[spiel2001]

Now that I've got the new information panel plugin code running and I'm adding all of the panels back in (recount, omen2, etc.) and keeping in mind the "extra space" problem on the minimap panel, I had a few ideas and thought I would run them past the nUI users to see what your feeling on the subject were.

First, in the existing version of nUI, the minimap button bag is available as a side bar in all but the raid and party mode panels. And, of course, the raid and party mode panels don't exist in the Beta 2 info panel list because unit frames now have their own dedicated panel. In the Beta 2, so far, the only panel that is "full size" is the combat log... the rest have (at least for now) got room for the button bag.

However, I was thinking... do we REALLY need to have the button bag on all the panels? Or would it be okay to only have the button bag on the minimap panel? In that case, I could put all of the buttons in the button bag (thus getting the zoom, tracking and world map buttons off the minimap) and it would provide a ton more room for those who have a lot of buttons... I've had more than one person complain the existing button bag doesn't hold enough buttons... so that would solve a couple of problems.

The down side is that you would have to switch to the minimap panel whenever you wanted to access a button. The up side is a much bigger button bag and more room on all of the rest of the panels. In a way, it kind of makes sense for the minimap buttons to only appear on the minimap panel and if I really think about it, I can't think of a minimap button I really need quick access to while I am in combat.

An alternative (which would have to wait until a later release to implement) would be to add a second smaller button bag that you could drag a handful of ciritical "I always need access to these minimap buttons" into that would always be on the right edge of every info panel (including the combat log)... this would make the info panel ever so slightly narrower, but would be a nice compromise.

On a similar note... if we eliminate the button bag from all panels, then I'm thinking I can get a bit more creative with the Omen, KLH and Recount panels (for starters).

For example: in the current version of nUI, when you select Omen2 or KLH and have Recount installed, it shows Recount when you are out of combat and switched to Omen or KLH while you are in combat to try and be efficient with the space... but you can never see both Recount and Omen at the same time. Likewise, you can't seem Omen or KLH to configure them when you aren't in combat, and that's a PITA, too.

My thought is this... if I have the entire panel available to me, then I can choose a panel version to install based on whether you have Recount and Omen (or Recount/KLH) installed or just one or the other. If you have just Recount or Omen installed, then I'll present a full sized info panel that contains just Omen or Recount. However, if you have both installed, then I'll present a split panel that shows Recount and Omen side by side.

The result would be that both the Recount and Omen bars would be a bit narrower than they are in the current version of nUI, but you would be able to see both at the same time in the new version. For that matter, if you had Omen, KLH and Recount installed, then I could give you three panels to choose from... Recount/Omen, Recount/KLH, Omen/KLH


I'm curious what folks think about these ideas... any screams of agony or jumps for joy or just, meh... who cares? ~smile~