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Here are the most popular ideas ever about Unity.

Optimize Unity Sidebar for Desktops

Written by psnizek the 11 Apr 13 at 09:55. New

Proposal is about:
- better cope with having many apps locked-in to the sidebar
- improve sidebar as task-switcher alternative to [alt]-[tab]

usability issues:
- often loosing sidebar when scrolling down (autohide)
- running apps are shown in the original locked-in "home" position which can become inconvenient (if many apps locked-in and scrolling is needed)

Suggestion:
- show running apps in the top area of the sidebar. When app is closed the app icon shall return to it's original "home" position.
- optionally have a "preferred apps" zone in the sidebar for apps that are being used often, but not running yet.
- keep a zone for locked in apps
- introduce column heads for "running", "preferred" and "locked-in" that allows expansion and collapsing of each respective zone (perhaps triggerd with "mouse hover" over the zone or with a click on the column head).

----------------------------
If I am forced to scroll the sidebar down, I often loose it (bar autohides) when not paying attention to an exact movement with of the mouse and need to start all over again which over time is annoying. It's really about dragging the mouse precisely in a straight line, scrolling, searching, playing seek and hide...

If I want to use the unity bar as task switcher then I often need to scroll the bar all the way down to the position where I have originally locked in my app. Not locked-in apps are listed even at the very bottom of the sidebar when running. That doesn't make awful lot of sense from a usability pont of view. In cases where many instances of apps are running concurrently [alt]-[tab] rotation is not very convenient.

19
votes

Solution #1: Turn Unity Sidebar into Unity Smartbar:

Written by psnizek the 11 Apr 13 at 09:55.

Proposal:

Smart, associative ordering of app icons in Unity sidebar:

The Unity side bar should order applications according to the following priorities from top to down:

Group 1 "running") At the very top: list all open (running) applications according to their window level on the desktop. So apps on the top (visible) first and apps at the bottom (partially or not visible or minimized) last.

Group 2 "preferred") second priority: show a configurable number of apps accordingly to "most frequently used" over a certain period of time. However, do not show apps that are running already here as they would belong under 1) If no application is started yet then apps belonging to 2) would show up first.

Group 3 "locked") third priority: User/OS defined order. Show all other apps that are registered at the sidebar according to the user (or OS, if the user didn't) defined order. Do not show apps here that are shown already under 2 or 1.

Behavior / associative "thinking":

[...]

If an app is "locked" and frequently used "preferred" then it is shown in Group 2. If one day the app is not anymore frequently used then it would fall back from group 2 to group 3. If the app is not even locked, than the app would disappear from the side bar completely.

Same with Group 1 "running": Once the app is closed it either returns to group 2 "preferred" (if frequently used), or to group 3 "locked" (if docked to the sidebar). Or the app disappears completely from the side bar if not frequently used and not registered.

Group 2) "preferred" can also show "unlocked" (not to the side bar docked) apps. An app can be frequently used even if it is not "locked" in the sidebar

Grouping:
Each of these groups (1. "running" 2. "preferred" 3. "locked") should get a group head. If clicked on it the group unfolds and if again clicked on it the group collapses. The groups should be draggable in order to change their vertical placement (order) in the bar.

Magnetic behavior of sidebar when visible and if switched-on autohide:
It would be great if the sidebar had a kind of "magnetic force" that helps to move the mouse vertically up and down in a straight line and to prevent an unwanted autohide. It perhaps could be managed by "mouse cursor pressure". If the pressure (configurable?) to the right border gets strong enough, the mouse cursor can escape the sidebar and autohide is triggered.

Benefit: I would save a lot of clicking, mouse dragging and wheel rolling to search and start apps or switch from one app to the other. Also it would make the user experience with the side bar much more robust (magnetic force). The Unity side bar would actually start supporting me similar to a Golf caddy who always gives me the right choice of golf clubs depending on the situation and my play style :-)

Proposal:

Smart, associative ordering of app icons in Unity sidebar:

The Unity side bar should order applications according to the following priorities from top to down:

Group 1 "running") At the very top: list all open (running) applications according to their window level on the desktop. So apps on the top (visible) first and apps at the bottom (partially or not visible or minimized) last.

Group 2 "preferred") second priority: show a configurable number of apps accordingly to "most frequently used" over a certain period of time. However, do not show apps that are running already here as they would belong under 1) If no application is started yet then apps belonging to 2) would show up first.

