Show all plugins in prefs windows

[Daniel Schierbeck]

The distinction between "official" and "community" plugins seems to have no real bearing for the user, who only wishes to enable the functionality, and probably isn't too concerned of the maturity of the plugin. It would therefore improve the usability of the preferences window if it was not necessary to select "all plugins" in the "show" box in order to actually see which plugins are available.

I'd rather remove the select box all together, and (if needed) instead show an indicator of whether a plugin is "official" in the list itself.

This will remove a level of indirection and unneeded structure and give users more direct access to the fun plugins.

[David Siegel (djsiegel-deactivatedaccount)]

No, it is needed. Community plugins are often very low quality, and we need to put this small obstacle in front of users to force them to give their consent to installing any non-official plugins. Removing this speed bump would open a can of worms.

[David Siegel (djsiegel-deactivatedaccount)]

Also, the Official Plugins category offers incentive for plugin authors to follow strict coding and quality guidelines to get their plugins "above the fold."

[Daniel Schierbeck (dasch)]

Okay, but then at least use a checkbox, e.g. "Show community plugins" or "Show experimental plugins". A combobox is by far the most annoying way of doing it, as it doesn't reveal its contents before being clicked, i.e. the user doesn't know whether there's something interesting in there or not.

[David Siegel (djsiegel-deactivatedaccount)]

Good call.

[Robert Dyer (psybers)]

This is further complicated by recent pushes that add 'Docklets' to the dropdown. So it now contains: Official Plugins, Community Plugins, Docklets, All Plugins

I personally don't like the idea of listing Docklets separately and vote we move the combo box and replace with a checkmark to show un-supported plugins.

Perhaps overlay an icon on top of the plugin icon to indicate 'official' vs 'community' (vs 'docklet'?).

[Daniel Schierbeck (dasch)]

I can't really see why there needs to be a distinction between normal
plugins and docklets -- they both extend the existing functionality,
just in different ways.

On Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 10:47 AM, Robert Dyer<email address hidden> wrote:
> This is further complicated by recent pushes that add 'Docklets' to the
> dropdown.  So it now contains: Official Plugins, Community Plugins,
> Docklets, All Plugins
>
> I personally don't like the idea of listing Docklets separately and vote
> we move the combo box and replace with a checkmark to show un-supported
> plugins.
>
> Perhaps overlay an icon on top of the plugin icon to indicate 'official'
> vs 'community' (vs 'docklet'?).
>
> ** Changed in: do
>       Status: Invalid => Confirmed
>
> --
> Show all plugins in prefs windows
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/383540
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>