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Bug 228632

Summary: Improve UI when reordering tabs using mouse
Product: platform Reporter: _ gtzabari <gtzabari>
Component: Window SystemAssignee: Stanislav Aubrecht <saubrecht>
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE    
Severity: normal    
Priority: P3    
Version: 6.x   
Hardware: PC   
OS: Windows 7   
Issue Type: ENHANCEMENT Exception Reporter:
Bug Depends on:    
Bug Blocks: 70468    

Description _ gtzabari 2013-04-16 20:19:58 UTC
Please consider adopting the same UI as FireFox whereby a small arrow denotes
the insertion position when changing the order of tabs.

The current UI (red border outline) is great for when one wishes to dock a
document to the side of the screen because it emphasizes the bounds of the new
container but it is a poor match for simply repositioning tabs.

You might want to consider using a small arrow (like Firefox) or visually squeezing the tab between others (like Chrome) in order to emphasizes an exact insertion point as opposed to a large border which isn't relevant when
reordering tabs.

Also, I find that the current UI is difficult to use across remote-desktop
where drawing the border is rather slow as opposed to drawing the smaller arrow.

In short, please:

1. Emphasize the tab, not an entire window, when reordering tabs.
2. Redraw a smaller portion of the screen.

This was originally filed as issue 83247.
Comment 1 _ gtzabari 2013-05-09 20:38:57 UTC
Is this issue being considered for 7.4 (as the original issue was)?
Comment 2 Stanislav Aubrecht 2013-05-10 06:40:14 UTC
(In reply to comment #1)
> Is this issue being considered for 7.4 (as the original issue was)?

No, it isn't
Comment 3 Stanislav Aubrecht 2013-05-17 15:11:44 UTC
Btw, it is possible to turn the drag window image off in Options window.
Comment 4 _ gtzabari 2013-05-17 16:57:07 UTC
The more I look at this, the more I think we have a bigger a usability problem. It is true that excessive repaints can be disabled by disabling that feature, but the bigger elephant in the room is that the drag-n-drop interface isn't intuitive. 

1. Drop targets should be highlighted up-front! Because drop targets are not highlighted, users are forced to the slide mouse across the entire screen to discover possible options. When I say highlighted I don't necessarily mean by color. I mean we need visual cues to make drop targets more obvious up-front.

2. Different drop targets must lead to different results! For example, drag a window to the right border of the Projects tab. You will get two possible drop targets: one is a narrow vertical bar, the other is a wider vertical bar. When you drop the window, they yield the same result. You should ensure that every drop target will yield a different result, otherwise remove the duplicates.

3. Only highlight the differences! When I attempt to reposition an editor window from one tab position to another, the entire window border is highlighted. The user is looking for changes ("what will change if I drop the window here?") and instead of showing him only the difference, you're showing him *everything* (the border). This is overwhelming and confusing.

4. Add meaningful animations! When I insert a tab between two other tabs in Chrome, the tabs "slide" out of the way. If you do this right (only repaint the tabs, not the entire window) then Remote Desktop users will be able to appreciate it as well.
Comment 5 Stanislav Aubrecht 2013-05-20 14:23:36 UTC
(In reply to comment #4)
> 
> 1. Drop targets should be highlighted up-front! Because drop targets are not
> highlighted, users are forced to the slide mouse across the entire screen to
> discover possible options. When I say highlighted I don't necessarily mean by
> color. I mean we need visual cues to make drop targets more obvious up-front.
Not a good idea. With the default layout (Editor/Projects/Navigator/Palette/Properties) you'd get almost 30 different possible drop locations. Visualizing this would be quite a mess.

> 
> 2. Different drop targets must lead to different results! For example, drag a
> window to the right border of the Projects tab. You will get two possible drop
> targets: one is a narrow vertical bar, the other is a wider vertical bar. When
> you drop the window, they yield the same result. You should ensure that every
> drop target will yield a different result, otherwise remove the duplicates.
They do, that's why there's a different drop feedback. One location turns non-editor window into editor window, the other creates a new non-editor mode.
> 
> 3. Only highlight the differences! When I attempt to reposition an editor
> window from one tab position to another, the entire window border is
> highlighted. The user is looking for changes ("what will change if I drop the
> window here?") and instead of showing him only the difference, you're showing
> him *everything* (the border). This is overwhelming and confusing.
Yes, this could be fine tuned.

> 
> 4. Add meaningful animations! When I insert a tab between two other tabs in
> Chrome, the tabs "slide" out of the way. If you do this right (only repaint the
> tabs, not the entire window) then Remote Desktop users will be able to
> appreciate it as well.
A nice eye candy but no improvement from usability point of view.
Comment 6 _ gtzabari 2013-05-20 17:01:56 UTC
(In reply to comment #5)
> Not a good idea. With the default layout
> (Editor/Projects/Navigator/Palette/Properties) you'd get almost 30 different
> possible drop locations. Visualizing this would be quite a mess.

Perhaps show all drop targets in the current "zone" (e.g. editor) and only show one drop target per other zones. Meaning, when the mouse is dragging over the editor, you'd see all drop targets for the editor, but only one drop target for the project, navigator, etc. If you then slide the mouse into the project, its drop targets expand and the editor ones collapse into one drop target.

> They do, that's why there's a different drop feedback. One location turns
> non-editor window into editor window, the other creates a new non-editor mode.

Visually, I see no difference. The committers might know the difference, but there are no visual cues for it which is a problem.

> A nice eye candy but no improvement from usability point of view.

Agreed, this is low priority.
Comment 7 tomzi 2013-07-02 09:30:08 UTC
I agree with the necessity of the original idea. There is no need for the whole window to redock if you only want to change the position of the tab using a mouse - like in firefox.

Also it is currently not possible to drag a tab close to another tab that is currently not visible.
Comment 8 Stanislav Aubrecht 2014-07-03 14:44:20 UTC

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 208921 ***