[Bug 398110] [NEW] add account dialog is confusing

[sam tygier]

Public bug reported:

Binary package hint: empathy

it is confusing to add a new account to empathy. it is not clear what to
do, and if you get it wrong your account is silently forgotten.

1: start empathy (with no saved accounts). it brings up the Accounts dialog.
2: select salut, and click create. now i can see the account on the left, with add and remove buttons below it, there are input fields on the right, and a close button
3: i put in a first name, and nick name, (leaving the last name blank, as there is no indication that i need to fill it in)
4: now should i press 'add' to add the account i just made? should i press close? i would expect an 'ok' button but it is not there.
5: i press 'add', now i get asked type of account to make, so that must have been wrong. i press cancel, and i am back at the salut setup, but my details are gone. so i type them in again.
6: i try pressing close instead, the dialog goes away, and i am at the main contact list screen. no indication of if it worked, so i go back to accounts to check. and there are no accounts there.

a bit more playing finds that you need to put in a first and last name,
but nick name is optional.

i know the gnome HIG discourages ok/apple buttons (http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/windows-utility.html.en#windows-instant-apply  ), but possibly this is a case where it would be needed under the second condition
"the changes in the window have to be applied simultaneously to prevent the system entering a potentially unstable state. For example, the hostname and proxy fields in a network properties window."
an IM account with incomplete details, is not a useful or stable state.

another solution would be a message telling you that the account details are incomplete, and what you need to add. eg
"This account cannot be create until the fields 'First name' and 'Last name' are completed"
"This account cannot be create until the field 'Last name' is completed"

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sat Jul 11 10:21:41 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
Package: empathy 2.27.3-2ubuntu2
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-2.17-generic
SourcePackage: empathy
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-2-generic x86_64

** Affects: empathy (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: amd64 apport-bug

-- 
add account dialog is confusing
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/398110
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