Hi there! Over time Libreoffice grew and grew ... now I think it would be nice to have some kind of "simplified" (reduced features/options/menu items) version of Libreoffice - like "novice" and "full armed" versions to make it easier for new users to use LO and switch to a richer feature/menu set/tree when becoming more familiar. I don't use LO every day so I'm often lost in the menu-tree-jungle. Gregor
Don't really see a way forward with this. There is just no feasible way to "dumb down" the LibreOffice soffice.bin which runs monolithically to provide for interoperation of the modules specific to each ODF document type. Potential for some simplification with a MUFFIN Glade UI assemblage, e.g. issues like bug 128349 or bug 37817 for specific use, but the underlaying framework is just not able to be reduced. Otherwise, the On-line/locally installed Help, published documentation, and the projects ask.libreoffice.org provide ample support to get over any learning curve to become productive with LibreOffice. IMHO => WF
I remember a similar request but cannot find it. Or just word of mouth from Dennis? Essentially you can this simplified UI yourself (and share with the community). Customize the menus/toolbars etc. to the bare minimum for the document scope, and save it as a template. Works only for the classic UI. I agree with Stuart on WF, ie. to ship a simplified UI.
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #2) > I remember a similar request but cannot find it. Or just word of mouth from > Dennis? Word of mouth & marketing-telegram group. :-) Thanks for CC'ing. (In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #1) > Don't really see a way forward with this. Why? :-) (In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #1) > There is just no feasible way to "dumb down" the LibreOffice soffice.bin > which runs monolithically to provide for interoperation of the modules > specific to each ODF document type. We talk about the GUI, not about a stripped-down version of the code. Something like an advance and a basic mode for the GUI. And this is possible, see this: http://web.archive.org/web/20220304220910/https://primtux.fr/libreoffice-des-ecoles/ (In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #1) > Otherwise, the On-line/locally installed Help, published documentation, and > the projects ask.libreoffice.org provide ample support to get over any > learning curve to become productive with LibreOffice. This won't help my parents, who are unable to use styles and use Writer more as a classic typewriter. Simply get some reduced GUI like having some WordPad / TextEdit but using real format standards. > IMHO => WF IMHO => CONFIRMED
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #2) > Essentially you can this simplified UI yourself (and share with the > community). I might. My parents not. > Customize the menus/toolbars etc. to the bare minimum for the > document scope, and save it as a template. > Works only for the classic UI. this is ok. > I agree with Stuart on WF, ie. to ship a simplified UI. Yeah, but no easy switching between these "modes" is integrated. No dialog on first run which is the preferred GUI is missing.
If I understand it correctly, this can be achieved via extensions, which would change the menus, toolbars and shortcuts. To make it simple, we could have a toolbar and menus that mimic something like Google Docs.
We discussed the topic in the design meeting. Some dislike the idea of getting more simple and closer to text editor and we should rather educate users to do proper text/document formatting. Other believe it's not simplifying towards text editors but rather to focus on less features, Wordpad or GDocs comes in mind. To do so we need to completely remove access to advanced functions. Pretty easy to do. Once the XML are updated, the C++-challenge is to add these as a UI variant.
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #6) > Some dislike the idea of getting more simple and closer to text editor and > we should rather educate users to do proper text/document formatting. Other > believe it's not simplifying towards text editors but rather to focus on > less features, Wordpad or GDocs comes in mind. This feels like the existing "Single toolbar" interface variant. What needs to be done is the reduction in the menu commands. This makes me wonder whether we should separate the UI variant from the "menu selection" variant. What it we added the following options to the View - User Interface dialog: Menubar presets [ ] Use full menubar [ ] Simplified menubar This way, the user may combine the simplified menu entries with any other UI variant such as the Tabbed UI or the Tabbed Compact.
(In reply to Rafael Lima from comment #7) > (In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #6) > > Some dislike the idea of getting more simple and closer to text editor and > > we should rather educate users to do proper text/document formatting. Other > > believe it's not simplifying towards text editors but rather to focus on > > less features, Wordpad or GDocs comes in mind. > > This feels like the existing "Single toolbar" interface variant. What needs > to be done is the reduction in the menu commands. Note also that there is work by Maxim to replace Single toolbar with Contextual single, but it was never finished.
(In reply to Rafael Lima from comment #7) > This makes me wonder whether we should separate the UI variant from the > "menu selection" variant. The current MUFFIN implementation is the entire UI including main menu, toolbar, and sidebar visibility. I see little benefit from fine-tuning the chooser as it makes the interaction more complex. The ability to toggle UI elements on/off in the MUFFIN variants is efficient, IMO. And I see the single toolbar not on the same page with a (extremely) simplified UI. Well, it could supersede it, of course. But Stuart always advertised this variant.