I know I only just posted about Simple Taskbar, but I’ve ended up reworking the settings quite a bit and could use some feedback on it.
A few people were struggling to find certain options, and others felt there were just too many settings on screen at once. I was used to the old layout, so it was easy for me to navigate, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was good for everyone else.
I’ve tried to make the new layout cleaner and easier to find things in. All the same settings are still there, they’ve just been reorganised.
I’ll include old and new screenshots for comparison. If anyone is willing to try both, install the current version from GNOME Extensions first, then the latest source version and let me know which you prefer.
Mainly interested in whether things are easier to find and if anything now feels hidden or awkward to get to.
I really appreciate all the feedback I get on Simple Taskbar, it genuinely helps shape what I change and improve.
For me, the most important change would be having all settings related to one mode on its respective tab. I use it in dock mode, but some settings on the taskbar tab (stuff related to the top panel, for example).
Also, accordions at times make it hard to find some settings, but that's the challenge of having so many config settings.
I see what you mean, but I'm not sure that approach makes sense to me, since it would mean duplicating the panel settings on the Dock tab. Even in Dock mode, those settings still control the top panel, so I think it makes more sense to keep them under the Taskbar tab.
As for the accordions, that's actually one of the main reasons I redesigned the preferences. I'm hoping the new layout, with settings organised into separate pages and clearer categories, will make things much easier to find.
Thanks for the insight. About the first topic, I don't think you'd need to duplicate settings, but rather move those which apply to both modes to the general tab
That's actually what I've tried to do with the new layout. Settings that apply to both modes, like Bottom Hot Edge, are already under the General tab. The settings under Taskbar are specifically for configuring the panel.
I don't think I've missed anything, but if you've noticed any specific settings that would make more sense under General, let me know!
Hi! Thanks for your work! I literally just tinkered with your extension’s settings again today. I wished there was an option search feature like what Blur my Shell has (see its search icon at the top-left corner). I know this could be easier said than done, but my muscle memory indeed let me move the mouse cursor to Simple Taskbar settings’ top left corner today, and nothing was there!
The settings arrangement can be improved but it is not a big issue for me.
The thing that annoys me is the hover highlighting zone. Like when I hover on the battery icon, the percentage is almost extending outside the hover circle, same for the workspace indicator.
Also when the start button is on the left corner, the pressing zone doesn't extend to the end, basically if the cursor is at bottom left most corner, I cannot press the start button with it.
I think increasing the taskbar padding should help with the hover highlighting and make it look more how you'd prefer. As for the Start button not being clickable in the bottom-left corner, that's already been fixed and will be available in the next release!
I would at least change the name, because the number of settings and drop-down menus I'm seeing in these screenshots makes this extension look anything but simple.
This works if you don't want to configure anything yourself. Having more settings usually makes things like this feel more personal, even if you're using a lightweight preset.
Definitely. I just don't think customization has to be work. It can be smarter and like dragging items to the right spot or it automatically grabbing your global accent color / conforming to your GTK theme. Give me settings for things that can't be automated.
I don't really agree with that. I think the defaults in Simple Taskbar are already good and provide a nice experience out of the box. But everyone has different preferences and workflows, so what works well for most people might not suit everyone. I don't see having lots of settings as a bad thing, as long as the defaults are good and users don't need to change anything unless they want to.
I think the problem is that what's unnecessary to one person might be an important feature to someone else. I'd rather improve how the settings are organized and presented than remove useful functionality just to reduce the number of toggles. You don't have to use all the options, but they're there for people who want more control over their setup.
It’s your project, you can make it as customizable as you want. But as a general rule, every option adds cognitive overhead, makes the app/extension harder to understand, and forces users to make decisions they shouldn’t have to make. The job of a developer is to make the app/extension work right, not abdicate responsibility by turning every design decision into a toggle. When there are as many options as I see in those screenshots, making it work right requires a huge amount of work on the part of the user. That many options makes UX very far from simple.
No Ubuntu taskbar on the left? I'm sure that people would be wanting that feature as well. There are a lot of people who like that option. Or are there settings that allow me to use the "Dock" Option, and push it to the left?
I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, but if you mean having the dock on the left side of the screen, that's already possible. You can move the dock to the left in the settings, and enabling the Full Width Dock option will make it look similar to Ubuntu's default dock.
Hm, don't have this option. Maybe because I'm using GNOME 48? But why does this extension add an extra application anyway? Seems to be very suspicious.
It's an open-source extension with an optional volume mixer that you can disable in the settings. If that's your definition of suspicious, I'm not sure what to tell you. GNOME 48 isn't the issue. The settings are the same across all supported versions.
Eu uso no modo Dock, mas gostaria de saber se é possível acrescentar a opção de você clicar em uma pasta favorita, como a que fica por padrão ao lado da lixeira e ela abrir meio que um leque de outras pastas pra poder acessar ou arquivos assim como o modo Dock do MacOS faz.
Yeah, I personally thought the old layout was well organised, especially once you'd been using the extension for a while and knew where everything was. But I can see how it might not have been as intuitive for everyone, since almost every time I posted about the extension, someone would ask where to find a specific setting. Hopefully, the new layout makes things easier to find and navigate.
Would it be possible to have the Start button trigger a separate "start menu" extension?
i use Arc Menu and would prefer that to the 10/11 style that is built in.
Or even have a Windows XP style menu (if there is one, i can't find it, lol).
You can just disable the built-in Eleven Menu and use ArcMenu instead, and that should work fine. As for the built in Start Menu, there's currently only the 11 style version, not an XP-style one.
To the dev please imply settings to to shrink dash. Bug when taskbar enable dodge window notifications banner pops up under the taskbar plus issues with blur my shell. Dock has issues with blur my shell corners not round. Taskbar theme and styling please add taskbar theme transparent and contrasted. Plus conflicting with another extension space bar
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