Recent-documents docklet should use its own icon and not that of the most recent document

FWIW, I agree that it needs a static icon, or at least the option to set a static icon.

i find the changing icons stylish and useful, especially scrolling through them.

Stylish they are, but how are they useful?

I watch a lot of movies and shows, so i can see the previews nice and big. I also make web sites and having a preview of image0011.png, image0012.png image0014.png at 50px is useful.

If an odd recent icon confuses you, try putting the recent documents docklet someplace more obvious? just a thought. mine is between trash and mounter docklets on a left-pane dock, so i know there's no way an app launcher could sneak its way there.

I dont find it one bit confusing. Similar to Augias I have mine sandwiched between 2 very static groups of docklets so there is no way I can be confused. I dont know that having the item's icon there is 'helpful' or not though. To be honest I dont even use the docklet at all...

@Daniel: If you are insisting on a static icon, you should KNOW that means YOU have to tell us what icon to use (or design and push one for us). Until then, the behavior will NOT be changed.

haha, I'm not *insisting* :p

But, I think it should be an option to "Show File Previews" or not.

Here's an interesting thought: What if it showed previews on hover and then went back to normal afterword? (that might be a cool behavior for all folders actually)

I actually do have an icon "folder-recent", but if you don't use elementary you won't have it. So with some selfishness, I would suggest using "folder-recent" with a fallback of "document-open-recent"

So those are my thoughts and I think I'll toss it to Chris :p

I was going to suggest "document-open-recent" too. So: +1.

@Robert, @augias: I do have mine in a very predictable position as well. I find the _unpredictable_ graphical representation confusing. Predictability is a key property of good user interfaces. This seems to be agreed-upon right now. Among the top hits for “user interface predictable”, Google has these:

“Predictability is a key factor in determining the overall usability of a user interface.” (http://emacspeak.sourceforge.net/raman/xf-book-accessibility/online-accessse2.html#x7-120001.2.6)

“A simple GUI that is predictable and consistent provides the ideal experience for the user.” (http://www.tometasoftware.com/graphical_user_interface_design.asp)

“Usability equals predictability.” (http://www.ixda.org/discuss.php?post=29451)

So I think you have two options. Either you say, we make the UI unpredictable with regard to the icon of the recent-documents docklet because this allows us to implement some very cool features. Which exactly, by the way? Or if you agree with the UI needing to be predictable, a static icon is the way to go.

FYI, I am the developer that plays devil's advocate. With that in mind...

"Predictability" is something that is determined based on a point of reference. You may call 'changing icons' unpredictable. Others however might look at as 'always showing the current document's icon' and thus, it is predictable.

Thus we have a third option: leave it as is and it will have a predictable icon.

A middle way could be to add the "document-open-recent" icon as an emblem to the icon of current recent file. Giving the icon a contant part would make the docklet more distinguishable.

Just a minor comment: it's not always desirable to show a thumbnail of
the latest file you've opened...

On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 10:34 AM, Rico Tzschichholz <email address hidden> wrote:
> A middle way could be to add the "document-open-recent" icon as an
> emblem to the icon of current recent file. Giving the icon a contant
> part would make the docklet more distinguishable.
>
> ** Attachment added: "recent_emblem.png"
>   http://launchpadlibrarian.net/38658459/recent_emblem.png
>
> --
> Recent-documents docklet should use its own icon and not that of the most recent document
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/514541
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to Docky.
>

Someone is viewing naughty things... :-D

Uhm, well, ehh... ;-)

On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 7:19 PM, Robert Dyer <email address hidden> wrote:
> Someone is viewing naughty things... :-D
>
> --
> Recent-documents docklet should use its own icon and not that of the most recent document
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/514541
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to Docky.
>

I've got maybe an other middle way idea:
 When the dock appears (if it was hidden) there is the Static Icon, but when you scroll on it, thumbnails appears. When the mouse leave the dock, the thumbnail is replaced by the static icon again.

Srry for my english, hope you understant what i wanted to explain :)

Thomas’s suggestion sounds really good.

Fixed in rev 1244.

Nice solution but the icon is really blurry. Where is it being pulled from? The active theme or an image file from the source package? If from active user theme; what's the icon name used so i can amend this?

I went with DanBunny's suggestion:

"I would suggest using "folder-recent" with a fallback of "document-open-recent"."

It's a very good idea, very beautiful with my theme :)

It would be even more great if when the dock is hidden the "folder-recent" icon come back.

Thx for your job :)

Docklets don't receive a 'dock was hidden' event. Besides, not all docks *hide*! This wouldn't make sense if your dock never hides. Also I am not a fan of the dock changing status just because it hid, you might accidentally hide it while working with it and it'd be annoying if it changed in that process.

What you see now is what you get. :-)

You are right

Thx again :)