OK, here's the deal. I'm making an IDE, and I love good looking UI. So of course the IDE needs the best. Now, I have all of these created, and themable, so it's just which one I should use.
Now, since the IDE is for Warcraft and Starcraft, the users would be you, so I want to know - what UI element do you prefer? Vote in the poll above. Here's some explanation:
The toolbars -- these are included in the .Net framework. I have written a deserializer that parses Xml and creates a renderer from the parsed Xml.
The application menu + toolbars - the application menu would bring the coolness of the ribbon (Application menu/quick access toolbar/custom form) along with the simplicity of toolbars.
The ribbon -- the ribbon is probably the best looking UI element, or might be, depending on the time I would use styling it. It is rather big on the screen, and a little bit more complex than the toolbar system, but has a lot of cool features.
There's some disadvantages to bear in mind too - the toolbar system and the application menu + toolbar system are for WinForms, and so is all my components (text editor, docking system, tab control, the whole Storm framework for those who know it), however the ribbon is for WPF. This means that I would have to rewrite all my components to be WPF compatible, and then it would take longer for the IDE to be released to the public.
For those of you who don't know what the different UI elements would look like, here's some screenshots of applications using them:
Toolbar system
Application menu + toolbar system (don't mind the white ribbon, only the top part of the UI)
Ribbon
My personal opinion is that the application menu + toolbar system is the best, as it provides a lot of functionality in very little space while looking good. A nice balance between the toolbar system and the ribbon. (Which it is a combination of, anyways) This is also what the next firefox version might use, so it'll make you more comfortable with it, I suppose. :thup:
I would be happy if you guys could vote fast, as I'm in a hurry of finishing my UI. Then I could go further on to the parser and the template system
Now, since the IDE is for Warcraft and Starcraft, the users would be you, so I want to know - what UI element do you prefer? Vote in the poll above. Here's some explanation:
The toolbars -- these are included in the .Net framework. I have written a deserializer that parses Xml and creates a renderer from the parsed Xml.
The application menu + toolbars - the application menu would bring the coolness of the ribbon (Application menu/quick access toolbar/custom form) along with the simplicity of toolbars.
The ribbon -- the ribbon is probably the best looking UI element, or might be, depending on the time I would use styling it. It is rather big on the screen, and a little bit more complex than the toolbar system, but has a lot of cool features.
There's some disadvantages to bear in mind too - the toolbar system and the application menu + toolbar system are for WinForms, and so is all my components (text editor, docking system, tab control, the whole Storm framework for those who know it), however the ribbon is for WPF. This means that I would have to rewrite all my components to be WPF compatible, and then it would take longer for the IDE to be released to the public.
For those of you who don't know what the different UI elements would look like, here's some screenshots of applications using them:
Toolbar system
Application menu + toolbar system (don't mind the white ribbon, only the top part of the UI)
Ribbon
My personal opinion is that the application menu + toolbar system is the best, as it provides a lot of functionality in very little space while looking good. A nice balance between the toolbar system and the ribbon. (Which it is a combination of, anyways) This is also what the next firefox version might use, so it'll make you more comfortable with it, I suppose. :thup:
I would be happy if you guys could vote fast, as I'm in a hurry of finishing my UI. Then I could go further on to the parser and the template system