[Bf-taskforce25] readability improvements of properties window

[Jon Sandström]

The buttons window (properties) has seen some major improvements in 2.5, 
however,
even more can be done to improve readability and navigation of the 
interface.
The biggest problem is that blender has to show a lot of data, but there 
is an
easy way to solve this which is already practiced in the interface to 
some extent.
The trick is to only show data which is of interest to the user. 
currently blender
gives the user the ability to hide unneccesary data by for example 
collapsing tabs.

A more efficient way to work is to give the user the ability to show the 
wanted
data and then hide it automatically when it is no longer of interest to 
the user
(Imagine having to close the windows start-menu manually every time 
after opening it).
An easy way to extend this behaviour in blender is to automatically 
collapse all
tabs when a new tab is opened. This way the interface will stay clean, 
and a minimum
amount of scrolling is needed. (see mockup: 
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5245/mockupr.jpg)

sometimes however, it is desireable to show multiple tabs. this can be 
done in two ways:
1) shift+click - this opens the selected tab without closing the ones 
currently open.
2) pinnig - all tabs that are pinned will remain open untill unpinned. 
This is basically a
more flexible version of current behaviour.

this workflow will require an improved design of the "hotspot" area in 
the tab headers.
currently the triangle is used to open and close the tabs, while the 
rest of the area is
used to move the tabs. since the "open/close" hotspot is the one most 
frequently used,
this should have the largest area, and a new third area could be used to 
pin the tab
open (again, see mockup: 
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5245/mockupr.jpg )

when the user opens a tab we can assume that he/she wants to see all its 
content,
and therefore blender should if necessary scroll to a position were the 
entire content
of the most recently opened tab can be viewed

conclusion:
if tabs are automatically closed, it will be easier and faster to find 
desired data.
this behaviour can co-exsist with current behaviour (pinning) so i 
cannot find any arguments
not to implement it

if anyone with the knowledge, time, and motivation required, could try 
this in action
i would be very thankful. i'd also like to hear your thoughts on this, 
and maybe someone
can find some arguments against this approach.
If you like/dislike it, please let me know :)