470676 - Message Reader: Make contacts actionable (Advanced points, double-click, customize, UI, options, vision)

Status: UNCONFIRMED

(Thunderbird :: Mail Window Front End, enhancement)

Description

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.0.5) Gecko/2008120122 Firefox/3.0.5
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1b3pre) Gecko/20081219 Shredder/3.0b2pre

Here's a vision on how the new bubble UI contacts could be significantly improved in terms of usability and allowing the user to customize his own personal TB experience:

* Enable the user to customize both single-click and double-click default actions on bubble contacts in new message reader.
* For that end, provide simple customization UI, e.g. in Tools-Options-Composition-Adressing (see mockup screenshot attached below)
* For single-(left)-click and double-click respectively, user can choose one of the following default actions:
- Show actions menu
- Add/edit contact
- Copy full email address
- Copy email address
- Compose mail to

What I suggested in  Bug 470659 (Message reader: make focussed contacts actionable (pressing ENTER on contacts should open context menu, ctrl+c should copy full email address)) is basic stuff, more like catching up on things that should have been possible years ago (no blame, just stating). IIUC, Mozilla Messaging is up for more - let Thunderbird stick out of the masses in terms of usability, and make email communication tools, I quote, "much better than they are today." Let me show you for this little corner what I'd consider "fun" (as you put it). To me, "fun" is when I am actually in charge of my personal TB experience.


Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
a) single-click on contact bubble in new message reader header pane
b) double-click on contact bubble in new message reader header pane

Actual Results:  
a) actions menu pops up
b) actions menu pops up



Expected Results:  
a) let the user decide which action is best for his personal usage pattern
b) let the user decide which action is best for his personal usage pattern
Provide customization UI, e.g. in Tools-Options-Composition-Adressing (see mockup screenshot attached below). For details, see long description above.


For example, I'd much prefer single-click on a contact to compose a new email to the contact. Someone else might prefer to get right into editing the contact. Furthermore, I'd be happy to have double-click copy the full contact's address (including display name). Someone else might just need the email address without display name. In all scenarios, user can still access the traditional actions menu by right-clicking on the contact (right-click is not customizable).

Comment 1

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

Attachment: Mockup screenshot of the proposed UI for customizing left-click and double-click default action on contacts

The first drop-down has double-click and left-click, for each of them you can set the desired default action in the second drop-down. Right-click should not be customizable so that the actions menu is always accessible regardless of user preferences.

There might be a better place within Tools-Options to place this.
If you replace "on contact:"-label with another drop-down, you can make this a fully scalable customization UI for other click events as well, beyond contacts.

Comment 2

[Magnus Melin [:mkmelin]]

I think this is something that belongs in an extension...