Development/NotebookBar

    From The Document Foundation Wiki

    Introduction

    This page describes the ongoing work of introducing a Notebookbar in LibreOffice.

    The goal is to provide an alternative (optional) interface which unifies all the different toolbars and groups them in tabs. It will allow more flexible layout than the toolbars, since Glade will be used to lay out the controls.

    The classic menu will probably be enabled by default in environments like Unity and macOS (global menu). In other environments there might be a switch to enable the classic menu.

    Development

    Some information about implementation can be found here

    Try it out

    NOTE: the Notebookbar is an experimental and optional feature, and NOT recommended for production use!

    Download LibreOffice from https://www.libreoffice.org/download/.

    Install and start it.

    Enable experimental features: in Tools ▸ Options... ▸ LibreOffice ▸ Advanced check Enable experimental features (may be unstable).

    To show the Notebookbar, select View ▸ Toolbar layout ▸ Notebookbar.

    Roadmap

    Done

    • Let each module define the tabs for the Notebook individually. Currently there is one huge file, where all tabs are defined.
    • Implemented a switcher between Toolbar/Notebookbar mode. Select View ▸ Toolbar layout...tdf#101249
    • Contextual tabs: Certain tabs should only appear in certain contexts (e.g. when a table is selected, we want to have a table tab)
    • Ability to have multiple toolbar implementations
    • Defined widget priorities. Container that hides/shrinks stuff when the screen size does not fit
    • Simple Theming
    • Extension Integration: Allow extensions to create their own tabs. See Development/NotebookBar/Extensions
    • Customization: Allow users to customize tabs, or add custom commands in a certain place

    Resources

    When designing the different tabs, the following resources can be taken into consideration:

    Relevant Bugs:

    Similar solution from Sencha ExtJS

    How PowerPoint 2013 utilizes both a top bar and a sidebar:

    Tabbed toolbars in Zoho Writer:

    Alternative UI Ideas