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[Locked] Weather: left-click on icon opens Weather.com in a browser [Bug #97]
Page : 1 2
Guest English 31 Guest [Read]
02 November 2011 à 22:34

Guest, Monday 27 September 2010 à 05:25

Sorry if this has been discussed before. I searched and didn't find anything about it.

When left-clicking on the Weather applet, instead of just bouncing and doing nothing, it should open the Weather.com webpage showing the forecast for the location specified in the applet setting.

fabounet, Monday 27 September 2010 à 10:48


Subscription date : 30 November 2007
Messages : 17118
When left-clicking on the Weather applet

it opens the subdock with the forecast for the following days.
we could add it in the menu, but I don't see the point since the applet tells you almost all what you need.

Guest, Monday 27 September 2010 à 18:13

fabounet :
When left-clicking on the Weather applet

it opens the subdock with the forecast for the following days.
we could add it in the menu, but I don't see the point since the applet tells you almost all what you need.


Hovering the mouse on the Weather applet opens the subdock. Left-clicking does nothing but bounce the icon. I thought it would be a normal response to open the Weather.com site already pointing to the specified location since it gets its data from that site anyway. When you left-click on the Weather applet, it means you want to see more details and more view options on a webpage that you just don't get from individual balloon popups. What I'm wondering is why not? I'm using ObjectDock in Windows and its weather applet's left-click response is not just a bouncing icon.

I was able to properly configure the Mail applet to check my Hotmail account and use 'chromium-browser mail.live.com/?rru=inbox' as the mail application. Left-clicking on the Mail applet opens up my browser and it goes straight to my Hotmail Inbox (unless I previously signed out). My reaction to that was: Amazing! How convenient! And with the Webmail Ad Blocker extension it's even better. I'm hoping the Weather applet will offer a similar left-click convenience.

Thanks for responding.

SQP, Monday 27 September 2010 à 18:43


Subscription date : 03 July 2010
Messages : 1081
The problem, is that there is an option that toggle the subdock only on left mouse click

I didn't pushed idea enough, but what I'd like to see for applets is a common settings with selectable action list for each events. Those without open subdock on click could be able to choose one more options than others.

Events are :
  • Left click : if available, some applets use subdocks, so left click could be reserved to open them if option is activate
  • Middle click
  • Double Click : could depend on left click action, but let the user decide
  • Drag & drop : most wont have, but some applets could provide different usefull actions

Weather won't have a lot of actions, but to start the list :
  • pop up informations (the one actually on middle click)
  • open weather.com page
  • refresh informations


would that please you ?
(you can see an example of actions list in the showDesktop applet)

taiebot65, Monday 27 September 2010 à 21:02


Subscription date : 26 October 2008
Messages : 1904
I do not wish that left click should allow you to open any web-browser to see the weather..
I would prefer an entry in the menu to have quick access to the webpage but sorry Firefox and any browser use far too much CPU and memory to just check the weather with a left click.

This might bring annoyance to people doing it by mistakes..

I would advice you to look at the weblet applet

Guest, Monday 27 September 2010 à 22:59

taiebot65 :
I do not wish that left click should allow you to open any web-browser to see the weather..
I would prefer an entry in the menu to have quick access to the webpage but sorry Firefox and any browser use far too much CPU and memory to just check the weather with a left click.

This might bring annoyance to people doing it by mistakes..

I would advice you to look at the weblet applet



Let me start by correcting what I said earlier about left-clicking the weather applet in ObjectDock, it is actually a double left-click so that pressing it twice means one has an intent to open the weather webpage. Double left-click also avoids conflict with some applets. This could be an option that is not set as default, it's up to the user's preference.

I still prefer single left-click so it is an action similar to the Mail applet. When you hover your mouse on the weather applet, the subdock appears almost instantly so why would one still left-click on this applet when the 5-day forecast is shown? It's because one wants something else to happen other than a cute bouncing icon. I don't mind using double-click if it means conforming to event rules.

