Blink indicator on new messages

[arunj]

Hi,

I have seen similar issues those have been marked as won't fix but I think instead of asking apps like empathy or pidgin to do something it's actually helpful to add blink support on new messages in the indicator. Why do I need to have my chat window open up in background/foreground? I just want to know that I have a new message. This applet is taking the responsibility of indicating that a new message is available but it is doing that partially. The name itself suggests that it wants to "indicate" that messages are available. Why not do a full-fledged "indication" instead of just changing the color? I have observed that in most cases the color change is missed or noted after a long time.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

Thanks for the suggestion, but we aren't going to do this.

The purpose of the messaging menu is first to provide quick access to chat status, and second to provide quick access to messages concerning you. <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MessagingMenu#Rationale> Its purpose is not to *notify* you about new messages, in the sense of ensuring you know about them when you wouldn't otherwise have looked. If you do look at the menu, you will notice the change of color, but that's just a bonus.

How applications should notify you of new messages depends widely on the type of message. Some may open a new window. Some may highlight something in an existing window. Some may wiggle their Launcher icon. Some may use a Launcher badge. And some may do nothing at all. Choosing the appropriate way to notify people of new messages is part of the fun of designing an application, not something that will be the same for every application. If the messaging menu icon blinked for any application that has new messages, that would get annoying in the cases where you do not want to look at the messages immediately.

"Indicator" is a term devised by the engineer who first implemented the messaging menu. It has no bearing on what the menu should or should not do. And "add blink support" is a good example of how the word "support" is unhelpful in discussions about software. It implies that "blink" is some unimplemented standard or feature, when it is actually an avoided design.