264225 - icons for different quicksearch modes

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Thunderbird :: Search, enhancement)

Description

[sairuh (rarely reading bugmail)]

rfe: it'd be nice to have different icons for the different types of quicksearch
modes.

right now if you toggle through the choices (eg, via keyboard with ctrl+up/down
arrow), it'll change the quicksearch type but you won't be able to see what it
is until you move focus *out* of the quicksearch field.

alternatively (and this might be icky), a la bug 259587, we could reinstate the
quicksearch label instead, and have it change based on the selected mode. but
that might be tricky and not necessarily look pleasant.

Comment 1

[Scott MacGregor]

I'm not too keen on having different icons for each quick search mode. How are
you going to have an icon that meaningfully distinguishes between searching a
subject verses a sender and a subject or a message body vs the subject? I don't
think you can express that in a small icon and still have the icon show a
generic search icon.

This widget on OS X apps like iTunes and Mail.app doesn't change icon when you
change the search criteria in the drop down either.

It would be different if we were changing search engines like the firefox search
box but we aren't. We are just changing what we search on.

Comment 2

[sairuh (rarely reading bugmail)]

(In reply to comment #1)
> I don't
> think you can express that in a small icon and still have the icon show a
> generic search icon.

that's a good point.

> This widget on OS X apps like iTunes and Mail.app doesn't change icon when you
> change the search criteria in the drop down either.

you're right. hm, won't fix? (unless there's a cleaner way to distinguish the
quicksearch mode when focus is there...*shrug*)

Comment 3

[fantasai]

Attachment: mockup

Now, I'm no graphic artist, but I'd argue that it is possible to come up with
distinctive and meaningful icons for the different search modes.

I run into this problem a lot because there's no way to tell what type of
search you're going to do next if the search field already has text in it from
the last one.

Comment 4

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

this is invalid as of v3.1 - quick filter bar does not have drop down selections that would require icons.