My OperaMousing a collapsed Ribbon
Monday, August 14, 2006 10:58:47 AM
Remember me talking about the new MS Office interface, especially the Ribbon, and how it could work for Opera? Now, while checking my feeds after getting back from vacation, this video demo (3.3 MB) really made me drool 
For those not clicking: it shows a Ribbon handling mode where it acts as a cross between menu and toolbars: taking minimal space while collapsed like an old-fashioned menu, only showing options when clicked - but then, it shows all options in the typical Ribbon manner.
This is not something you can 'just' add to Quick (our cross platform interface layer), but I'd sure like to see this in Opera! Without having actually used it, I'd dare say it would improve usability quite a bit, giving that we want to both present a simple interface and give the user easy access to powerful features. No way to come even close with a customized toolbar this time, alas.
For those not clicking: it shows a Ribbon handling mode where it acts as a cross between menu and toolbars: taking minimal space while collapsed like an old-fashioned menu, only showing options when clicked - but then, it shows all options in the typical Ribbon manner.
This is not something you can 'just' add to Quick (our cross platform interface layer), but I'd sure like to see this in Opera! Without having actually used it, I'd dare say it would improve usability quite a bit, giving that we want to both present a simple interface and give the user easy access to powerful features. No way to come even close with a customized toolbar this time, alas.
Eddie LopezEddie_Lopez # Monday, August 14, 2006 5:50:52 PM
FataL # Monday, August 14, 2006 6:58:50 PM
Last big improvemement in application interface design was contextual panels, but they was implemented mostly in graphic and web design applications.
Alexey Feldgendlerfeldgendler # Tuesday, August 15, 2006 2:40:13 AM
1. What has happened to regular dropdown menus? Is this thing INSTEAD of them? Can a user have them back if he wants? If he gets them back, will he have access to the Ribbon?
2. Can the Ribbon contents be customized? Given their irregular layout, I'm afraid no. Of course, complete customization is not required, but sometimes adding one frequently used function is all the user wants.
3. Is it keyboard-accessible? Does it allow keyboard traversal? With regular menus, I can press Alt-letter, then another letter, and that's all. Is it possible with the Ribbon?
4. What happens to the Ribbon in a narrow window?
FataL # Tuesday, August 15, 2006 3:37:29 AM
You can find all answers on your other questions there: An Office User Interface Blog
I use Office beta on my home desktop PC and it works perfect so far.
jimjjewett # Tuesday, August 15, 2006 2:10:45 PM
(1) selecting a menu opens something a fancier widget than a menu selection
(2) There choice of what subwigdets to include may depend on the current selection.
These are both nice, but I don't think they're beyond the cababilities of QT, are they?
Rijk # Tuesday, August 15, 2006 4:39:15 PM
The Ribbon is very dynamic (adapts smartly to window width), has excellent keyboard accessibilty, etc. It is a completely new kind of widgets, not just a toolbar.
Of course it can be imitated by programmers, programmers can do magic after all, but this is not a trivial addition.
Aux # Wednesday, August 16, 2006 12:02:55 PM
Ofcourse proper implementation of such technology for Opera would be just great!