456377 - Thunderbird3: Integrate New Event, New Task into Write Button

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(Calendar :: Calendar Frontend, defect, P1)

Description

[Christian Jansen]

It should be possible to create Tasks Events without too many click.
Thus the Write [1] button should offer a drop down, which contains the options:

* Create Event
* Schedule Task (the wording is just a suggestion)

I suggest to change the default "mode" dependent:

Message Tab active:

  [ Write E-mail  | V ]
  | Create Event      |
  | Schedule Task     |
  +-------------------+

Calendar Tab active:

  [ Create Event  | V ]
  | Write E-mail      |
  | Schedule Task     |
  +-------------------+

Task Tab active:

  [ Schedule Task | V ]
  | Write E-mail      |
  | Create Event      |
  +-------------------+


[1] https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Toolbar

Comment 1

[Philipp Kewisch [:Fallen][📱📆]]

This needs bug 452281 fixed, since there is no real write button yet. I could imagine integrating it into the current write button, we'll see

Comment 2

[Philipp Kewisch [:Fallen][📱📆]]

Attachment: Fix - v1

This patch fixes by extending the existing write button.

There is one open issue: we need to agree on strings for the button. I currently just used some available strings, but thats not the end solution.

Short overview how the patch works: When the mode is changed, label and command is copied from the menuitem to the main button. Now with that in mind:

* The current button says "Write", should this be renamed?
  - If not, how should the menuitem be called? Also Write?
* If the strings are used as described in comment #0, then the button itself
  will be very large.
* If we use short strings like "Event" and "Task" in hope that the images imply
  the action, then its a bit strange if no icons are shown or when using a 
  screen reader.

Comment 3

[Christian Jansen]

Bryan any favorites with regards to the strings?

For comparison Outlook uses:

[New \/] (this option is mode depended In Mail Mode it create new mail,
 Appointment   in calendar mode new event, etc)
 Task
 ...

iCal / Apple Mail

* New Event
* New To Do
* New Message

If we want to go with the task oriented approach the proposed strings in comment #0 would work better. On the other hand I could live very well with the "New XYZ" string.

[Get Messages] [New Message \/] [SEARCH              ]
                New Event
                New Task

Comment 4

[Philipp Kewisch [:Fallen][📱📆]]

Comment on attachment 342499 [details] [diff] [review]
Fix - v1

Asking for additional (ui-)review from Bryan

Comment 5

[Berend Cornelius]

Comment on attachment 342499 [details] [diff] [review]
Fix - v1

patch works fine and works good. But I think that an optimal solution for this problem would be to create a binding like a "ModeMenuToolbarButton" equivalently to the modeboxes in calendar/base/content/widgets.
This widget would include all the "modechanging" logic - like your function "ltnSetWriteButtonDefault" -in a more abstract way, so that we can use it for other purposes, too. But I understand that this is currently difficult to achieve because 
-the fundamentals like the modebroadcaster are currently not directly available in thunderbird.
- it would have to be implemented within the mail project.
- it would have to be available for Sunbird, too.
r=berend.

Comment 6

[Bryan Clark (DevTools PM) [:clarkbw]]

hmm, sorry I missed this bug earlier.  I didn't think we were mode switching the button.  I like the drop down menu for creating a new task / event but if we want to continue trying to make our toolbar more iconic, and I think we do, I'm not sure how the mode switched button changes that.

We really need to get a graphic design for the button so it looks cleaner and incorporates the notion of the additional options.

Also in the previous mockups the "New Calendar|Task" buttons were placed inside the tab itself.  If the write button mode switches then we'd have duplicate buttons there.  

https://wiki.mozilla.org/Image:Calendar-w-tabs-and-new-SINGLE-toolbar.png
http://clarkbw.net/designs/tabbing/tab-calendar.png

Another important note is that the Folder Pane is supposed to include options for creating events and tasks.
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Folder_Pane#Contacts.2C_Calendar.2C_and_Tasks

Someone also brought up the possibility of having "New Event" as an onMouseOver menu coming from the tabshortcut area ( http://clarkbw.net/designs/tabbing/thundertab/thundertab-shortcut-previews.png )

Comment 7

[Daniel Boelzle [:dbo]]

Since my folder pane is usually pretty long (due to multiple accounts and lots of folders), I don't think adding them to the pane is a good idea, because those are inaccessible most of the time. Just my 2 cents.

