[Pan-users] Re: Idea for a "reply to author" icon in toolbar ?

[Duncan]

Frederic Bezies <address@hidden>
posted address@hidden, excerpted below, on  Wed, 23 Aug 2006
07:06:32 +0200:

> I had posted a bug relating to "reply to author" icon which is the twin
> of "reply to newsgroup" one.
> 
> http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=352014
> 
> In order to avoid problems while replying, I am searching for a new
> icon, but as I am the worst artist on earth... ;)

Quoting the on-bug comment I just made...

OK, I recognize this could be controversial, but my thought would be to
keep reply to author as a menu item, but not put it on the icon bar at
all.  The message being replied to is on a newsgroup, so the
encouraged/default reply target should be /to/ the newsgroup.  Replying to
author should be possible, but not encouraged, thus, menu, but not icon
bar.  Problem solved! =8^)

Additional thoughts/observations on usage...

Here, I always reply (to group) using the keyboard accel function (f for
followup) anyway, never the icon or menu entry.  That's unambiguous, and
since I'll be using the keyboard immediately anyway, to compose the reply,
it makes sense.  In fact, that's been so long habit-coded into my muscle
memory from the old-pan, and I use news so much more than mail, that I
very quickly reassigned the keyboard accels in kmail such that "f for
followup" works there as well, when I first set it up some years ago
(early 2002-ish IIRC).  That shortcut had already been embedded into
muscle-memory by use of pan, even then.

Where I use the icon (download new headers in subscribed groups and the
view only unread toggle, both of which I use frequently and have a
customized accel for now, but which lacked accels previously so I got in
the habit of clicking the icon), it's as much by position as by icon.  The
closed envelope (new post) icon isn't that much different either, but
there are three in a row, and were I to use them frequently, I'd find the
one I wanted by position among the three.  Where I don't use icons
frequently enough to know that, I hover long enough to get the popup,
confirming it's what I want to do, before I click.

Also, note that the compose window that pops up has both newsgroup and
mail address fields.  Since followup to group is my default and most used
option by FAR, any time I'm doing /other/ than that, I just followup, then
make the changes first thing in the compose window.  (Make the changes
BEFORE entering the possibly private reply, so you don't forget. =8^) 
Thus, as long as the address line is there and if used, hands off to the
mail client, /both/ the reply to author menu entry and icon could be
removed, from my perspective.  While I'd agree that's going a bit far, IMO
removing just the icon, leaving only the menu entry, seems perfectly
reasonable, even desirable given that it encourages use of the newsgroups
by default.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman