331064 - Can't remove (or even shrink) search bar

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Camino Graveyard :: Toolbars & Menus, defect)

Description

[Smokey Ardisson (offline for a while; not following bugs - do not email)]

Following the checkin to allow search bar reszing, it is now impossible to remove the useless search field from the toolbar (without also removing the location bar, which is very undesireable).

What's even worse is that, unlike Safari, you can't even *shrink* the #@$@#$ thing *any* if you don't want it eating up toolbar real estate and don't use it--which was something we explicitly discussed in the other bug when Chris was starting to think about fixing it.

This situation sucks.

Comment 1

[Jasper]

A very small percentage of users actually doesn't use the search field, but for those who I ddo agree it would be nice if the search field could at least collapse when a user tries to make it very small.

Comment 2

[Mike Pinkerton (not reading bugmail)]

we could allow the user to collapse the search field entirely, but then we'd be flooded with "why don't you have a search field" emails from people too stupid to realize what they've done. 

"useless search field"? *yawn*

Comment 3

[Smokey Ardisson (offline for a while; not following bugs - do not email)]

Every other browser allows you to *remove* the field entirely, even Camino 1.0 (and to my knowlege we've not been flooded with "what have you done with the search field" emails from people too stupid to realize they've removed it) so why should we break the mould here?  I don't see any benefit in doing that, so we're just being different for different's sake, which seems silly.

(As for its utility, it takes too much work to configure it (there are lots of bugs on this--plus just read the docs on cb.o on how to do it!), so it's so much simpler to set up a dozen keyword searches and use them instead--no need to always move the mouse to switch to the right engine, etc., just type--and makes more of the toolbar width available for the location bar.  Sure, it's fine for everyone's grandmother, but if you're a user who wants something even *just a little more flexible*, our impl. fails you, and when you don't use it because of its limitations, it *is* a piece of useless UI.  But the utility/usability problems are another issue, for sure.)

Comment 4

[Mike Pinkerton (not reading bugmail)]

safari doesn't let you remove it. your EOMB-fu is weak, grasshopper.

i played around with allowing collapsing but there's no programmatic way to collapse a view in a split view for restoring the setting. it'll take a bunch of work to get that operational.

Comment 5

[Smokey Ardisson (offline for a while; not following bugs - do not email)]

(In reply to comment #4)
> safari doesn't let you remove it. your EOMB-fu is weak, grasshopper.

Sure it does; I checked it last night.

I'd be less annoyed if it could be shrunk to the width of the search glass, but that still doesn't remove it from the tab order....

Comment 6

[Chris Lawson (gone)]

(In reply to comment #4)
> safari doesn't let you remove it. your EOMB-fu is weak, grasshopper.

1.3 does. 2.x doesn't. Remember, Smokey's on 10.3.9 ;)

See the other bug, though, for details about this issue in Safari. They use custom toolbar items, which is why they can do it. Safari 2 uses standard widgets and an NSSplitView.

cl

Comment 7

[Mike Pinkerton (not reading bugmail)]

landed trunk and branch, patch forthcoming.

Comment 8

[Mike Pinkerton (not reading bugmail)]

Attachment: patch checked in, also with bug 327470

Comment 9

[Smokey Ardisson (offline for a while; not following bugs - do not email)]

+// Allow the user (read: smokey) to collapse the search bar but not the url bar.

Thanks, pink.  You've made a lot of other users happy, too, I promise ;)