Resize Download Bar

[d o]

I've always felt the download bar was too big. It takes about as much
space as the tabs and the address bar at the top! Quite ridiculous.
Although I'm sure some people like the large size of it, I believe a
lot of people would agree that it being smaller would be a very great
improvement. It doesn't help that most monitors have a height of 900
or less.

[Capy]

See Issue 89922. A flag for a new downloads UI was added, but I have
seen no changes. I suggest replacing the downloads shelf with a
background downloads tab. A background downloads tab is easy to see
and avoid, fits well with Chrome's tab-centric style, and provides
much room for downloading information.

http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=89922

[Capy]

Firefox just moved its panel-based downloads UI to the Nightly Build.
FF's new downloads UI works the same way the new Safari does. I like
this design better than Chrome's current design, but I would prefer
Chrome switch to using the downloads tab. When a download begins, a
background downloads tab should open.

http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/Firefox-14-Adds-a-Download-Panel-It-s-Here-to-Stay-This-Time-3.png/

[Zachary “Gamer_Z.” Yaro]

If you prefer everything about FF's UI, then switch to FF, or fork and build your own version of Chromium.  As I see it, I prefer the current downloads bar, and millions of Chrome users are accustomed to that UI.

I would not mind perhaps making the downloads bar resizable (so it can take up less vertical space for people who want it out of their ways and more space for multiple rows if the user chooses), but there is no reason to remove this feature that has worked well thus far.

—Zachary “Gamer_Z.” Yaro

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[Capy]

@ Zachary:

Unfortunately, I do not have the aptitude or time to build my own
version of Chromium so that I can change a few features. Also, I like
very few FF (or any other browser) features better than Chrome's
features. Sometimes a browser does have a good idea though. Although
not all of my (or anyone else's) ideas are the best, the time when
ideas stop flowing is the time that Chrome stops being innovative.
Also, I do not believe in the "If it isn't broken, don't fix it."
mentality. Although I think a browser should avoid rapid changes that
would confuse users, implementing a far better design after several
years is always beneficial. If we never changed features that work
and are widely used, every browser would look like IE6 because of its
widespread usage.

As for the downloads shelf idea, here is my explanation:

(1) My favorite Chrome design paradigm is focus on tabs. Settings,
History, Bookmarks Manager, Downloads, Plugins, Feedback... are all
displayed in tabs. Tabs offer easy navigation, parallel organization,
and much space for information. Since downloads has much information
(loading status, name of program, scanning information, list of
multiple downloads...), a tab would suit downloads well.

(2) Although I think the downloads shelf works well, I do not like how
it adds an extra UI area and how it covers part of the webpage. UI
looks and works best when there are controls in fewer areas.

(3) New Chrome users generally know how to use tabs but may not
understand the downloads bar (I have witnessed this problem several
times when watching professors try to download PDFs). However, if the
user clicked a download, and a large tab labeled "Downloads" opened,
I'm sure he'll know what to do next.

If you do not agree with my reason, perhaps the comments from 305
people on Issue 89922 would offer different perspectives. However, I
appreciate your opinion as well. Collaboration generally yields the
best results.

http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=89922

On Apr 19, 6:12 pm, Zachary “Gamer_Z.” Yaro <zmy...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If you prefer everything about FF's UI, then switch to FF, or fork and
> build your own version of Chromium.  As I see it, I prefer the current
> downloads bar, and millions of Chrome users are accustomed to that UI.
>
> I would not mind perhaps making the downloads bar resizable (so it can take
> up less vertical space for people who want it out of their ways and more
> space for multiple rows if the user chooses), but there is no reason to
> remove this feature that has worked well thus far.
>
> —Zachary “Gamer_Z.” Yaro
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 16:59, Capy <codyku...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Firefox just moved its panel-based downloads UI to the Nightly Build.
> > FF's new downloads UI works the same way the new Safari does.  I like
> > this design better than Chrome's current design, but I would prefer
> > Chrome switch to using the downloads tab.  When a download begins, a
> > background downloads tab should open.
>

> >http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/Firefox-14-Adds-a-Download-Panel-...

>
> > On Mar 18, 12:43 am, Capy <codyku...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > See Issue 89922.  A flag for a new downloads UI was added, but I have
> > > seen no changes.  I suggest replacing the downloads shelf with a
> > > background downloads tab.  A background downloads tab is easy to see
> > > and avoid, fits well with Chrome's tab-centric style, and provides
> > > much room for downloading information.
>
> > >http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=89922
>
> > > On Mar 17, 4:52 pm, d o <redkata...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > I've always felt the download bar was too big.  It takes about as much
> > > > space as the tabs and the address bar at the top!  Quite ridiculous.
> > > > Although I'm sure some people like the large size of it, I believe a
> > > > lot of people would agree that it being smaller would be a very great
> > > > improvement.  It doesn't help that most monitors have a height of 900
> > > > or less.
>
> > --

> > Chromium Discussion mailing list: chromium-disc...@chromium.org

[Tibor]

There are zillions of issues and discussions about download bar,
there's no point starting an other one.
Star one of the existing issues related to new download UI what is
being developed if you wish and add your comments there.

I also like the current design.
I would hate if I would have to switch to other tab or other window to
see downloads.

[Tibor]

3) I really can't imagine why someone would notice or understand a new
tab what is not even active so the content is not visible better than
the current download shelfe where the only thing one has to do is
click the file name. No need to switch tabs or anything else, the file
is there.
By the way the Downloads tab is already there, press Ctrl+J or select
Downloads from wrench menu.

On Apr 20, 1:05 am, Capy <codyku...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Capy]

@Tibor

I believe Issue 89922 is the main issue for the new downloads UI
because that issue added the flag "New Downloads UI." I would offer
my ideas on that thread if it were not closed to comments (see Comment
77). Starting another issue may wast developers' time. Since many
users already started a discussion about the new downloads UI on
Chromium discuss, I thought it would be ok to join in.

To clarify, I like the downloads shelf better than most downloads
designs (ex: dialog boxes) but prefer a tab-centric design. Also,
there are many ways to get the user to notice a new downloads tab.
For example, there could be a brief arrow or bubble (similar to the
newly installed app and extensions bubbles) pointing to the new
background tab.

[Stephen]

+1

On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 11:21 AM, Tibor <jbt...@gmail.com> wrote:

I also like the current design.
I would hate if I would have to switch to other tab or other window to
see downloads.

--
Best Regards,
Stephen Allen

[Capy]

Discussion about the tabbed downloads implementation is here:

http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=124903&can=5&colspec=ID%20Pri%20Mstone%20ReleaseBlock%20Area%20Feature%20Status%20Owner%20Summary

On Apr 20, 2:43 pm, Stephen <stephen.d.al...@gmail.com> wrote:
> +1
>