After some discussion, we’ve started the switch to Fancy Menu, which gives us the ability to set some good default “favorite applications”. This isn’t something we strictly have to do, but if we don’t, this happens:
As you can see, the default placeholder features black text on a grey background, which is not exactly awesome. This text isn’t themeable, so we have to set some default favorite applications to get rid of this UI wart. Of course, that raises the question of which applications should be added.
The only real criteria for whether an application is eligible for being in the default favorites list is:
It has to be preinstalled in Lubuntu’s minimal installation. (Picking something that isn’t preinstalled at all, or that is preinstalled but not in the minimal section, could cause undesirable behavior where an app that is favorited but not installed doesn’t appear until installed, meaning that if someone installs the app, it will just “pop” into the favorites menu without warning.)
It has to be something a lot of users have a use for. We don’t want things like the firmware updater app or KDE Partition Manager in this menu. Good examples of things we are thinking about adding are PCManFM-Qt and QTerminal.
To save everyone some time, here's a full list of apps present in a minimal installation of Lubuntu
Accessories
Featherpad
Kvantum Manager
LXQt File Archiver
PCManFM-Qt File Manager
Qlipper
SDDM Configuration
TeXInfo
Vim
Graphics
LXImage-Qt
ScreenGrab
Sound and Video
PulseAudio Volume Control
System Tools
KWalletManager
QTerminal
QTerminal drop down
qps
Preferences
LXQt Configuration Center
Appearance
Brightness
Date and Time
Desktop
File Associations
Keyboard and Mouse
Kvantum Manager
Locale
Monitor
Notifications
Power Management
Session Settings
Shortcut Keys
Users and Groups
Additional Drivers
Advanced Network Configura [sic, I assume this ends in “tion” but it runs off the edge of the screen]
Alternatives Configurator
Bluetooth Manager
Lubuntu Update
Openbox Settings
Printers
Software Sources
XScreenSaver Settings
Leave
Leave
Logout
Reboot
Shutdown
Suspend
Please comment below with which ones you think should be in the favorites section!
What I have beyond those don’t meet your criteria; eg. my browsers (firefox, chromium…) and other apps I use often, which are not included on a minimal install (firefox) or are non-Lubuntu packages.
There was a wee discussion on Matrix on this, so I’m going to echo what I said there, in no particular order:
PCManFM-Qt
QTerminal
FeatherPad
Lubuntu Update
I understand @jfaulk1230 is desperately looking for a theming solution, too. If he finds one, that may make this conversation moot. He’s done a lot of theming, even having created his own theme, so given that he didn’t have an answer off the top of his head, I can’t imagine we’re going to find something. But if we do, I would prefer that over the heavy handed approach of putting favorites in there. That way the instructions are there to, well, instruct.
The other thing I don’t necessarily prefer about populating the favorites list is that we already kind of have one in the panel. So do we sync those together?
I don’t think we should sync these together. The two are maintained separately by LXQt, if we start them off synced people who tweak these are going to almost certainly get them desynced after making some tweaks.
Me personally, I try to reserve things pinned in the panel for a few select apps, and am somewhat more liberal about what goes in Favorites. Maybe Firefox should be removed from the panel, then we leave just PCManFM-Qt and the Show Desktop button there, and have four or so things in the favorites menu? That would be my preferred design.
When I said synced, I meant more about lubuntu-default-settings. Anyways, I hear where you’re coming from and I would agree.
Regarding Firefox (and really anything not in minimal), I think we should remove it from the panel. The unexpected behavior of having it suddenly appear upon install might not be preferred.
So now the question is this: do we really want to add favorite apps? I personally think leaving a blank canvas is kind of nice and immediately instructs the user what to do with that area.
I kind of like having it not blank, it feels like the OS is somehow incomplete for it to be blank. I do agree though, this is definitely better than what was there before.
Imagine you’re Joe User. We have populated the favorites for you. So you wonder how to modify that list. In fact, you’d like to get rid of it all together and start over. So you drag and drop applications away from the favorites. Huh, that doesn’t work as expected. Ok, maybe start by adding things. But if you do anything (search, navigate the menus), it fills the area the favorites are filled with. So drag and drop probably doesn’t work. Maybe you faff around for another 5-10 minutes before finally stumbling upon right click.
…or we leave it empty and the hint is right there in front of your face.
You know tsujan always says things like “the GUI shouldn’t tell stories.” This is why in LXQt there is often information on tooltips versus being plastered all over the window. Yet here’s a perfect example of that very problem. I bet if we so much as point that out upstream, they’d fix it in a heartbeat.
That said, I hear what you all are saying. We should definitely populate it.