Group 3 "locked") third priority: User/OS defined order. Show all other apps that are registered at the sidebar according to the user (or OS, if the user didn't) defined order. Do not show apps here that are shown already under 2 or 1.

Behavior / associative "thinking":
If an app is "locked" and frequently used "preferred" then it is shown in Group 2. If one day the app is not anymore frequently used then it would fall back from group 2 to group 3. If the app is not even locked, than the app would disappear from the side bar completely.

Same with Group 1 "running": Once the app is closed it either returns to group 2 "preferred" (if frequently used), or to group 3 "locked" (if docked to the sidebar). Or the app disappears completely from the side bar if not frequently used and not registered.

Group 2) "preferred" can also show "unlocked" (not to the side bar docked) apps. An app can be frequently used even if it is not "locked" in the sidebar

Grouping:
Each of these groups (1. "running" 2. "preferred" 3. "locked") should get a group head. If clicked on it the group unfolds and if again clicked on it the group collapses. The groups should be draggable in order to change their vertical placement (order) in the bar.

Magnetic behavior of sidebar when visible and if switched-on autohide:
It would be great if the sidebar had a kind of "magnetic force" that helps to move the mouse vertically up and down in a straight line and to prevent an unwanted autohide. It perhaps could be managed by "mouse cursor pressure". If the pressure (configurable?) to the right border gets strong enough, the mouse cursor can escape the sidebar and autohide is triggered.

Benefit: I would save a lot of clicking, mouse dragging and wheel rolling to search and start apps or switch from one app to the other. Also it would make the user experience with the side bar much more robust (magnetic force). The Unity side bar would actually start supporting me similar to a Golf caddy who always gives me the right choice of golf clubs depending on the situation and my play style :-)

-8
votes

Solution #2: Show running programs in the upper (horizontal) bar

Written by Mathias the 30 Apr 13 at 16:40.

I used ubuntu studio for a while and there all the running programs ware displayed in the upper bar. This worked perfectly in my opinion. I was surprised to see that this isn't the same in ubuntu 13.04

Now I learned to use shortcut keys to swich programs but it would still be very handy if I could see the running programs up instead of "file - edit - view - etc..."

See the 8 comments or propose a solution >>

keyboard layout-independend search in dash

Written by Леонид the 29 May 12 at 08:14. New

auto-switch keyboard layout, when no results found in unity dash.

Example:
When I type "цвет" and "wdtn" (same buttons in keyboard, but different layout) in google - I get similar results. When I type this in dash - I get zero results on "wdtn". Unity should understand this and change keyboard layout automatically to russian language.

18
votes

See the 1 comments or propose a solution >>

To save time when working with several overlapping windows

Written by cyrex the 30 Sep 12 at 16:23. New

Let's imagine we have a couple of windows opened (Each one almost covering the whole screen resolution). We do not want to go to one and copy something and then ALT+TAB to another and paste. What we want is a way to have them one next to each other (One window has focus, that's the front window. The other is in the background without focus but still visible to the user) and you can select a file from the background window and drag it to the focused front window, saving you time and making it more intuitive.

This could be achieved by holding some combination of keys to allow Unity to "not loose focus on the already focused window". To "freeze" the current focus until you are done dragging from one background window to the focused one (Or even to another not focused one).

Here is a link to a question about it: http://askubuntu.com/questions/194840/how-to-drag-from-a-background-window-to-t he-front-window

In what cases is this a positive change:

+ When dragging from one Nautilus window to another
+ When dragging from Nautilus/Desktop to an opened App (OpenShot for example)
+ When dragging from an app to another app (Gimp to Inkscape)

1
votes

3
votes

18
votes

0
votes

Solution #4: Focus a window through Unity Launcher without clicking

Written by jonasPlatte the 3 Oct 12 at 08:12.

It would be nice if a program would move to the foreground when you rest the mouse e.g. 2 seconds on the Icon in the Unity launcher. This could be either an addition or a replacement for the current option to open a file with a program by dragging the file to the programs icon (I don't know anyone who uses that feature)

10
votes

Solution #5: Only give focus to a window on mouse release

Written by Aielyn the 14 Oct 12 at 18:13.

As the title of the solution suggests, set the focus system up so that focus only changes when the mouse button is released, not when it is pressed (unless the user clicks on the title bar for a non-maximised window). This allows the user to click-and-drag from a window that doesn't officially have focus to the one that does, without needing any more complicated change. It avoids the need for any sort of keystroke or additional command, and should make no difference to any other context.

