Opera Desktop Team

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Hi
We have been busy after the Beta release as you can see.
There have been changes to the Widget UI to try to make it more easy to use.
We have removed the "widget mode" and the widget handle. The widgets now appear in their own panel and have their own menu entry.
When a widget is closed it will still be available in the widget panel. You can delete them from there.
This is still work in progress and some things are missing.

Changelog

Widgets UI changes:
  • Widgets are no longer displayed on a faded screen.
  • New widgets menu, providing options to add, open, and manage widgets.
  • New widget management window.


Other changes
  • Fixed handling of multiple changes to document.body.style.backgroundColor.
  • Fixed behavior of range.compareBoundaryPoints.
  • document.compatMode now gives 'BackCompat' for documents being rendered in quirks mode.
  • Improved XSLT error reporting.
  • Allowed custom headers to be displayed in the quick mail headers toolbar
  • Fixed some bugs in the MSI installer.
  • Improved handling of "Stop executing scripts on this page" tickbox on script dialogs.
  • Support copying attribute nodes in XSLT with copy-of.
  • Refuse invalid namespace declaration attributes.
  • User CSS is enabled by default in Author Mode.
  • Temporary downloads are now cleared when deleting cache.
  • Improved deleting of single messages from trash in IMAP accounts.
  • Fix for duplicated messages in IMAP.
  • Fixed SSL negotiation problem for servers that does not tolerate TLS 1.0 version in the record protocol of the client hello.
  • Added system tray icon on Unix.


Known issues
  • Opera might fetch some old feed entries double
  • Opera might not start in some Unix desktop environments when using a menu entry to start Opera: start it from conosle instead.
  • you need to use a clean toolbar setup to get the widget menu and the widget panel




Download links
Windows MSI
Windows Classic
Macintosh
Unix


Lazy weekend..Work Work Work

Comments

Alexis DeveriaFyrd Tuesday, May 2, 2006 3:58:11 PM

Yay! smile

and...FP!

Javier Gutierrezjgutierrez Tuesday, May 2, 2006 3:59:30 PM

First comment!

Kostia RomanovKildor Tuesday, May 2, 2006 3:59:48 PM

;-)
What`s about custom headers in M2 quick interface? I didn`t found it in changelog, but found in my Opera ;-)

dockersfan Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:00:34 PM

well i'm 1st in the southern hemisphere then :^)

i agree with lvanderree as i quite liked having the widget button... no option to have it selected?

Brian HuismanGreyWyvern Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:03:55 PM

Woohoo! Widget panel. Very nice. My compliments!

slegg Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:04:32 PM

Cool!

FataL Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:07:04 PM

Wow!
I like changes done with widgets UI. up
But I miss some command and key to bring all my widgets to front. idea
Also thanks for improved XSLT errors messages.
XSLT: I have some problem with generating checked INPUT. It appears not checked in Opera (Firefox, IE - Ok).

velmu Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:10:56 PM

Super - for some reason widgets feel better on the Mac build than before. Or maybe that's just me rolleyes

Martin Suelzlemarsu Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:14:36 PM

img.src still not work sad

Leonlvanderree Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:16:07 PM

I'm missing the "widget mode" already... I think the button which was always on top was great... Can't there be an option in the preferences.

Philipp Schröderpipipde Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:20:50 PM

opera crashes when i hide it into-tray (linux; fluxbox)

it would be great if it's possible to disable this tray-icon...

Daniel Goldmandanigoldman Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:22:16 PM

Right-clicking on a widget should say "Close Widget" instead of "Close Window".

Perhaps you should also be able to right-click on a widget in the widgets panel.

Bill PBill_P Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:23:44 PM

"you need to use a clean toolbar setup to get the widget menu and the widget panel" - Not true, at least in my case I have menu but no panel and in clean setup/install I have both but no entry in 'panel' tab of 'appearance' for widgets.

running Linux

Paul SkinnerPaulSkinner Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:23:46 PM

I agree with Ivanderree. There should be an option to have it or not have it.
Fair enough if it isn't enabled by default.

Also, each separate widget should be closable once opened. I should be able to see each widget separately, without them all chewing CPU at once. (i.e. a rightclick on the startbar item and close should be available).
I cannot see a way to close the widgets once they have been opened, other than closing Opera 9? Widgets are an add-on, not part of the browser as far as I'm concerned. I should be able to have just the browser, and then enable/close widgets as I please.

The function key has gone that opens the widgets too, can this please come back, as I would rather not go through a menu to see my widgets.

xxxpholie Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:23:55 PM

It seems to me that look of the main menu bar in Qt version (linux) has been improved a bit. Changed font size or what.

Joey WaghWajo357 Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:28:17 PM

I can't reopen a widget once I close it.