The weather bubble info is a neat idea but a bit tedious to click on each icon. The weblet is more tedious to scroll a webpage and is redundant for weather purpose. The Weather.com webpage has the advantage of viewing the extended forecast on a single page. Does the weather applet show what time it's going to rain? Besides, it's one way of thanking TheWeatherChannel for providing weather data by driving traffic to their website. Of course I can just put Weather.com on my bookmark bar but it isn't as cool as clicking on the weather applet.

For me, the internet browser is the single most important component of the desktop. It is rare that I turn on my computer and not open my browser. I do not mind its cpu and memory usage even if just to check the weather. I use Chromium by the way. It opens and closes as fast as EOG.

taiebot65, Tuesday 28 September 2010 à 00:50


Subscription date : 26 October 2008
Messages : 1904
What i would like to know more is what information are missing from those 5 days. I do not think that we are improving the dock by using something else.

http://uppix.net/0/e/c/8f8f83aeebae6c4e02aa50ad70d7ett.jpg

Guest, Tuesday 28 September 2010 à 01:21

taiebot65 :
What i would like to know more is what information are missing from those 5 days. I do not think that we are improving the dock by using something else.


Can you tell by looking at your screenshot what time it's going to rain or snow?
Local Weather alerts?
Hourly, 10-day forecast?
Worded forecast details?
Radar maps?
etc. etc.

Have you seen the Weather.com site lately? They've redesigned it and it's fast loading.
Plus they are the source of the weather data.

I'm not talking about putting all this info on the weather applet. Just an option to open the Weather.com site to view detailed forecast for a specified location with a mouse click on the weather applet. Again, an option that may not be default but is set by the user.

SQP, Tuesday 28 September 2010 à 02:00


Subscription date : 03 July 2010
Messages : 1081
May I just promote my idea again : configurable actions so everybody can be happy (even me that would prefer the pop up on left click rather than middle, and won't say no to weather.com on middle click)

Guest, Tuesday 28 September 2010 à 02:54

SQP :
pop up on left click rather than middle, and won't say no to weather.com on middle click)


Now that's a great idea. Since left-click is used on the sub-icons, why not the same button for the main icon so its not confusing. The middle button for Weather.com and that should be permanent, not an option.

SQP, Tuesday 28 September 2010 à 10:23


Subscription date : 03 July 2010
Messages : 1081
The middle button for Weather.com and that should be permanent


I guess some won't agree, and that's why I think that a few select options won't hurt too much. They are really easy to use and allow everybody to get it's prefered behaviour (at least the one that suits him most with actions provided)

fabounet, Tuesday 28 September 2010 à 12:47


Subscription date : 30 November 2007
Messages : 17118
what we have now is:
left-click: open the sub-dock or nothing
middle-click: pops up current weather data
left-click: pops up the menu with a refresh action

so we could add it to the menu easily, in this way we could probably add it to the sub-icons too, to go directly to the page corresponding to the selected day.

Guest, Tuesday 28 September 2010 à 16:56

On second thought, I wouldn't want the middle-button for Weather.com. Many people do not realize the scroll-wheel is also the middle-button, and if they do know, usually never use it. One would not mistakenly middle-click on a Cairo applet icon unless one read the applet handbook that most people would likely miss. It isn't normally done on an icon. I sometimes forget the middle-click on the Trash applet but I'm getting the hang of it.