See the 2 comments or propose a solution >>

e-mail, notes and contacts integration

Written by saybgjack the 23 Feb 12 at 22:02. New

sending small messages, notes, documents and contacts has become an impornant activity.

Opening thunderbird or any other program, writing new message, attaching documents, choosing one of the address of the contact, and sending. This process is often too long for what it is.

17
votes

2
votes

Solution #2: "Share charm"

Written by Daedalus28288 the 2 Mar 12 at 08:59.

Implement a consistent sharing capability that is integrated systemwide. Right now we have "Send link" in Firefox and the "send to.." option when you right click. Those are too slow and not consistent.

Enable the user to share any file/picture/note/website/.. from any program directly to email/social networks/mms (ubuntu for android).

------------------
Share to mail in Windows 8
http://windowsteamblog.com/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Blogs- Components-WeblogFiles/00-00-00-53-48-metablogapi/2437.image_5F00_4496A7F7.png

Add a comment or propose a solution >>

Improvements for the dash-search

Written by petko10 the 17 Jan 12 at 22:33. New

The dash search does not have indexing options - why is this a problem ? Well that means it's not a fully functional search tool , but a helper to browse through recent files .
There is potential to change that , and I think that this functionality is a must-have for a good OS , so I propose we fill up that potential .

-4
votes

Solution #1: Make the search catche all the internal devices

Written by petko10 the 17 Jan 12 at 22:33.

Upon installation or right thereafter the fixed mount point devices (NOT random removable media,etc..) should be scanned and catched , so that the dash could be used to do a full search for files (because now it's just silly , to search in some recent files- not useless , but not fully functional) .
To make this option better - there should be a simple configuration of folders to include or exclude of scanning . And also a rescan option .

17
votes

-3
votes

Solution #3: connect with locate

Written by gleedadswell the 24 Jan 12 at 01:16.

I realize that the command line locate command isn't always ideal for this, because when the files are changing a lot the user would need to run updatedb repeatedly, which often isn't an option because it requires super user privileges. Could a limited updatedb, that only scans inside the user's own directories, be made available to the user. Then have the dash-search able to run this limited updatedb and to run a locate, perhaps as an alternative to the current search function?

1
votes

Solution #4: Use built-in efficient file watch

Written by PaddyLandau the 24 Jan 12 at 17:32.

Once the database has been updated, setting inotify (or incron or equivalent) to watch for changed files is efficient. The database does not have to search for changes, but instead will respond to changes when they happen.

The database need search for changes only if the partition has been changed by something when the database has not been active (e.g. when using a Live CD or after using Recovery mode).

This gives you the best of both worlds: comprehensive, always up-to-date, and fast.

See the 6 comments or propose a solution >>

Improve productivity by showing more

Written by cslee-ubuntu the 24 May 12 at 11:12. New

When using Ubuntu there are a few places that show previews of the windows that ca be selected like the Unity Bar and the Alt Tab switcher.
In a lot of cases applications have tabs with content and it would improve usability to see the content that I am trying to get to.

17
votes

Solution #1: Preview of Windows with stacked tab content

Written by cslee-ubuntu the 24 May 12 at 11:12.

For each window that has tabs provide the tabs as a stack of windows.
So in the Unity bar if clicking/hovering over the icon you see all the windows of that application that are open and for each one a stack of tabs.
In Alt Tab as you tab to an application and it splits to show open windows it would show the tabs staked on each window.
Then if using the mouse a user could click the visible part of the tab they want to go there directly.

An enhancement to this would be to roll through the tabs while the window was selected/under the mouse so that the user can see and select the tab they want to go to.

Switch to tablet/touch screen mode and it makes switching apps and app windows much simpler as once in this display sliding the windows and tabs around by hand would make selection very quick and easy.

0
votes

Add a comment or propose a solution >>

a few things about spread mode bug me

Written by tertian the 20 Jun 12 at 00:36. New

1) You cannot recognize windows if you have many open because they become small

2) You cannot see windows that are in other workspaces - really annoying, since the purpose of spreading windows is to
get a good overview and navigate through your open apps

3) You cannot interact in any way with the windows in spread mode - which also seems counterintuitive, since spread mode seems best suited for a bit of fast window management

8
votes

11
votes

17
votes

9
votes

4
votes

Solution #6: Switch between spread workspaces and spread windows

Written by PaddyLandau the 20 Jun 12 at 13:06.

