GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 317652
improve trash applet context menu
Last modified: 2010-01-24 01:07:45 UTC
This bug has been opened here: https://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/show_bug.cgi?id=16549 "When right clicking on the trash applet, my purpose most of the time is to empty it. But the menu is quite cluttered, and I often end up chosing "Remove from panel", which has a "minus" icon next to it. I think "Empty trash" should be better highlighted, at least by making the text bold face."
I agree. "Empty Trash" is unquestionably the most used command in that menu, yet it's one of the hardest ones to spot.
This is the reason I made my bugzilla account. The trash applet menu is awfull. You have to actively read each time the menu and spot the empty trash item. Therefore I usually just delete files forever (not move them to trash). At least you could reduce the menu to something simpler: + Empty Trash - Advanced -> Remove .................Blah .................Blah
Those menu items you see below the separator are put there automatically by libpanel-applet. I'm sure there is already a bug pertaining to libpanel-applet and the items it places in the menu, but I can't find it.
(In reply to comment #3) > Those menu items you see below the separator are put there automatically by > libpanel-applet. I'm sure there is already a bug pertaining to libpanel-applet > and the items it places in the menu, but I can't find it. > How come e.g. NetworkManager and gnome-power-manager manage to hide them?
Because they are tray icons (ie. they run in the notification area) and not applets. They have a different set of capabilities, and they use an entirely different API. You will notice that the menus, launchers and applets (and even the handle to the left of the notification tray) all have the same three options.
Sorry, I really should have known that by now. :) Thanks for clearing that up, Davyd. Anyway, just adding a small empty trash can icon next to the Empty Trash entry would improve things. More generally, I think the applet meta menu entries available to all applets should be moved to a submenu labeled "Manage Applet". Except for applets not having its own custom menu entries.
Submenus are *evil* :-) So, what's my opinion on this? We should remove the "lock to panel" (and move to a global lock per panel). I really don't like the submenu idea, so I'm not sure I want to do much more. Any other sane proposition?
(In reply to comment #7) > Submenus are *evil* :-) > > So, what's my opinion on this? > We should remove the "lock to panel" (and move to a global lock per panel). I > really don't like the submenu idea, so I'm not sure I want to do much more. To reiterate, adding an icon next to the Empty Trash menu item, and perhaps moving it to the top would help too. > > Any other sane proposition? Sorry for being insane. I don't like submenus either, since they're hard to click on. I don't really like right-click menus in the first place. How about adding a left-click menu then? Or is that non-standard in Gnome? What I mean is a menu specifically for the trash can, with only Empty Trash and Open. Not my favorite solution, just brainstorming here..
(note that I was not saying you're insane ;-))
Created attachment 64099 [details] [review] Patch that adds an icon and changes the order Ok guys, here's a patch that 1) adds a "gtk-clear" icon (the broomstick) next to the "Empty Trash" entry and 2) places it before "Open". Another argument in favor of this is that when you want to open the trash, you usually just left-click on it.
Ok, this is a trash applet bug in fact.
Empty trash doesn't have an icon in Nautilus, should we be consistent here?
That'd be nice.
I just did a little bit of poking around. This holds for almost everywhere else that has both a left-click (or left-double-click) action and a context menu together: the first item on the context menu is the same as the result of left (double-)clicking. I guess this principle should not be violated.
2009-01-29 Ryan Lortie <desrt@desrt.ca> * GNOME_Panel_TrashApplet.xml: change "Open" to "Open Trash" (for consistency) and add an icon to the "Empty Trash" menu item. Committed revision 11232.