Note

This page has fallen into disuse. New information about future ideas for labyrinth can be found on the Labyrinth Google Code page

Ideas

This page will describe ideas / suggestions for the Labyrinth Mind-mapping program. Feel free to add you're requested features below.

This page will also serve as an overview of potential interface changes to make things more intuative / easier to use.

If you want to take part of the shaping of the future (at least the future of this project) then please join us in our discussions or have a look at the code itself. If you just want to make suggestions, but don't want to sign up to the mailing list, please feel free to add ideas here or by sending an email to the list (moderated)

Short term GUI ideas

• Drop the edit/move mode. Edit a node when left clicked, move it when middle clicked.
  • (Middle click/drag is rather awkward with those mice with a combined middle button and scroll wheel)

    • AndreasSliwka: Ok, what about having [Ctrl]+[left-click] as fallback?

  • Why should we use a middle click button? I mean, why not just have ONE button, the left button. Clicking edits, and dragging moves. This is possible right? I find myself constantly trying to move the nodes around while I am in edit mode kiddo

  • DonScorgie: The different modes suck. They were put in so I could test various things. Most of the problems with removing it and using "clicking edits, dragging moves" is that the current way of creating a new thought is to drag (in edit mode) from the thought to a new location. This makes it easy to create new children of different thoughts. Don't know how much this is used though. I'd suggest leaving this goal until all the major architectural features are in place.

• Make links selectable. a selected link might react to the following commands
  • right mouse button pops up context menu with strengthen, weaken, delete, color etc
  • plus and minus key to strengthen/weaken the link

• As an run time option: A StatusIcon like Gaims that keeps the application that toggles the visibility of the main window and thus keeps it only a click away.

  • I am against this idea. Why would be the use of the tray icon? Would it really be needed? The less icons present in the tray, the better; I'm basing my thoughts on this HIG section, which says that the utility of the notification area decreases as more and more icons use it. Actually, it is a notification area. It should not be used "just for the fun of sitting the application in a tray". kiddo

    • The usage of icons in the notification area is not very consistent, for example liferea uses it for quick access to some commands and to toggle the main window - just what I want for labyrinth. AndreasSliwka

      • kiddo: Liferea does not have this behavior as default for me. I saw an option for it in the preferences, it is not activated as default, for a reason As Labyrinth's tray icon would not be used for notifying the user (of changes), I believe it should not use a tray icon as default. Maybe add that as a preference, or add the capacity (not necessity!) of using labyrinth as a panel applet. I re-read the guidelines just to be sure, here are some parts that I find relevant. Of course, the choice is yours, they are guidelines, not "universal rules", but I believe they are very coherent and rational. IMHO, they help a lot in making the desktop applications "behave with each other", that is, not fight every second for your attention. If every application out there had a tray icon (ex.: liferea as default, epiphany, firefox, openoffice as default, f-spot, gimp, etc, we would end up with the equivalent of the Windows Tray). Quotes:

        • Only core GNOME programs may perpetually display an icon in the status area.

        • Non-core programs for which a perpetual icon may be useful must default to not perpetually showing the icon. Users may select to enable a perpetual icon for the application as a preference.

        • You should probably write an applet instead of using the notification area if: clicking your notification area icon does anything other than opening a window directly associated with the icon, or there are icon-specific options on its context menu for doing anything other than that

      • AndreasSliwka: Ok, I changed the root entry of this to: As an run time option: A StatusIcon like ...

• let [Ctrl]+[Enter] create a new node with the same parent (eh, linking to the same node) as the current one and place it a bit below the current one. This would make it easy to add a few sub nodes to an existing one, just keep typing.

  • DonScorgie: This requires a placement algorithm

• Undo/redo capacity. We are human after all kiddo

  • Yep. On the cards. Once text rework is complete

• Use stock toolbar buttons whenever possible (better translation, better look, etc), avoid text-only buttons, prefer horizontal toolbars (map list window, I'm looking at you!) kiddo

• Remember the size of windows kiddo

  • DonScorgie: All the maps remember their window size, location and (in current development series) their maximised state

    • Good to know. I was thinking especially of the map list too, though I am on the 0.2 version and did not test if you fixed that already. kiddo

• Standart shortcuts such as ctrl-W (close the current mind map) and ctrl-Q (quit Labyrinth) should be available kiddo

  • DonScorgie: ctrl+W closes the current window already

• Allow importing/exporting mind maps ".map" files, bind the ".map" mimetype to labyrinth. Otherwise, the user has to guess that stuff is located in ~/.gnome2/labyrinth which is not convenient to access anyway kiddo

  • DonScorgie: Exporting should provide 2 options:

    • Include all images. Effectively produce a tarball. Alter image location in map to display properly when unpacked
    • (If no images are used in map, this is the only option) export as XML (the .map file)

