updated: new screenshot with fewer layout and colour issues; you can also see the link hover effect =)
the original art is all svg, unfortunately QSvgRenderer doesn't render it properly. i need to file some task tracker issues against it. once those things are fixed, i'll look into replacing the current handful of pngs + html with a proper class that takes a QPainter and draws it right out of the svg. then we'll get much nicer textures and what not which are all in the source svg but which don't translate out into bitmap format well, such as full height arcs (they need to be stretched to the right size; fine for vectors, not for bitmaps)
anyways, you can see from the above how it is coming along. needs a bit more colour and contrast in the header, i think; again, something that isn't an issue with the svg since it has nice arcs and swoops subtly snuggled into the background ... what to do with the bitmap version is beyond me, but that's why we have people like Nuno and Lee around to tell my sorry ass what to do. ;)
20 comments:
That looks like it'll end up just amazing!
It looks great already.
Btw, I went to the screener for Disney's new movie Enchanted, if you wanna have a good laugh you should go watch it with P.
That looks excellent Aaron, though if I could make one suggestion why not completely center the starting point icons rather than pressing it up against the top of the frame?
@javier: thanks for the heads up on Enchanted; i'll definitely take P to it =)
@blair: that's one of the many issues in that screenshot. the content icons are now more spaced out and better aligned, the header text is aligned with the edges of the contenxt box, the globe picture is gone as it just doesn't work properly without it being able to freely resize, the bottom scrollbar is gone .......
you can see the improvements made since i finished dinner here: here
Good work, it's looking nice! Have you checked what it looks like without the black box in the background? I thought the KDE 3.5 start page was too attention grabbing with too much going on. This one looks a lot better, and taking away the background globe was an improvement in my eyes, but it still seems like there's a little too much going on.
Aaron, As dolphin is the default file manager, it's a bit confusing if the first thing konqi is, is a...file manager! As of KDE4 konqueror is first and foremost a web browser, so that has got to be named first at least, wouldn't you agree?
Beautiful :)
The gray part looks like a plasmoid. Is it one ? It has the same svg for borders, and I read in the commit-digest that it's now possible to embed plasmoid on khtml...
For consistency it could be a good idea isn't it ? (same color scheme as the plasma desktop, unlike the allways-blue-3.x version)
dude, it looks amazing!!
but i also tend to agree that maybe more emphasys to web browsing would be good, don't know if it would be possible, but maybe making that start page dependent from the profile?
"so that has got to be named first at least, wouldn't you agree?"
yes, i do. i've now changed that. thanks =)
@shamaz: "The gray part looks like a plasmoid. Is it one ?"
no. at least not yet ;)
"For consistency it could be a good idea isn't it ?"
yes, but it won't happen before kde 4.1. i plan on converting the about page to an actual widget so all kinds of things will be possible then.
"As dolphin is the default file manager, it's a bit confusing if the first thing konqi is, is a...file manager!"
Just another setting I've to change with a new install, who got this Dolphin idea ffs?
I find it somewhat scary to think of an improved Konqueror. It's my most used app already and the best program I can think of.
This is good, very good looking, but definitely TOO BOLD. I saw a previous proposal in a link (that can't find right now) of Nuno where the text was much subtler and the result was really elegant. Please, make it a little smaller and elegant ;-)
I know it has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but yesterday I noticed that the whole library of the Technical University Munich uses Linux/KDE for their client computers. Just thought it might be interesting for you, as you're often blogging about where you discover KDE-computers ;-).
The more I see of kde4 and its layout, ideas, artwork and 'under the hood' structure the more I feel like shouting of excitement. It looks so god damn good!
Thank you Aaron and all of the kde community for taking the time it takes to get this in shape and make it a reality.
Has python and writing plasmoids become a reality yet?
Really I found it pretty and an improvement visually over what we used, but also, as some other comments has been made, I think that this default page have to be rethinked because when I start Konqueror in the menu it is announced as a web browser and it's welcome page tells me that's also a file manager, a network share browser, and also can be used as an application menu launcher and control panel settings launcher, but those things aren't what I wanted to do when I launch a web browser, for the other things there is Dolphin already or Konqueror in filemanagement mode.
