Docky

A few amazing suggestions!

Asked by trusktr

A few suggestions:

1. If your holding down the mouse button, then touch the side of the screen, Docky should NOT unhide. This way, for example, if you are dragging a scrollbar that is at the edge of the screen on the right side, Docky won't pop out and cause unnecessary interference. If i happen to be stopped scrolling right where Docky is, i have to move the cursor out of the way and back just to re-hide Docky.

2. Another cool feature to add would be that if you are moving the mouse pointer and it grazes the side of the screen, Docky will NOT unhide unless the mouse pointer speed is low enough or stopped (similar to OSX's functionality). This is another way to minimize Docky's interference. Sometimes I'm reaching for the back button in my maximized browser at the top left of the screen and graze the edge of the screen on the way up and Docky pops out unnecessarily.

3. Add the ability to enable, tweak, or disable the above feature settings (and for as many others as possible too) in the "Docky Configuration" window. :)

4. Load the icon cache ahead of time (when Docky first unhides. and keep it loaded?) instead of when you are surfing through the icons. Sometimes, after not unhiding Docky for a small while, if you unhide Docky by touching the edge of the screen then moving your cursor around to make the icons zoom, the animation will be a little bit choppy because I guess it's loading the larger graphics or whatever it's doing. Have that loaded and keep it loaded so the animation is always smooth, or at least load it right before Docky unhides. It might take a split second longer for Docky to unhide, but it'll be hardly noticeable and the animations will always be smooth like OSX.

5. Again, the more setting you allow to be tweaked in "Docky Configuration", the better! :D

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Robert Dyer (psybers) said : 		#1

1. Ok but you hold the mouse and drag to drag icons onto the dock... so what you want is impossible.

2. Docky has an unhide delay, which is configurable via gconf. This is our solution to this problem.

3. As I said, gconf. These settings will never be in the settings dialog. We are working to actively REMOVE settings from that dialog.

4. We cache icons. Hiding does not affect that cache. You are just seeing lag due to the animations.

5. Again, the LESS the better. This is Docky. This isn't CairoDock. Less == better is our philosophy, so if that isn't your cup of tea you probably found the wrong dock.

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trusktr (trusktr) said : 		#2

1. I've never dragged an icon to the dock. I always right click existing icons after opening the program and click on "pin to dock" or similar.

2. I'll give this unhide delay configuration a try. The only problem is that you have to wait for the delay ALL the time. In OSX, there is no delay if you stop moving your mouse immediately. For example, if you move your pointer to the edge and stop there, the OSX dock pops out immediately. If you move to the edge but continue moving along the edge beyond a small speed thresh hold, then the OSX dock doesn't pop out, and it will never pop out so long as the mouse pointer is beyond a certain speed. OSX's will only pop out if the speed is low enough (very very convenient i think, and i don't even have an Apple comp!). If you add this functionality to Docky, then you can still drag icons to the dock easily. You just have to drag the icon to the edge of the screen and stop moving the pointer so Docky pops out, and there you go.

3. Why would you want to remove setings from the dialogue??? OSX has settings for practically everything in their dialog universal dialogue. I know we're not OSX, but settings are good to have. Why not have the most easily customizeable user experience? Not all Ubuntu users know the ins and outs of Linux, unfortunately. hehe.

4. Hmmm.. Well it's interesting because a first sweep across Docky lags a little, then after that there is no lag. THen if i let it hide, and unhide it again, it continues to be smooth. It only starts lagging if I let it be hidden long enough, perhaps like a minute or two. Then the next time i unhide Docky there is this small lag again.

5. I don't think that those settings add "more" to Docky. They are simple, but necessary settings. Extensions, plugins, etc.. that would be considered weighing it down. Anywho, i'm fine messing with these setting in a txt file or in gconf, but it might benefit users like my friend who's new to Linux on Ubuntu with Docky and is learning the ins and outs, so having these setting in the dialogue could be beneficial. But that's up to you guys!

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