Drive list and drive bar improvements
Introduction
Drive list and drive bar contains drives, FTP connections and special places. I currently see some usability issues. Some are really severe.
Special places are hardcoded
My suggestion: Allow defining which places can be reached in drive list/bar directly.
Special places only appear in the drive list - inconsistent
My suggestion: Both ways to access drives (list and bar) should contain the same items.
Special devices which only appear below 'my computer' are overlooked
My suggestion: Special places must be placable directly in the drive list/bar by default (should be hideable).
FS plugins are listed as part of network where they simply don't belong and are not expected
My suggestion: There are at least three types of FS plugins. It's really important to extend the FS plugin API to distinguish them.
- Real file systems should be placed on the same level as devices/volumes.
- Virtual places like (registry, uninstaller, ...) should be placed in a list below a menu button by default (top level as option).
- Connection types (SFTP, webdav, cloudXYZ) should be handled in the same way as FTP in the drive bar/list - they shouldn't be displayed at all. See other suggestion for details: http://ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?p=298993#298993
That doesn't mean their connections are not displayed - see next point)
Only FTP connections (and other FS plugins) are displayed as items in drive list and drive bar
Connections created by FS plugins are handled as part of network. There is no way to access a certain location in such a connection unambiguously. The current solution is inconsistent.
My suggestion: Extend the numeric system used for FTP connections to FS plugin connections.
Mockup: Example mockup of such a future drive bar
- Basic drives
- Types are visually separated
- Different icons for different connection types
- Menu button and opened menu for FS plugins without connections
Back to Ideas and suggestions