I say that because right now in the kickoff menu there are two Konqueror items, one as a web browser and another as a filemanager. But in KDE4 Dolphin is presented as the default filemanager and Konqueror as an advanced filemanager.
So when I launch Konqueror as a web browser I think it's welcome page should be more focused on it's web browser features rather than the other features which I don't plan to use when I want to surf the web.
For example, the Flock web browser has a "My world" welcome page, and I don't think that this case it is applicable in Konqueror, but that welcome page should be more focused on what I am planning to do, for example, a search area where I can select different search engines for searching different things, a couple of links of my most visited webpages, the previous ones which I have visited, my favourite bookmarks, even to be able to put my prefered rss there, because when I run Konqueror as a web browser I am most supposed to surf the web and visit those pages.
I like how it tells that konqueror is more than just a browser. We cant hide all possibilities from applications what we afraid to be "confusing new users".
Those who dont like to use konqueror as filemanager, dont use it by default. But those who ain't happy for dolphin by default, can find that konqueror is filemanager too.
Let's not make KDE as Gnome/Windows/MacOSX where information is hide. Information is not bad for usability so long it is informative and not just stack of information.
But i would agree too to move browser text front of filemanager text and then almoust leave it how it is now.
Question too, how does this new background work with different color scheme? I like to keep UI as middle gray or gray (127,127,127 or 63,63,63) to keep screen better for graphic design and it's not nice when current background dont allow change that blue to gray. How about this?
very nice
keep up the great work
I preferred the wasy it looked with the globe on the background, but I guess it has to leave or functionality's sake. Maybe I'll add it in my pc once the page is a plasmoid ;)
@Javier: yeah, i liked the globe too .. unfortunately until i can freely resize it, it doesn't work. so when i can use the SVG sources for it directly, i'll definitely add it back =))
One thing I'd like Konqueror (or Dolphin) to offer the user, is the possibility of filtering/searching the content of the current folder.
Much like what is present right now in other KDE apps. like Kontact, Amarok, etc.
Would that be possible in KDE 4?
thx!
Well, it looks very similar to the kde3 konqueror welcome page... but:
1) the globe looks blurred, is it normal?
2) the globe itself should be bigger: right now it is quite as big as the
other icons in the page
3) maybe, a watermarked version of the globe can be used as the page background
4) the white line below "conquer your desktop", and the white area round
"konqueror is your file manager... specifications", are glitches?
5) vertical space is managed very poorly: there is too much space above the central area, which should be moved upwards
6) there are too many font faces used at the same time: the overall impression is bad. there is too much text in a big font (14+), which can be easily avoided: just use the default font size, but change its color (or use *sensibly* a bold font). the explanatory text next to each starting point can be in plain roman font (not italics), just in a smaller size, etc.
7) why does the central area cast *two* shadows? one is enough ;-)
8) the url in the status bar shouldn't be hidden, or replaced by a proper text like "Starting Points"?
9) the dark grey of the central area is very similar to the "Home" icon's border and to the "next" right arrow... and it is a terrible choice for the central area, which should be full of life and colors!
10) the "K" loader in the up-right corner should be better aligned
to the right. more, it too small to be a useful "loader". it would be better to put it, for instance, at the same place of the favicon and add some transition effect between the "loading" of the page and the favicon when loading is complete (or something like that)
11) the maximize/minimize/close buttons should be all together, and at the same side of the window decoration. they're big enough, an user won't accidentally make a wrong click (and if it does so and has many tabs opened, the confermation popup will appear)
12) the white theme just doesn't make it. there is NO clear distinction between application "border" (toolbars, menus, statusbar, etc.) and application "content". this is WRONG. moreover, it is TASTELESS. we need PASSION, WARMTH, and white is not the good choice. (and the orange for the selected textbox too).
:-)
It looks good but as I was looking over that screenshot it occurred to me that the default font was still the same. Call me pedantic but I think it would be nice to freshen up KDE with a new default font. Opinions ?
Post a Comment