[ubuntu-studio-devel] menu layout

[Len Ovens]

After thinking about htis all day while working I have some more ideas.

In keeping with what is shown at:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuStudio/FeatureDefinitions/UbuntuStudioMenu
I have no problem with renaming sub menus in audio. I still think it is 
right to keep them as submenus because there are so many audio 
applications that we include and that users will add to that.

One thought I do have is that on an audio workstation it may make more 
sense to default unknown "Audio" programs to audio production rather than 
to media playback with the idea that someone interested in Studio is more 
likely to add a tool that belongs there than a player. I would also like 
to rename mixers to something that would include audio utilities that are 
not used very often. Or maybe we can just put such things in there to keep 
from cluttering up the main audio menu. (Ideas?)

On to Graphics...
Assuming that the wiki layout means for the sub categories to be sub 
menus... I dissagree. I feel that someone who uses mostly any one of these 
sub categories will find it fiddly and more steps to get work done.

I do like separation and agree that having separate menus may not be 
needed. So, looking at the Audio Production menu we have now. You can see 
that it is devided into four sections with a divider line between each 
one. I would like to do the same thing here. I looked at the total number 
of applications involved and do not think it would be too much to look at 
all at once.

So:
Graphics
 	installer
 	divider
 	2d graphics apps inlined
 	divider
 	photographic apps inlined (photography is 2D graphics)
 	divider
 	3D graphics apps inlined
 	divider
 	anything else (scanning is probably only one app or two)

This means that any one of these applications is easy to access, but they 
are grouped to be easier to find. I don't want a photographer to dismiss 
Studio because photography is stuck in a little corner as a submenu of 
graphics. I want Studio to be a first choice for photographers too. It is 
the same with the way we have set up the audio menu. Anything that we 
expect to used every time someone works on audio is top audio menu. 
Anything in submenus below audio should be things used only once in a 
while.

I have not put publishing in there at this point because I feel that our 
publishing workflow does not fit. Writing a book is about text not 
graphics. Printing a CD of audio does not belong in graphics either. In 
fact we have very few things in publishing at all and most almost fit 
better in "office". The few things we want to add to it (CD/DVD authoring) 
almost fit better back in Audio and Video.

I am almost questioning having a publishing workflow at all, at least for 
the purpose of writng books (ebooks or paper) or creating webpages (which 
we do not really support at all right now anyway). The original purpose of 
the publishing as a workflow (in Studio) was "electronic typesetting" but 
it seems that the meaning in most people's mind is really 
"distribution"... creating CD/DVDs etc.

Also remember that there is a second pannel at the bottom (I always move 
mine to vertical on the side of my second monitor) That the user can use 
to create a custom menu.


--
Len Ovens
www.ovenwerks.net