GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 314894
cannot get path bar back after using location bar without re-opening window
Last modified: 2011-04-06 18:48:55 UTC
After changing to location bar (CTRL-l or selecting 'Go -> Location...') user cannot get path bar back without re-opening nautilus. Should be able to toggle between modes by pressing CTRL-l again or selecting 'View -> Reset to Defaults'. Other information:
Thanks for your bug report! We've got at least an escape binding for the entry which reverts to the pathbar. The reason why we don't switch back on focus changes is that a user might want to copy some external text and paste it in the entry. This needs real usability audition. Up to your bug report, I was convinced that users who use the keyboard will always try to use the escape key to revert.
I think the proposals in the initial comment are sensible; 1. Restore to pathbar when user clicks View -> Reset to Defaults 2. Make CTRL+L a toggle. However, #2 might be a bit tricky. As it is now, if you have anything else focused, CTRL+L will re-focus the location bar. Maybe it should just be a toggle if it already has focus - so that if you have the folder view focused, you'd have to push CTRL+L twice to get it away? I can't really think of other places where widgets are replaced suddenly. The Tab bar in Epiphany and Firefox is added to the window, it doesn't replace anything. Same with the Site Navigation Toolbar in Mozilla and the Find Toolbar in Firefox. Maybe a close button ('X') could be added to the end of the location entry? I'm really not fond of this idea ... Since it is only accessible with a keyboard command, I think it makes sense that it can only go away with a keyboard command, too.
Ah... I tried just about everything I could think of apart from press escape - which makes sense now of course. I think average users would probably expect #1 and #2 to work (that's what I tried first anyway) but after reading the above comment adding a small close button at the end of the location entry would be a decent solution - I think had I seen one I would have been more inclined to try pressing escape as it gives a visual indication that returning to the path bar is actually possible. Location bar can also be accessed with mouse by the way ('Go -> Location...') so my vote goes to adding a close button.
Changing component as part of ongoing bug reorganisation work.
This should be fixed now in 3.0.