It's been a while (since the 4.2 cycle) since I've contributed to plasma; 
things got really busy this last six months.
If it's worth anything, I thought I'd provide a little feedback on this zui 
topic.



----- Original Message ----
> From: Chani <chan...@gmail.com>
> zoom 2 (fully zoomed out):
> ...
> zoom level 1:
> ...
> zoom 1/2:
> ...
> zoom 0 (fully zoomed in):

The terms "Zoom Out" and "Zoom In" are presented to the user.  I wonder if this 
perhaps exposes the mechanism rather than the action(s) the user would like to 
perform.  What distinct functionality does each of the zoom level provide?  Or 
another way to put it might be, what activity would the user like to perform 
that would prompt the user to change zoom levels?

At the "zoom 0 (fully zoomed in)" level, the only thing I can think that "Zoom 
Out" provides is to show the available activities. Once "zoomed out (1/2, 1, 
2)" the user can currently select an activity, create new activities, or remove 
existing activities.  If that is what it does (or is envisioned to do), would 
it make sense to label "Zoom Out" in the fully-zoomed-in/normal-desktop-view 
mode something like "Show Activities".  Selecting an activity could use the 
same Qt/KDE selection model similar to what's used throughout the desktop 
(essentially a single selection view).  Keyboard navigation could be the same 
as elsewhere on the desktop: arrows keys highlight, enter activates (zooms in). 
 Mouse navigation would be the same: mouse over highlights, click/double-click 
activates.  

To keep the move-applets-between-containments-using-the-mouse functionality 
probably requires the activate target outside the containment like the "Zoom 
In" on the handle is now (but perhaps bigger and labeled "Select" or "Select 
this activity" "Use" or something...).

If all the activites don't fit on the screen, perhaps the same mechanic that's 
used througout the desktop when display items don't fit on the display area 
could be used here: a horizontal scrollbar.   I have to keep reminding myself 
that I can drag-to-scroll when I've zoomed out to see the available activities. 

To push a little the further;  what about a zoom slider in the tool box once 
the user is in the "Show Activities"/(zoom > 0) mode.  The slider could use 
detents for each zoom level.  The user is arguably already familiar with the 
zoom slider from many apps (dolphin, gwenview). 

The visual presentation and interation would be mostly similar to a dolphin 
icon view in preview mode, only with live, more interactive "previews" 
(containments). One remaining question would be: are there any functions 
envisioned in the zoomed out modes that go beyond selecting, creating and 
removing activies that would not work with this suggested mechanic?

Just a few thoughts I hope are helpful, and I'm happy to pitch in some coding 
time to help whoever wants to work on this,
Andrew Lake
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