Comment 8

[Bryan Clark (DevTools PM) [:clarkbw]]

> Since my folder pane is usually pretty long (due to multiple accounts and lots
> of folders), I don't think adding them to the pane is a good idea, because
> those are inaccessible most of the time. Just my 2 cents.

The current mockup shows it at the bottom where it would scroll off and that might not be best.  I think we could add it above the account folders and below the meta-mailboxes such that it's always in view.  

Though having the calendar piece in the Folder Pane probably requires creating a view for when people click on it.  I've been thinking that this view could be an agenda  / summary view with options to open the calendar in it's tab in the month/week/day views available.

Comment 9

[Bryan Clark (DevTools PM) [:clarkbw]]

For one part of this bug I feel like we can definitely move forward on getting a drop down for alternate new items added.  However the new toolbar design is supposed to be iconic in a way that anyone sitting behind a Thunderbird user in a coffee shop could see from a distance our distinctive layout.  With mode switching buttons I'm not sure we can achieve this, however I am open to trying.

This iconic design is much of the reason for the short and bold "Write" text instead of something longer like "New Message"; as well as the reason there is no text planned for the download button.  I'd like to distinguish the only text that is shown on the toolbar by making it large, bold and dark while the other actions are lighter or without text.

( Write ) (v)_________________
          | Create Event      \
          | Schedule Task     |
          '-------------------'

The toolbar that is currently square buttons and boxes will hopefully be smoother edges and clean lines eventually as we engage with more visual designers to get a more final look.  I wish that stylized look was ready now to demonstrate.

Comment 10

[Christian Jansen]

Ok, I can live with the idea of a non mode dependent drop down button, but we need to assure that it is possible to create event with one single click in the calendar tab (same for tasks in task tab).

I'm personally not so convinced regarding the position of the Create Event button like proposed in http://clarkbw.net/designs/tabbing/tab-calendar.png IMO it is too Google like. I'll sketch out another proposal for discussion.... Stay tuned.

Comment 11

[Bryan Clark (DevTools PM) [:clarkbw]]

> I'm personally not so convinced regarding the position of the Create Event
> button like proposed in http://clarkbw.net/designs/tabbing/tab-calendar.png IMO
> it is too Google like. I'll sketch out another proposal for discussion.... Stay
> tuned.

Cool, sounds great!

Comment 12

[Bryan Clark (DevTools PM) [:clarkbw]]

Comment on attachment 342499 [details] [diff] [review]
Fix - v1

setting minus since we're going to try something else.

Comment 13

[Philipp Kewisch [:Fallen][📱📆]]

Attachment: Fix - v2

This patch is the same, just without the mode switching and uses more aligned entities.

Comment 14

[Philipp Kewisch [:Fallen][📱📆]]

Comment on attachment 345314 [details] [diff] [review]
Fix - v2

ui-review=clarkbw,christian based on comment #9 and #10

Comment 15

[Philipp Kewisch [:Fallen][📱📆]]

Pushed to comm-central <http://hg.mozilla.org/comm-central/rev/e580427ad474>

-> FIXED

Filed bug 462187 to integrate the buttons somewhere into the views.

Comment 16

[Andreas Treumann]

Checked in lightning build 20081103050552 -> VERIFIED.

Comment 17

[Philipp Kewisch [:Fallen][📱📆]]

These bugs are likely targeted at Lightning 1.0b1, not Lightning 1.0. If this change was done in error, please adjust the target milestone to its correct value. To filter on this bugspam, you can use "lightning-10-target-move".