Also, I use the feeds, and I noticed that if I click FEEDS>READ FEEDS, it will not go to the feeds page unless my mouse is pointed pass the word "READ". In otherwords, when clicking the word "read" nothing happens, only when clicking "feeds". Can anyone confirm?

Mark 'Tarquin' Wilton-Jonestarquinwj Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:29:02 PM

Kildor, thanks. Will see if I can get it added to the list, if I can drag Olli away from his beer.

Tommy A. Olsentoman Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:29:39 PM

@Bill_P: Indeed, if you havent customized your menu, you will get the menu item smile

Joey WaghWajo357 Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:31:17 PM

seems to me, this widget tab might be better off as a side panel.

Wojtek Kowalukdodd Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:31:53 PM

no faded screen? Widgets seem to be useless without it. I don't like it. Sure, there were many problems with screen fading, but at last i could use widgets when i need them and save space on my desktop when i don't need them.

stewie Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:35:18 PM

+1
I don't really like the changes done to the Widgets UI. sad
Like beta1 better. smile

MaximSailorMax Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:36:44 PM

after close any widget it wan't open again sad
tester on WidgetTetra and Puzzle

Non-Tropponon-troppo Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:38:27 PM

There are several current 'issues' with widgets

1) Not saving their data, try closing and opening them - data loss. e.g. touchtheSky loses its prefs each time you close / open it.
2) No context menu yet for the panel.
3) Need a way for F6 to still toggle them all on/off. If I want to hide them I have to close one by one.
4) Multi-select widgets that are both open and closed and try to group close/open them - broken.
5) The menu can open widgets but not close them. They should toggle when selecting the menu.
6) If you have open widgets, closing then reopening opera does not save the closed/open state of the widgets.
7) There is a new widgets.adr file, which should save the position, but they do not remember their screen position.

The UI is much better than the kludgy "widget space" imo. As I say above, th only advantage of the old mode was a way to hide/show all widgets easily.

It would be nice if a little checkbox was shown in the widget panel next to each to see if it was open or closed.

parsien Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:41:17 PM

I like the improvements to the widget ui. Thanks and keep up the good work

Bill PBill_P Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:41:29 PM

Widget panel can be added to panels by editing toolbar.ini and adding entry in:
[Hotlist Panel Selector.content]
Widgets, n where n=next free position

The 'always on top' option seems to do nada. The widget is always on top in Opera but underneath all other windows and disappears when window focus changes even thought the widget is not covered.

Can we get an x box to close the widget? Or maybe bring back the pin.



mecki Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:44:33 PM

i don't like the new handling, too.
i can't access the widgets via F6 any more.
and when i close the "touchthesky" weather forecast widget and reopen it my settings are lost.

olli Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:46:46 PM

Please remember this is work in progress. Everything is not in place yet :-)

FataL Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:48:07 PM

Originally posted by non-troppo:

1) Not saving their data, try closing and opening them - data loss. e.g. touchtheSky loses its prefs each time you close / open it.

Is that Opera widget interface fault or every widget need to handle it by itself (cookies...)?

Damian Joneswidge34 Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:49:44 PM

After i have downloaded the widgets and then close them,they no longer open.I also preferred the widget tab.

Akbalder Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:51:23 PM

I really don't like having a window in my taskbar for each widget open.

We need a key (and a menu entry) to open all our widgets.

In the widget panel, double clicking on a widget which is already opened should close this widget.

When we open a widget, it doesn't show up at its last position.

Bill PBill_P Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:52:16 PM

Nobody's mentioned the addition of an Opera system tray icon in Linux yet, with a new mail indicator. What other goodies aren't memtioned in the change log?

Dennis-Hawks Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:53:31 PM

I do not remember since which build it was implemented, but you can drag'n'drop text in fields, whether it is a textarea or the addressbar or dialogs. Though, not to an external program yet. I failed to find any mentioning of that feature in changelogs of weeklies.

And still there is "Show widgets tab" entry in preferences smile

Alexis DeveriaFyrd Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:54:06 PM

Interesting, apparently the click-on-search-box-text-to-select-all function has been reinstated, just as I'd gotten used to having to click on the icon to select it! Still, I'm glad.

Love the new widget system, much clearer and more consistant than previous system. However, I have probably the same problem as Wajo357, can't re-open a widget I've closed. Actually, I deleted it, then pulled it from the trash, and it won't re-open. (MacOSX build)

Keep up the great work! smile

Opera LoverOperandme Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:01:19 PM

Widgets are wack, now! sad

I hate what's been done with the widgets. First of all - I had to purge my widgets directory and redownload all of them. For some reason they didn't carry over as they did is previous opera builds.

Second - they won't remember their settings. (e.g. Touch the sky - is set to defaults every time I close and relaunch opera.)

Third - if I close opera with a widget open and relaunch the widget it is not open as I left it.

Fourth - Widgets are not retaining their location after opera relaunch. They open on the default screen is the center position.