On a standard 3-button mouse, the most used button action are in the ff. order:
1. single left-click
2. double left-click
3. right-click
4. middle-click

May I suggest the ff. on the weather applet:

1. single left-click on main icon and sub-icon opens the popup info
let's be consistent on this even if it applies only for the weather applet

2. double left-click on main icon launches Weather.com webpage showing detailed forecast for specified location
double left-click on sub-icon launches Weather.com webpage showing forecast for a particular day of specified
location. ex. double-click on Wednesday sub-icon takes you to Wednesday's forecast on Weather.com
an option on the applet to enable/disable double left-click action

3. right-click shows the Menu (also includes Weather.com in the list)
4. middle-click refreshes weather data

The popup info seems to be at the top of the hierarchy of importance for the weather applet so it's assigned to the left-button. The weather applet offers a glancing view of the weather forecast besides being an eyecandy on the desktop. If we are serious about weather info, let's not neglect the source of weather data. Besides what was already mentioned earlier, does the applet show the Pollen count? Mosquito activity forecast? Are the mosquitoes biting in the evening? Sorry, I just had to throw that in since learning about it last night. Weather.com assigned to double left-click action with option to enable/disable. I don't see how people will get annoyed by opening a webpage that is rich with weather related info from the source of the weather applet's data. Assigning Weather.com to a button action lower than a double-left click just relegates its importance.

single left-click = popup quick info
double left-click = detailed forecast on Weather.com

fabounet, Wednesday 29 September 2010 à 14:16


Subscription date : 30 November 2007
Messages : 17118
ok, well since you know weather.com better than me, could you please provide me the adress of the page you wish for the nth day ?
as for double-click or middle-click, I find double-click a bit clumsy because if you don't click fast enough, you will have 2 single clicks.
anyway, I'm planning to add these features in both the menu and the mouse events, so that everybody is happy
Thanks !

SQP, Wednesday 29 September 2010 à 14:29


Subscription date : 03 July 2010
Messages : 1081
(Message added on the task #97)

Created task "add action open Weather.com in a browser"

Guest, Wednesday 29 September 2010 à 17:18

fabounet :
ok, well since you know weather.com better than me, could you please provide me the adress of the page you wish for the nth day ?
as for double-click or middle-click, I find double-click a bit clumsy because if you don't click fast enough, you will have 2 single clicks.
anyway, I'm planning to add these features in both the menu and the mouse events, so that everybody is happy
Thanks !


the nth day:
Here's what I did. I displayed the 10-day forecast at Weather.com. Looking at the links for each day, the current day is always '0'. Add 1 for each day to get the proper link for the nth day.
example:
Today is Wednesday:
Wed http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/10001?dayNum=0
Thu http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/10001?dayNum=1
Fri http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/10001?dayNum=2
Sat http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/10001?dayNum=3
Sun http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/10001?dayNum=4

Today is Thursday:
Thu http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/10001?dayNum=0
Fri http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/10001?dayNum=1
Sat http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/10001?dayNum=2
Sun http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/10001?dayNum=3
Mon http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail/10001?dayNum=4

The user doesn't necesarily have to double-click on each day in the sub-dock and open many tabs in the process. There is a drop-down list on the webpage to change the day displayed. These feature is just there to follow the logic that when a user double-clicks on a day sub-icon, the webpage shows up showing the forecast for the selected day.

As for double-click clumsiness, I tried doing this with ObjectDock and I don't find it clumsy at all. They seem to have perfected it. Their Clock and RecycleBin applets use a single left-click but they chose a double left click for their Weather applet and everything works like it should without mistakenly opening something twice. I think ObjectDock has a procedure in place to test for a double-click first before showing the icon animation and executing the assigned action for the applet. This procedure could be applet specific, only the ones that use a double-click has it. That's just my guess.

As for using the middle mouse button on the applets, I think it has a negative effect to touchpad users who don't know how to setup a touchpad to simulate a middle-click or maybe it's not possible at all. I for one don't know how to middle-click on a touchpad. The middle-click on the Trash applet is useless on touchpads that don't do middle-click.

