Created attachment 105093 [details] where the empty space is found in the sidebar I'd like to suggest that large icons be used in the sidebar, as there isnt any space limitation like is found in the toolbars. The sidebar also has quite a bit of empty space which large icons could easily fill (see attached file). It should also be noted that the tab icons are large, the 'Page' section of the properties tab uses large icons, and the view buttons in the gallery tab are large. This bug touches on bug 66876, which states that setting the icon size to large in options doesnt effect the sidebar.
It's true that the Properties panel COULD fit large icons, but also keep in mind that the panel needs to fit a large number of commands, with the goal being for it to replace dialogs. I would therefore rather keep small icons -- they're more suitable for this purpose. Also, white space is a good thing -- it visually separates elements and brings order.
Agreed with Mirek on the white space, IMHO it helps to reduce the visual clutter. And the number of available commands is only increasing, multiple sidebar screens are available and all of these would need tweaks... LibreOffice should work in small screens as well (such as netbooks).
(In reply to comment #1) > It's true that the Properties panel COULD fit large icons, but also keep in > mind that the panel needs to fit a large number of commands, with the goal > being for it to replace dialogs. I would therefore rather keep small icons > -- they're more suitable for this purpose. I think that it will be impossible to fit everything found in the dialogs into the sidebar and the best we can do is add as many features that are used on a regular basis to it. Taking the character section of the properties panel as an example, you can only fit another 4 small icons in it and maintain an acceptable amount of white space. And i can easily name a few icons that should be added to the section that were part of my toolbar proposal - double underline, outline, overline, embossed. I guess group buttons will come in handy here so that the space doesnt get to cramped, but even with these few additions from the character dialog's font effects tab, there are still settings in the font, position, and borders tabs that will be missing from this section. > Also, white space is a good thing -- it visually separates elements and > brings order. I dont disagree with this point that spacing is a good thing, the point was that spacing would still be there with large icons. (In reply to comment #2) > LibreOffice should work in small screens as well (such as netbooks). Users with limited screen sizes like netbooks of 1024x600 or even old 4:3 resolutions like 1024x768, will likely not use the sidebar because it take up to much space. And with more things going to be added to the properties panel, like the style drop down menu, this makes it less likely they will use it as they would constantly need to scroll up and down just to get the basic functionality found in the properties panel. Will attach a mockup of how the panel looks on my son's netbook running Linux Mint.
Created attachment 105107 [details] libreoffice mockup using my son's netbook
This was implemented. https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/#/c/26362/