[Zope-Moz] Mockups and status

[Martijn Pieters]

From: "Paul Everitt" <Paul@digicool.com>
> Martijn wrote:
> > They are real objects, with some way to determine what
> > parameters they need.
> > The propertyview on the bottom right hand side can then be used to set
> > parameters on those components once they
> > are in a document.
>
> We need to be careful about how central of an idea this becomes, as this
> is a definate change to the way Zope is approached.  I don't think
> redesigning the idioms of Zope should be in the scope of the ZopeStudio
> project, no matter how appealing it is, because it makes the risks go
> through the roof.  Obviously this is a slippery slope, as I'm also one
> advocating things like attaching notes to things and alerts.

It is something very simple. The objects are not Zope objects per se. I
might just limit the propertysheet to showing current attributes on the
selected tag, and space to add more on the sheet. ZS doesn't _need_ to know
beforehand what attributes are supported.

> > >  o  Could the 'view' be a tab? I know there's some small
> > button there but
> > >      shouldn't we also have it as a tab? Then it would be a
> > set of tabs at
> > the
> > >      bottom which do different things with the current
> > object and the tabs
> > >      at the top as they are for switching between objects.
> > >
> >
> > I like the buttons better, they take less space, and make it
> > less confusing.
> > I've wanted to swith to different documents in other editors,
> > expecting tabs
> > to do that for me, and getting a different view instead. Frustrating.
>
> I believe that GL and DW use a drop-down select box to switch between
> "modes".

Don't know about GL, but DW uses a separate window for source, and the
browser for view.


> What are the modes that we have?
>
>   o Browsing.  A view mode just like regular people see.

Yes. No fancy preview, but just the page as rendered by Zope.

>
>   o Design.  A layout mode that includes controls for modifying.
>

Yup. The vague button =) This would be nice, should be possible, but we can
shoot it (or move it to a later version) if Mozilla is not (yet) up to this.

>   o Source.  Self-explanatory.
>
> Any others?  Should their be:
>
>   o Manage.  Give the varous options and knobs on a big page with lots
> of explanatory text.

I'll throw this in as well. It is a good idea, will have to think on how to
implement this though.

At the very least also:

  o Old style interface. Classic Zope /manage view.

> > >  o  The mini object bowser is a real killer!
> > >
> >
> > =) Maybe it'll take too much space like this, we might want
> > to split the
> > tree into a drop-down box (if this is possible at all), and
> > show th currenly
> > selected folder instead. Not very clear where you are then, though.
>
> Right.  I worry that this won't really work without a big area to put it
> in.
>

Homesite manages to keep this quite compact.

> > > Object Browser:
> > >  o   I didn't like the 'Location' as a toolbar. Makes it
> > look like a web
> > >       browser and I wouldn't change the location very much
> > too. Why don't
> > >       we just have it through the Server menu?
> > >
> >
> > We can drop it. It is just there now, so I put it in in the mockup.
>
> Think this bears some more thought.

I think we can decide on this when the Use cases become clearer.

> > >  o  A (provision for a) Flash Panel here too? It shows
> > 'server level'
> > >      information so I think it belongs here althogh users
> > will mostly be
> > in the
> > >      main interface. So it could be available in both places.
> > >
> >
> > Hmm.... I like the unclutteredness of the object browser.
>
> I think being alerted to flashes can be very powerful for group
> development.

This is a good point. You could subscribe to be notified of changes in
certain areas, made by others using ZS.

Martijn Pieters
| Software Engineer    mailto:mj@digicool.com
| Digital Creations  http://www.digicool.com/
| Creators of Zope       http://www.zope.org/
|   The Open Source Web Application Server
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