In 2015, some members of the KDE community began a conversation about where KDE was heading and how it would get there. That conversation became the seed of what is now KDE Goals - a community initiative to help guide KDE's efforts around shared objectives.
As a new Windows to Linux Desktop user I ended up with loving KDE, but there are some pain points coming from Windows Explorer that I hope the Dolphin team can put some focus on:
Second suggestion, now that Virtual Desktops supports Per-Screen with 6.7 (Thanks for this feature KDE team.) Could we perhaps get Per-Virtual Desktop Panels and Widgets.
I would love to have completely different Virtual Desktops setups with panel/widgets.
You can have per-workspace desktop widgets ( But not panels ) when using Plasma Activities instead of virtual desktops.
Activities are a feature that allows creating separate workspace that group applications, dekstops and some settings together. So Virtual Desktops are used for organizing windows within an Activity while Activities are there to separate general workflows.
Theres a short introduction to them on Plasma Welcome dialog that opens when first logging into Plasma. It should also be available from the application menu.
Activity UX isnāt the best and itās currently missing some features, so you should try putting a feature request in bugs.kde.org to add separate panels to it. ( This used to be possible with now-abandoned Latte Dock KDE project back in Plasma 5 )
( BTW, the KDE Goals are about more general topics, like āProviding an appealing platform for application developersā or āIntroducing a cohesive UI/UX framework to KDEā. Only three of them are chosen per Akedemy. Individual feature requests like this should be reported on KDE bug tracker. )
Where can one submit or view ideas for the proposals? There are so many things in KDE that cause friction in my daily use.
Iāll just list some of them here:
Improve mounting and storage formatting in general. Iām aware that KDE has received money for improving network share mounting, but the entire process of storage formatting needs improvement. I know thereās a specific chain of tasks that need to be done to make a storage space usable. But KDE can teach that specific chain to the new users through a guided UX, like how the installers go through the different stages of configuring the installation. The stages could be in tabs like Create Backup > Format Device > Create File-system > Mounting Configurations.
Too much wasted space in the UI, especially in Settings. Thereās just too much space in the panels and the menus and buttons seem compressed into a small compartment. You could use all that extra space for info panels, previews, or just general spacing.
Better visual distinction of the Settings menu. On the note of Settings menu, Iād like to see more prominent distinction of categories. I do have a theme applied in the screenshot above, but itās not any better with default theme. I think itād help if the categories had coloured icons, but the settings under them had symbolic icons, but Iām not sure.
Let me customise the Login Screen. After switching to Plasma Login Manager, weāve found that itās not really that itās really limited in customisability, making it not fit in with the rest of the system if the user decides to apply custom themes. Previously, the SDDM themes offered the same range of customisation as the rest of the system. Now, I donāt know how to turn of blur in the login screen.
Prevent digital clock display from moving due to changing width. In lock screen and login screen, the digital clock display with seconds visible, the clock keeps moving because the width changes due to different character size of the digits. Monospace fonts fix that, but thatās not a solution.
Need better tooltips/explanation of the settings. I have two networks that I switch based on what Iām doing. But sometimes one of them isnāt available, so Iād prefer to auto-connect to the other one. I thought the setting option āConnect automatically with priorityā was the solution, but it only connects to the higher priority network and doesnāt switch if itās unavailable. The tooltip appears when hovering on the input box, and itās not quite clear what it does. Iām sure there are other settings like this that need better explanation for other users.
I absolutely love how far KDE has come, I got to experience it through using it. Iām excited about the unification of theming. But I think that KDE does need a UI refresh/redesign, especially regarding layouts. Iāve seen many posts in forums where usersā criticism about KDE looking outdated are met with questions asking for specifications, and those criticisms being ignored or shot down when users canāt answer those questions.
Those questions are expecting an average user to have knowledge and experience with UI/UX to find out specifically which elements look outdated. This is similar to asking a casual player how much damage should a weapon do, when they gave feedback that weapon doesnāt do enough damage against enemies. Players and users can detect bad design, even if they canāt specifically point out why theyāre bad. I hope this adds some perspective into what the users are trying to say when they complain about KDE looking outdated.
The goals process is really about setting high level focus. Itās not so much about implementing specific features or fixing specific bugs, especially it they canāt be connected together into a cohesive story.
āAnyone passionate about KDE and has a vision to share is welcome to submit a proposal.ā where? there is no link anywhere to a place for submissions
The link is there if you read the instructions. I donāt know for sure, but itās possible that the link being semi-hidden may be a way to ensure that people read the instructions! The process is not simple, after all.
Maybe itās a bad idea ^^ ā it could be good to have a āGoalā tag in the Brainstorm category. I think all ideas can lead to some high-level focus.
