[alpha Patch] Re-organize the preference dialog

[simon04]

To me, the current preference dialog is not very intuitive. Especially, Often, I click through several panes to find the desired one.

I would like to make the following improvement suggestions:

• Instead of icons use (additionally) textual labels for the buttons on the left hand side. This allows IMO to find the desired one more quickly.
• Reorganize all panes in categories and sub-categories as follows:

• Mapping
  • OSM Data
  • GPS Points
  • Map Projection
  • Map Paint Styles
  • Tagging Presets
  • Imagery
• Servers
  • Authentication
  • Proxy settings
• UI/JOSM
  • Colors
  • Look and Feel
  • File backup
  • Toolbar
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
• Advanced
  • Audio
  • Validator
  • Remote control
  • Advanced Preferences
• Plugins
  • Install/update
  • Update policy
  • … (custom panes of plugins)

I'm happy to hear some opinions :-)

[akks]

It looks really good, but not too easy :)

Other possible problem: are you sure it will fit on 800x600 width or 1024x768 with enlarged font, like in
http://josm.openstreetmap.de/ticket/7450#comment:40 ?

Maybe we need some shorter TODO list for non-experts?
Main reasons to change preferences for them are

• specify OSM account, maybe with OpenID
• specify proxy, if it exists
• install needed plugins (recommended on forums, etc.)
• configure imagery sources (choose specific for your region)
• sometimes - remote control, beacuse online tools need it

On the other hand, we can not hide all other preferences or do reordering for non-experts only...

[simon04]

Replying to akks:

It looks really good, but not too easy :)

Actually, the required changes have been the same for each preference tab (except for some).

Other possible problem: are you sure it will fit on 800x600 width or 1024x768 with enlarged font, like in
http://josm.openstreetmap.de/ticket/7450#comment:40 ?

Currently, (vertical and horizontal) scrollbars are shown on the right pane whenever necessary. However, this happens also in unexpected cases at the moment (e.g., instead of horizontally scrolling the tagging presets lists themselves, an outer scrollbar is shown).

Maybe we need some shorter TODO list for non-experts?
Main reasons to change preferences for them are

• specify OSM account, maybe with OpenID
• specify proxy, if it exists
• install needed plugins (recommended on forums, etc.)
• configure imagery sources (choose specific for your region)
• sometimes - remote control, beacuse online tools need it

On the other hand, we can not hide all other preferences or do reordering for non-experts only...

This would suggest to have something like a quick setup wizard. I guess, the OSM account can be skipped as this is requested anyway when uploading changes.

Concerning plugins, custom styles, custom presets and imagery sources, it would be great to somehow have "bundled versions" which installs the things automatically.

[akks]

Replying to simon04:

This would suggest to have something like a quick setup wizard. I guess, the OSM account can be skipped as this is requested anyway when uploading changes.

Yes, some quick setup wizard would be good. Maybe something with highlighting most important preferences tabs and showing tooltips on them could help too...

Concerning plugins, custom styles, custom presets and imagery sources, it would be great to somehow have "bundled versions" which installs the things automatically.

Currently this can be already done by custom configurations, (#4421)
For example, I have settings for drawing forests in Russia: http://josm.openstreetmap.de/attachment/ticket/4421/forestMapping.xml

[simon04]

I resolved some merging conflicts due to code changes. In addition, the horizontal scrolling problem as described above has been resolved by not using the ScrollPane for the corresponding preferences.

[bastiK]

Some comments:

• "File backup" can be moved to the Advanced section.
• Instead of JTabbedPane you could use JList or JTree on the left and CardLayout on the right: When there is not enough vertical space for all the entries on the left, the scrolling works better for a list. By using one JList for each category, you can add the large icons as labels in between, so they aren't clickable any more.
• It would be nice to have new icons for "Mapping" and "User Interface".

[simon04]

Thank you for your comments, bastiK!

• Good point concerning "File backup"
• Concerning icons, we might find something on ​http://thenounproject.com/noun/earth/#icon-No1238
• What would be the advantage of the CardLayout?
• The big icons in the current solution could display some help text for the corresponding settings (just as an idea).

[bastiK]

Replying to simon04:

• What would be the advantage of the CardLayout?
• The big icons in the current solution could display some help text for the corresponding settings (just as an idea).

It is a little unconventional to have two kinds of tabs (icon and text). With CardLayout you can simulate a JTabbedPane, and use your own GUI to switch the content of the main panel.

[simon04]

JOSM (is|might be) unconventional in other aspects as well. :-)

IMO, this sounds like (a lot?) effort for mostly aesthetic things. ATM, I'm not really up to those changes, are you? ;-)

[stoecker]

What's the status of this? Something for a hidden option?

[simon04]

This patch might need some adaption due to r5465. Having a hidden option might be difficult (additional work), as I had to restructure some preference panels to fit the new idea. We might want to add this change right at the beginning of a "free development" phase.

Dirk, what do you think?

[bastiK]

Hidden option wouldn't do much good and is too much work to implement.

[bastiK]

updated patch to r5506