hi, I'm sure the concept of Libreoffice templates is PRETTY complex in itself, not to mention the implementation... I only see it from one narrow angle... but anyway the problem (thinking only within Writer): template name "AA-myproject-final".. now, this template can be "organized" using the file manager, right? using, first of all, cloud syncing to have the same copy of this template over your computers... at this point you believe that the "AA-myproject.final.ott" is THE TEMPLATE.. but it's not... it can be anything your "AA-myproject-final" template could be stealthily linked to "cat-lost.ott", for example, or to "AA-myproject-v19", to give you a more realistic illustration... and one day you modify your "AA-myproject-final" template, opening "it" from your recent documents' list, and when you open a filed based on this template, nothing will happen... in fact, you'll realize that when opening "AA-myproject-final" template, what you have in front of you is "AA-prjectname-final-x" (a dropped version, from some time ago, for example) an it's scary to even imagine that when tidying up your templates, you might have deleted the template file "from behind" the template without knowing... ----------------- all in all, it starts with "template name", this is an ambiguous term... it should be "template title", indicating that there are two things: a template and a title :) in the case of "template name", as it is totally analogous to "file name", you will "believe" that "AA-myproject-final" can be accessed opening "AA-myproject-final.ott" but this doesn't work |2| the second route to screw up things is to save a document as template... here Libreoffice further helps you (screw up things) by not showing your existing template "names"... which makes it really difficult to overwrite a template on purpose... I mean, the existing concept could work way better if the existing template titles could be seen when saving a document as a template... |3| a further way to bring about some chaos is to save a template as a template... which would result in the new template being based on a template (!!) this is wrong a template shouldn't be based on a template, unless deliberately, but as far as I can see, it's a bad idea to unleash another level to complexity... this part could be handled, as a first step, by cutting links in templates to other templates... imagine that a template updates! cause its template has been modified! which you can't even tell which file it actually was :) |4| here is no. 4: in document properties window, instead of showing the template title, the actual filename and location should also be displayed... the latter displayed as a hyperlink... without this, you have no idea what template file your document is based on! okay: write down the template name, go to templates, find the one, open it, and read the file name in the title bar, in the application's top... and that's your file.... |5| "paths" in the application (program) preferences, should be handled differently: when deleting a directory, it should be clear that you don't delete the contents.... and perhaps a "move everything here" option could do order :) among the buttons on the right side... so, one of the directories would become THE directory... that the program displays the internal paths is a good and a bad thing at the same time... perhaps a link "how this actually works" to a help page would be better... |6| importing templates should be, I believe, rethought... placing a file (by paste) in the template directory should equal to importing it whereas deleting should bring about a "missing template file" indication in the template window... I mean, the template should be there still, but with red outlines whatsoever... indicating: template's file has been removed -- and the path and file name... |7| I almost forgot, in the template window, the template files "behind" the template titles should be visible / accessible please bear in mind that this is NOT A BUG REPORT... but an enhancement suggestion :) - - - thank you for developing Writer - - -
Peter, thank you for your suggestions. I would like to give some hints for bug reports. 1. If yu suggests an enhancement that is relevant for UI, please add needsUXEval as keyword and add desing-team in cc (libreoffice-ux-advise@lists.freedesktop.org) 2. Try to reduce your report to one single issue 3. Try to give a title, that includes a request ("template names" doesn't) 4. Try to provide steps in a short and condrete way so that somebody else can see the need for enhancement very quickly. Than you.
(In reply to Dieter from comment #1) > 2. Try to reduce your report to one single issue Do you have an executive summary, Peter?