), the Preference Pane does a "Shelf" Pull Down  
> animation like with some Mac OS X panes and the user gets access to  
> settings organized by tabs.  Other Panels/Windows are still  
> responsive (as to not interfere with non-modality) and the  
> Preference Pane stays open until user hits Escape (or whatever  
> assigned hotkey), presses the 'X', or presses the Preferences Button  
> again which is highlited when active.
>
> ...and there's a full screen shot, too.
>
> http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/bobStaub/preferencesMockupFlat00.jpg
>
>
> on another note, has it been decided what the max resolution will be  
> for icons?  since Jendrzych has a handle on the low res icons, I  
> thought i might try my hand at a higher res set.
>
> here's an icon i helped Jendrzych with
> http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/bobStaub/shrinkwrapModifier7_00.png
>
> and for my own set at a higher res for the Shrinkwrap, i came up  
> with this quickly
>
> http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn291/bobStaub/ 
> shrinkwrap32px_00.png
>
> thanks for your time.  cheers
>
> brian
>
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