[Gramps-users] Re: [Gramps-devel] More on GRAMPS and GNOME2

[Jeffrey C. O. <je...@ol...>]

On Wed, 2002-09-04 at 23:02, Don Allingham wrote:
> I've updated some information on my progress on the migration of GRAMPS
> to GNOME 2. I have some screenshots, along with several questions and
> concerns that I'd like some feedback.
> 
> The page can be found at
> http://donaldallingham.home.attbi.com/g2/index.html
> 
> What I've seen so far is that people either love or hate sidebars, so
> I've tried to accommodate both situations.

I like the Gnome 2 look... Keep up the good work!  Regarding the
questions from the web page:

> This view is just ugly and confusing. It pretty much has been since 
> day 1 with GRAMPS. I'm looking for suggestions on how to improve it. 

I have to agree that the family view could be better.  Here's what I
suggest:

The family view would consist of 3 basic panes.  The first pane would
list the name of the active person and perhaps some basic info like
birth/death date, gender, etc.  This first pane would also have a "Edit
<insert name here>" button.  The second pane would have a list
(potentially scrollable) of the families that the active person was a
member of.  There would also be buttons for editing the selected family,
making the active person a member of a new family, sorting/reordering
the list of families, etc.

The third pane would contain a "add new family" button, a "link to
existing family" and a list of families (potentially empty and
scrollable if need be).  Clicking the add new family button would create
a new family and link the active person as one of the parents.  The link
to existing family would do as you expect.

Then for each family that the active person was a parent in there would
be a sub-pane that had a list of children, and buttons for things like
"add new spouse", "link existing spouse", "edit spouse", "add child",
"remove selected child", and the like.

I can elaborate more, or perhaps even draw things out if that would help
clarify my late-night ramblings.

The primary benefit of this approach is that families are exposed in
scrolling lists rather than hidden in drop down menus.  Plus I think
that it would be clearer just what actions you are taking.

Jeff