• The "New" button is already present in the "mind map list" window, it does not need to be present in the "current main map" window. It is redundant, takes space, and it is not directly related to the current task at hand (the mind map). kiddo

• Statusbar for displaying small tips to the user (look at inkscape: they have some VERY useful techniques to make you learn: they display what actions you can do when you put your mouse over some object or press a certain key. This should be used. It is better than looking through documentation) kiddo

• Considering the current amount of items in the "current mind map" window's menu, I think you should get rid of that menu. It does not provide more functionality because it is already done by the toolbar. About should be in the "mind map list" window, not in every "current mind map" window as it is not relevant to the task. kiddo

  • DonScorgie: The menu is required for (e.g.) cut / copy / undo / redo. Quoth the HIG: "All functions that appear on your toolbars must also accessible via the main menu bar"

    • Indeed, my bad :] kiddo

• The "delete selected thoughts" menu item seems ambiguous to me: I could not figure out how to select multiple items for deletion, and using that button does not delete immediately the current item. Highly confusing. Besides, it could be available as a toolbar button. kiddo

  • DonScorgie: Currently, selecting multiple thoughts isn't available. It will be soon though (another item on the list

Long term GUI Ideas

• Ask someone with the HIG Team on an "educated" opinion on what is intuitive and what isn't.

  • DonScorgie: This is a 1.0 goal. A full review (preferably with the HIG team) is a requirement. Until then, the interface should be considered unstable - if you want to play around with it, please do.

• Make a diagram "pivot" around a selected node. A very intelligent algorythm then would rearrange the nodes so that links dont overlap, a minimum space between unlinked and a maximum space between linked nodes is guaranteed etc.

• Why make pivoting or automatic organization a feature; why not make the default mode, or at least a mode. I doubleclick the first word to edit (as is usual), then press ctrl-enter for a linebreak and finally enter to finish editing. The box stays selected, and when I now start typing text it creates a new default box with the text. I end with enter again but the selection stays on the first box. I then just start typing again and a second child-box to the first appears, etc. I create 8 childs for the first box, and the software nicely and evenly places them in a circle around the first box, like a bit like a flower maybe? Then I choose one of the flower's petals by single-clicking and start typing random thoughts, and this time it creates a child node to the petal node. As these child nodes start gathering around the petal, the other petals make way a bit. Easy and simple for the user, maybe not for you. When I create a connection with petal X and petal Y's child node A, it flips petal X next to petal Y in the flower, ceteris paribus, which makes the connection clear and short. This is really the most simple and intuitive way a mind-mapping software should work. This is how labyrinth should work. All the autoreisizing and pretty shuffling and cleaning up of the mind map is optional, but at least being able to start just whamming things in there would be great.

• Bring a bit of wikiism into the mind mapping by enabling nodes that have the same name as a map to open up that map when activated.
  • Maybe even drop the main list of maps in the main window and have a meta map which contains only nodes that autocreate similar named maps.

  • DonScorgie: The map browser (or similar functionality) will / should always be available. The MMapArea's are not accessible. An accessible view will be created at some point, but the user should always have access to a browser type window in the first instance.

  • DonScorgie: A metamap would be a nice addition though. Similarly with tomboy notes

• Let certain links be dropped into nodes. such a node would have an small graphic button that jumps to the link, showing the image, opening the file or whatever

1.0 Roadmap

These are a checklist of features that will be in 1.0. This does not represent all the features, but once these are in place and sufficiently tested, a 1.0 release will be made.

• New, better, shinier icon - Completed in 0.3

• Import from (at least) kdissert and freemind
• Export to (at least) png and XML format (include images in tarball style?)
  • png export sort-of works in 0.3
• Printing support for maps - includes ps export
• UI review. Better interface. HIG compliance
• Documentation
• Full i18n support
• Theme support
• "A11y" view - treeview of thoughts and links

• → Selection of multiple thoughts - Completed in 0.3

• "Background"ing of areas. Add a coloured background around different areas of maps

• → Extended text for all thoughts - Completed in 0.3

• Set icons on thoughts
• Hide / show thoughts
• Infinite canvas
• Move and group multiple thoughts
  • Moving of multiple thoughts available in 0.3. Grouping is included in the "Background"ing goal above
• More clear primary thought / current root
• Thought background colour changing
• Popup menus everywhere
• Keyboard navigation of thoughts
• Autoadd new thoughts (Possibly)
• Selection of links - allow intuitive deletion / editing of links
  • Link colours

Text Thoughts

• → Selection of chunks of text - Completed in 0.3

• Different font sizes
• Different font colours
• Different fonts
• Default to using current theme fonts

• → Copy text to clipboard / paste text from clipboard - Completed in 0.3

Image Thoughts

• Ability to change images

Drawing Thoughts

• Eraser mode
  • Work began in 0.3. Eraser mode available using the ctrl key while drawing
• Different pen widths
• Different colours