Super+W shows windows in the current workspace.
Super+S shows all windows in all workspaces.

If you press Super+W then Super+S, it switches from the former to the latter.

But if you press Super+W, Super+S does not switch back.

Solution: Let Super+S work when in Super+W mode.

This will allow quick switching between the two modes.

8
votes

2
votes

Solution #8: Extension of #5 and #6

Written by pascalio the 30 Jun 12 at 09:42.

More generally, window spread (scale) and workspace spread (expo) should cooperate more. Remaining two separate options, the scale mode would eventually only be a "zooming in the current workspace" from the expo mode: This means
1) you can drag windows to adjacent workspaces in expo mode but in scale mode as well since it's just a zooming view of the expo;
2) you can zoom in or out from expo to scale and vice versa as you need if you're looking for a window in some workspace;
2') if you scaled in workspace 1, then zoom out to expo, you can then zoom in to workspace 2 for example, getting the scale mode there as well, and so on navigating between workspaces and respective windows.

See the 4 comments or propose a solution >>

Ubuntu needs a tool that collects feed from websites and applications

Written by Porky the 20 Sep 12 at 10:25. New

Someone has already proposed the idea of a unity notification center that allows users to see system feeds. What I'm proposing is something more. We need a tool that collects feeds from different websites as well as the system and posts them in a notification center/lens. It should also notify users through a bubble or a popup notification. The world is becoming more dependant on the internet and the web is becoming more social so we need a tool that is integrated into our system that notifies us of anything that needs our attention in our system and on the web; without having to open websites, we can see if there are any notifications awaiting us. Just like iOS has a push notification system as well as badges and Mac OS X has a notification center to allow users to stay updated, Ubuntu should have something similar that rids us of the compulsion of frequentlty checking our applications or social websites.

16
votes

Solution #1: Unity Notification Center

Written by Porky the 20 Sep 12 at 10:25.

Create a unity notification center (UNC) that is unobtrusive and easy to call and dismiss. We could add our credentials in the UNC and it would check for feeds across several social websites and the installed applications as well as system updates. It would also keep track of past notifications and would allow us to quickly review what happened when we were away. UNC should allow us to easily silence the applications we don't want to be notified about such as music players.

See the 5 comments or propose a solution >>

Make Gnome's Sushi a default in Unity

Written by Souloohshuns the 19 May 12 at 13:10. New

Music file previewing was once a joy in Ubuntu, with the hover-over-to-preview-audio feature. Alas, this is now gone, and double clicking on an mp3 means opening heavy applications such as rhythmbox. Checking out a video means opening movie player, and reading a document means having to wait for libreoffice to load... it doesn't have to be like this

15
votes

Solution #1: Make Gnome's Sushi (or similar) a default in Unity

Written by Souloohshuns the 19 May 12 at 13:10.

For all those who haven't tried gnome-sushi, I highly recommend you give it a go. It is genius (apt-get install gnome-sushi). It unleashes the power of the space bar on all kinds of files... you just highlight the file, press the space bar, and a neat, smart window opens as quick as can be to play the video, sound file or view the image. I use it all the time. Unity could do even better - why stop at audio, images and video? PDFs, docs and ODFs could all be viewed with a simple space bar click in a smart window environment... it would be a real revolution in viewing all kinds of files without the need for separate applications (applications should be used for editing and prcoessing files, not neccesarily for viewing or previewing them. If I want to read a doc, it can take an age to open up libreoffice. a simple, stripped down doc and pdf viewer could be designed instead)

See the 1 comments or propose a solution >>

TV's with innacurate EDID require the generation of and xorg.conf or a script..

Written by Geckyl the 3 Jun 12 at 20:08. New

Panels with inaccurate EDID's are difficult for newcomers using Intel video hardware to configure. Creating an xorg.conf or using XRandR modelines from a terminal or script is necessary currently to achieve the native resolution/refresh rate.

Newer versions of Ubuntu should have the option to ignore false EDID's and be able to display a list common (1366x768, 1360x768, 1280x720, etc) TV/panel resolutions and refresh rates.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Common panel display modes currently not available in the GUI's window list. Inaccurate panel EDID's cause native resolution of TV/panel to not be shown in the list of supported resolutions resulting in "tinkering" on the users end.
--------------------------------------------------------------

#Note to moderator: Could you delete this comment and change the title of this idea to "Advanced Display Modes"

14
votes

4
votes

See the 5 comments or propose a solution >>

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