Bug 86303 - STATUSBAR: Easy access to change to read only mode
Summary: STATUSBAR: Easy access to change to read only mode
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Writer (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
4.4.0.0.alpha2
Hardware: Other All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: Statusbar UNO-Command-New
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Reported: 2014-11-15 00:44 UTC by Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired)
Modified: 2017-11-22 23:23 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

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Description Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2014-11-15 00:44:34 UTC
The statusbar has 3 icons for changing the view of the document while in edit mode, so it would be good to have an icon that toggles read only mode as well.
Comment 1 Adolfo Jayme Barrientos 2014-11-15 06:17:42 UTC
Agreed. This way, the “Edit Mode” command can be removed from the Edit menu, which is too long already.
Comment 2 Cor Nouws 2014-11-15 14:58:13 UTC
@jay: hmm, wasn't this a button that is removed because it was not needed that much? Then now add it somewhere else?
This confuses me.

@Adolfo: I don't agree. The menu lets you use it fast with the key board short cuts. The status bar would ask for the use of the mouse.
Comment 3 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2014-11-15 16:04:03 UTC
(In reply to Cor Nouws from comment #2)
> @jay: hmm, wasn't this a button that is removed because it was not needed
> that much? Then now add it somewhere else?
> This confuses me.

Yes its not used enough to have it in the toolbars, especially when the toolbars should consist of frequently used features. But it is still useful to have it easy accessible in the interface without opening the menu, and we do have a section in the statusbar for ways to view the document. It is also in MS Word's statusbar. ;D

> @Adolfo: I don't agree. The menu lets you use it fast with the key board
> short cuts. The status bar would ask for the use of the mouse.

Yes it is useful to have it accessible in more than just one location (not everyone will notice the statusbar button, especially keyboard users) and for it to have a shortcut associated to it.
Comment 4 Adolfo Jayme Barrientos 2014-11-16 04:12:57 UTC
(In reply to Cor Nouws from comment #2)
> @Adolfo: I don't agree. The menu lets you use it fast with the key board
> short cuts. The status bar would ask for the use of the mouse.

Why do you think that a status bar icon can not have a keyboard shortcut? If it’s a technical reason, that can be solved.

(In reply to Jay Philips from comment #3)
> It is also in MS Word's statusbar. ;D

That’s not a good rationale by itself.
 
> Yes it is useful to have it accessible in more than just one location (not
> everyone will notice the statusbar button, especially keyboard users)

If you think that not everyone is going to notice the status bar button, then why add it in the first place? I think you’re contradicting yourself.
Comment 5 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2014-11-16 05:02:11 UTC
(In reply to Adolfo Jayme from comment #4)
> (In reply to Jay Philips from comment #3)
> > It is also in MS Word's statusbar. ;D
> 
> That’s not a good rationale by itself.

Its an added bonus to know that other competing office suites have done something similar.

> > Yes it is useful to have it accessible in more than just one location (not
> > everyone will notice the statusbar button, especially keyboard users)
> 
> If you think that not everyone is going to notice the status bar button,
> then why add it in the first place? I think you’re contradicting yourself.

I'm not contradicting myself. I am stating the obvious, that not everyone will notice it, just like not everyone noticed the 'Edit File' button in the toolbar. I may have incorrectly wrote that keyboard users wouldnt notice it, but what i meant was keyboard users wouldnt care that its in the statusbar, just like they wouldnt care that its in the Edit menu, as they will use the shortcut key anyway.
Comment 6 Jan Holesovsky 2015-12-11 14:34:30 UTC
Jay: Please is this bug still valid when we have the info bar with a button to make the document editable an easy way?
Comment 7 Cor Nouws 2015-12-12 14:30:22 UTC
just a note: saw an issue recently on the notification not being reachable by tab.
Comment 8 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2015-12-12 15:21:34 UTC
(In reply to Jan Holesovsky from comment #6)
> Jay: Please is this bug still valid when we have the info bar with a button
> to make the document editable an easy way?

Yes it is still valid as the info bar isnt related to switching a document from edit mode to read mode.
Comment 9 Robinson Tryon (qubit) 2016-08-25 05:39:16 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 10 Heiko Tietze 2017-11-14 13:03:22 UTC
Switching between edit mode on and off is not a function that needs to get exposed prominently. It's rarely used and actually I don't see the use case at all. But it definitely doesn't need to clutter the status bar just because there is space left. => WONTFIX
Comment 11 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2017-11-14 14:34:41 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #10)
> Switching between edit mode on and off is not a function that needs to get
> exposed prominently.

An icon in the statusbar is not a prominent exposing of the feature. It used to have a prominent place in the toolbar until i removed it in 4.4. 

> It's rarely used and actually I don't see the use case
> at all. But it definitely doesn't need to clutter the status bar just
> because there is space left. => WONTFIX

The users who regularly used it in the toolbar (i remember some LO dev mentioned they did) would likely disagree on how rarely it is used. Not sure how a toggle icon button in the statusbar is considered, when users want to add capslock status in the statusbar (bug 88296).
Comment 12 Heiko Tietze 2017-11-14 14:58:14 UTC
(In reply to Yousuf Philips (jay) from comment #11)
> Not sure how a toggle icon button in the statusbar is considered...

You had an info icon only in mind without any interaction? That's better, and in particular as an option acc. bug 113828.
Comment 13 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2017-11-14 17:42:40 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #12)
> You had an info icon only in mind without any interaction?

No i had a toggle icon button in mind.
Comment 14 csongor 2017-11-22 02:04:19 UTC
Some popular text/code editors like UltraEdit or PhpStorm, they also have a read-only _button_ in the status bar. I assume several other similar software also have one so it is quite obvious to have it there.

LO has a little red floppy-disk-like button in the status bar indicating that the document is not saved. I cannot see any benefit of that button because the disabled/enabled shade of the Save icon in the toolbar shows the same information. Even if the toolbar is turned off, an asterisk after the filename (Untitled *) could tell the same, which has been there in many applications since windows 3.1. (Not even mentioning that the double-click action on the button is quite unusual.)

I think a Read-only toggler would be much more beneficial than this Unsaved button.  

Anyway, in the long run, it would be the best if the user could configure what parts of the Status Bar they would like to see. If it is too congested then they can hide some buttons. 

So, in a long run this button wouldn't harm, I think, and it could improve the productivity of some. 

One more thought: the users, who really do need this button, they must be power users. Making _them_ more productive is something that would help a lot in popularising LO.
Comment 15 Heiko Tietze 2017-11-22 20:32:08 UTC
The design team discussed the proposal and supports the idea. The additional status bar entry should toggle the read/write mode, ideally not per single or double click but via context menu to avoid unintentional activation, and clearly show the document status.
Comment 16 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2017-11-22 23:23:02 UTC
Like other statusbar entries, not all users will want to have this in their statusbar, so hopefully they will be able to remove it if they dont like (bug 113828).