[HIG] Multiple different dialogs for alarms by type/frequency

[Anon]

Alarm Clock has two types of alarms:
* Fixed Time ("Alarm" & "Birthday")
* Fixed Interval ("Counter")

"Birthday" alarms are really nothing more than an annually recurring "Alarm" -- in fact, "Birthday" alarms need not be birthdays at all. "Counter" alarms are really timers; however, the only difference between a "Counter" and an "Alarm" is how the alarm time is determined. There are three separate dialogs, for what should be one. Further each dialog has different options for the common aspects!

There are further usability details with each individual dialog, such as inconsistent/indeterminate/misleading/conflicting labels, multiple ways to specify the same date, etc.

See http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/ for more details on Gnome HIG.

Too often I've clicked the gtk-add toolbar button, expecting to add a new alarm and specify the type, only to be forced to remember that "Counter" alarms are implemented separately and the toolbutton only adds an "Alarm"...

The features are nice, but the program needs a bit of usability help.

[sabby7890 (tsalacinski)]

The Timer dialog can be removed, that's true. I am right now adding a new feature called "Continuous" alarm - it will launch every 5/10/30 minutes. I will add this to generic "Add alarm" dialog and I'll remove the "Counter" option and add it to this window too. I think about redesigning the interface (removing all separate dialogs for every notification type and placing it in tabs).

Giving user an option to hide the toolbar could be pretty too.