I don't even no what to say. I'm sooo sad. smile

Kostia RomanovKildor Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:03:07 PM

I`d like new widget panel, but why broke working thinks? ;-)
And, widgets don`t save they prefs, it very annoying and make all widget unusable…
I don`t understand, why "On top" and "detach widget" are opposite, it`s two different preference, not two state of one…
some ideas about widget panel:
change "open" to "close" on toolbar if widget open yet.
add feature to create folder, put entryes in folder, and ability to open "all items in folder", like bookmarks.
And, ability to create button on toolbar,
show widget, "kcxecshbivdumgkjktgpagyqiyivmj" (or other unique ID)

Carlos Renato F. VendraminiRedPingüim Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:03:20 PM

Great... Linux version now has a fully functional tray icon.. up

xxxpholie Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:04:05 PM

Bill_P: you're right. it is there smile I noticed the icon in the top right corner in xfce immediately but I thought it is xfce's windows switcher smile

The improvements in this build are really great. I have a feeling that going Back to page history is faster again.

WildEnte Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:07:08 PM

didn't test it yet but thumbs up for the new Widget UI. It was most probably not my wish that made you change it to become how it is now, but it seems pretty much like what I wished for. Ergo: a big thank you from my side.

Kostia RomanovKildor Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:10:10 PM

by the way, why all and current blocked content was splitted into two different and unconnected dialogs? It was usefull… ;-)

Tomas Björklundflyingscanian Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:10:17 PM

I'm sorry, but I have a hard time seeing the improvement with the new widget interface. As mecki says, settings are lost when the widgets are closed. Very unconvenient. Even though it might have slowed things down (never notices exept for the new mail popup), bringing all widgets upp at once was very convenient. Also, I really don't like how the open widgets now clutter up my startbar. I switched over to Opera and tabbed browsing all those years ago just to avoid that, please don't bring that back again.

I am also very much missing the F6 fast key to widgets. If anything that should have been improved to work outside Opera (or maybe have active corners of the screen instead).

I have not been able to get up the Widget panel. Probably since I didn't have I clean toolbar. But now after the fact, how do I get it up there.

I loved the widgets of the last build. Right now, widgets are useless to me.

Also noticed that when trying to change the color scheme of the skin, the choice popup is very jumpy. The active selection jumps between the last choosen and the one the mouse is on.

A small feature request also. A "Reply to" button in email with a pulldown menu where you could choose which one of the senders, Recievers, CC:s to reply would be very good. I am on a email-list where the FROM is the sender and the TO the list. In this case I want to reply to the list instead of the sender.

Complex Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:13:09 PM

OK, is there any way to turn off or disable the new tray icon for linux? My notifications area is already quite full, thank you, and I'd rather have control over what appears there.

Or at least let me change that terrible pixelated icon for a a better one.

Complex.

FataL Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:27:32 PM

Originally posted by Dennis_Hawks:

you can drag'n'drop text in fields, whether it is a textarea or the addressbar or dialogs

Great improvement! Keep it up! up
I would like also to have ability to drag n' drop URL to different apps from address bar field.

WildEnte Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:29:48 PM

popup blocker ("block unwanted") fails with links on http://www.compfused.com

bug-206469

Paul SkinnerPaulSkinner Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:37:20 PM

flyingscanian's first two paragraphs are also my view.
Say no to taskbar space-wastage!

Helena Polovinčákováhelenka Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:37:40 PM

I agree with dodd -> http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/show.dml/241846#comment1619583
Previous widget's system was better. It's not possible remove widgets from sidebar. Why is Widgets in main menu? I wanna disable it (in gui, of course) I thought that widgets are unusable but when previous builds came with their "layer", it was great think!
Solution: back the previous system combined with sidebar and off-able menu item.
Is this think bug or feature? I like using accesibility layout and change author mode and user mode (acc. layout). But now when I have author mode, opera combine with user mode... see screenshot.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/bw2mpw

Kc4 the Greatklingoncowboy4 Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:38:15 PM

finally something to look forward too... until I install the build... then I can wait for the next one

xcbxcbxcbxcbLontronics Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:38:41 PM

I can not find the option to switch off the tray icon.....

I really hope it will be there in the next build, because I do not like to have a tray icon I have not asked for...

Further a great build wink

Jan

Mohammed S Muchhalababumuchhala Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:38:57 PM

Finally the Heads Up Display for widgets is gone.

But since the beta release i have found Opera using a tad bit more resources. (The thing to note here is I have 64 MB RAM with XP running)

~babumuchhala
http://www.muchhalasworld.uni.cc

chrislu Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:40:22 PM

so and now where are the 'visible' changes?

i appreciate the widgets but could use a little more 'useful' stuff like the tab preview like in ie7.

anyways good work guys wink

olli Tuesday, May 2, 2006 5:44:23 PM

chrislu: We have added tons of new useful stuff in Opera 9 :-)

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