Guest, Wednesday 29 September 2010 à 18:56

I'd like to make a follow up on my ObjectDock observation. Their RecycleBin applet opens Explorer window with a single-click. It still opens just one Explorer window with a double-click or triple-click or how many times one clicks. In comparison, the Cairo Trash applet will open two Nautilus with a double-click and three with a triple-click. I bet that most people would more likely press a double-click over a middle-click and that even some people would more likely press a double-click over a single-click. I suggest to add a procedure to monitor for double-clicks because most people are so accustomed to doing it. Make double-click work for Cairo not against it. This will prevent the clumsy response of opening multiple instances of windows or programs with multiple clicks.

SQP, Wednesday 29 September 2010 à 20:19


Subscription date : 03 July 2010
Messages : 1081
As windows taskbar shortcuts work that way for years, I guess that shouldn't hurt too many users.

When I double click my nautilus launcher, I have 2 new nautilus windows. Sounds logical to me. All dock actions are single click. Only a few applets get benefits from a (safe) double click. One example of good use I can show is the sound control : double click close the dialog from first click and opens the volume control program (I'd like the same for system monitor and netspeed).

But those applets don't have subdocks, so their left click is free. Double click for users with click opening, is open and close the subdock.
The main problem is we must give a consistant behaviour between the 2 modes (or a way to toggle/change actions). Here you can see the music player applet, with the two modes option (action show/hide player is missing in the right menu), or show desktop with selectable actions.
Still two applets without subdocks. As I don't use many of those, I encourage you looking how others work.

Yes, I also spent some time looking and thinking how they work and what can be done to improve. I started that work recently, and only got pushed minor things atm (like right menu standard in 2.2). More to come soon, and you're really welcomed to comment and suggest improvement ideas and work in progress. (tried to do them in english as often I could, but most have screens)

Just don't forget (like I also did at first, for the same reason) that "click to open subdock" option

Guest, Thursday 30 September 2010 à 03:59

Before quick launch was implemented in Windows 98, people were double-clicking their shortcuts on the desktop. More than a decade later, people are still double-clicking on their desktop cluttered with unnecessary shortcuts even while using a dock program. I've seen unsavvy computer users countless times do the opposite of what is right, like single-clicking on a desktop shortcut expecting it to open or double-clicking on a hyperlink.

Take the Trash applet problem mentioned earlier. Unlike a Nautilus launcher, double-clicking on the Trash applet should only open one Nautilus window. Another example, I configured my Mail applet to use Chromium in such a way that it would take me straight to my Hotmail inbox if I click on the Mail applet. Now, if I double-click on the Mail applet, it opens two tabs of my Hotmail webpage when only one is needed.

Double-clicking on the Sound Control applet should display the Sound Preferences window without showing the volume slider popup opening and closing. A little tweaking on some of the applet's handling of double-click would be an improvement.

Thanks for all the responses. Really appreciate the inclusion of Weather.com.

Guest, Thursday 30 September 2010 à 04:00

Before quick launch was implemented in Windows 98, people were double-clicking their shortcuts on the desktop. More than a decade later, people are still double-clicking on their desktop cluttered with unnecessary shortcuts even while using a dock program. I've seen unsavvy computer users countless times do the opposite of what is right, like single-clicking on a desktop shortcut expecting it to open or double-clicking on a hyperlink.

Take the Trash applet problem mentioned earlier. Unlike a Nautilus launcher, double-clicking on the Trash applet should only open one Nautilus window. Another example, I configured my Mail applet to use Chromium in such a way that it would take me straight to my Hotmail inbox if I click on the Mail applet. Now, if I double-click on the Mail applet, it opens two tabs of my Hotmail webpage when only one is needed.

Double-clicking on the Sound Control applet should display the Sound Preferences window without showing the volume slider popup opening and closing. A little tweaking on some of the applet's handling of double-click would be an improvement.

Thanks for all the responses. Really appreciate the inclusion of Weather.com.

Applets | Applets

Subjects Author Language Messages Last message
[Locked] Weather: left-click on icon opens Weather.com in a browser [Bug #97]
Page : 1 2
Guest English 31 Guest [Read]
02 November 2011 à 22:34


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