Suggestions for calibre's UI

[jony08]

Hello,
I have a few suggestions for changes in the calibre UI and I would like to know if someone have any opinions on them.

1. Background for the Cover view, IMO calibre looks much better with a background. What background do you think would be the best as default for calibre, if there was one?

2. Hide/show the search bar in the main window for saving space when not needed. It could be done with a hide/show icon next to the other hide/show icons in the bottom left of the main window.

3. Move the show/hide icons to the search bar and remove the status bar. I think the icons would fit in the search bar because the search field doesn't need to be as long as it is now and the text "calibre X.XX was created by Kovid Goyal" could be in the window title.

[theducks]

1) Preferences: Look and Feel:Grid View: offers you the background color

2) There is more there than just the auto-sized search entry. Need mor space: turn off text below icons, reduce Icon size or move items to Menubar (has no icons)

3)Over my body,
I read that status all the time: It contains Total: In the current view and NUMBER SELECTED (very important before you hit Delete or othe major change)

[dwig]

Originally Posted by theducks

...
3)Over my body,
I read that status all the time: It contains Total: In the current view and NUMBER SELECTED (very important before you hit Delete or othe major change)

Agreed.

While I have a number of gripes with calibre's UI, the Status bar is one of the better parts of the UI.

[Terisa de morgan]

I TOTALLY agree with no removing the status bar

Enviado desde mi MI 5 mediante Tapatalk

[BetterRed]

Answered in Purple

Originally Posted by jony08

1. Background for the Cover view, IMO calibre looks much better with a background. What background do you think would be the best as default for calibre, if there was one?

You'll never get agreement on such a thing. If you're inclined you could start a thread where folks can post suggested cover grid background images - in the same vein as the Custom Covers sticky at the top of this forum.

Originally Posted by jony08

2. Hide/show the search bar in the main window for saving space when not needed. It could be done with a hide/show icon next to the other hide/show icons in the bottom left of the main window.

This is in conflict with suggestion 3, which suggests the icons in the status bar be moved to the search bar. If that included an icon to hide the search bar, how would one show it once it is hidden?

Originally Posted by jony08

3. Move the show/hide icons to the search bar and remove the status bar. I think the icons would fit in the search bar because the search field doesn't need to be as long as it is now and the text "calibre X.XX was created by Kovid Goyal" could be in the window title.

My alternative would be a button or icon in the search bar, that has options to hide/show Tag Browser, Cover Carousel, Cover Grid, Book Details, Jobs, and Status Bar; it could also have options for About and Preferences. And, I would show the current physical and virtual library names in the status bar alongside the counts.

BR

[Katsunami]

The one suggestion I'd have for calibre is making the Saved Searches field resizable, or at least 2 or even three times as big. The Search field is huge, the Saved Search field is tiny.

For the rest, I've removed all toolbars and stuck everything in the menu and context menu. (General things in the menu; book-related things in the context menu.) calibre looks really minimalistic now

[Sweetpea]

I've also only one suggestion: make it touch-friendly... Scrolling by that tiny scrollbar is a pain in the finger!

[uli]

The only thing that bugs me is the uneven padding around the search bar. Now you can't unsee it

Five years with Calibre and I still don't know how to clear "Find item in T..." besides manually editing the json file.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by uli

The only thing that bugs me is the uneven padding around the search bar. Now you can't unsee it

Five years with Calibre and I still don't know how to clear "Find item in T..." besides manually editing the json file.

ctrl+backspace (in that box). The - button ssems tocancel the action, but leaves the value showing

[uli]

Originally Posted by theducks

ctrl+backspace (in that box). The - button ssems tocancel the action, but leaves the value showing

Yeah, that's a OS key-shotcut. I just delete history.plist, someone could make a plugin...

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by uli

Five years with Calibre and I still don't know how to clear "Find item in T..." besides manually editing the json file.

Use the Preferences->Shortcuts->Tag Browser->Find Item setting to set a key sequence to give it focus, I gave it Shift+F, so Shift+F, Del will clear it.

Talking of keyboard shortcuts, would be good if the Preference icon panel was usable from the keyboard. I suggest by giving the panel a context menu that lists the items, and a Preferences section in Shortcuts where kb shortcuts can be assigned to individual items. Qt permitting. of course

Tip: If you can't see what you want, have a look at 'relevant' context menu's and keyboard shortcuts.


BR

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

I decided to make one more beta release (2.99.11) to try out a little UI polishing. The changes are:

1) Add a button in the bottom right corner to hide the search bar

2) Remove the saved search box, replacing it with a button to add a saved search. Since saved searches can be run from the Tag browser this box was unnecessary duplication. However if you dont use the Tag browser and want to get the box back, there is a tweak for it in Preferences->Tweaks.

3) Hide the "Find in Tag browser" search box by default. There is a button you can use to show it at the bottom of the Tag browser and it will remember its state between calibre restarts

4) Fix extra padding between the toolbar and search bar.

5) Remove the button to clear the search box, instead moving it into the search box itself.

Looks like many of the suggestions from this thread have been implemented.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I've also only one suggestion: make it touch-friendly... Scrolling by that tiny scrollbar is a pain in the finger!

That would be a dream come true.

[yonkyunior]

me? minimalism haha

Moderator Notice
@yonkyunior - in future please conform to image size posting rules in Guidelines. This time I moved it to the forum image store, next time your image will be removed.

BR

[BetterRed]

Bah - that's not minimalist - this is minimalist



If I could I get rid of the menu bar, I never click on Preferences. I normally use Ctrl+P, or access Preferences via the book list context menu.

BR