Difference between revisions of "Extensions feature ideas"
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− | I see that there is a Sun Wiki Publisher, | + | I see that there is a Sun Wiki Publisher, and I think another useful extension would be an AutoPaste feature, that would paste into an open document whatever is copied onto the clipboard. An old and discontinued wordpro (a superior replacement for WordPad) called TextShield had it, and I found it very useful when selectively copying large amounts of text. The Jarte wordpro may implement it in a future version. |
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Revision as of 01:34, 27 April 2011
OOo Extensions project
Please view the wiki usage guidelines
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Categories: Pages: |
Extensions on the main site |
Extensions in other languages: |
This page is intended to collect ideas for future features of the Extensions Manager and Extensions.
- Running OOo in safe mode
- Support of licenses for extensions when they are installed together with OOo
- Enhance system integration
- Solving dependencies when running the online update
- Separate Text-To-Wikitext Converter
- AutoPaste
- Running OOo in safe mode
A faulty extension may cause OOo to crash. When this happens for example at startup (or shortly after) it is difficult for the user to remove the extension. That is, the Extension Manager cannot be invoked anymore. By starting OOo in safe mode, all extensions would be disabled. Then the user could remove the faulty extension in the Extension Manager.
- Wouldn't it be better to provide access to the the extension manager from the recovery dialog which comes up after each crash? Additionally for the case that it's clear that the crash happened inside the extension, a dialog could pop up which asks the user if this specific extension should be disabled
- The extensions manager is already accessible without OOo. Just invoke the unopkg executable with parameter -gui. But a button from the recovery dialog is still a good idea.
- Wouldn't it be better to provide access to the the extension manager from the recovery dialog which comes up after each crash? Additionally for the case that it's clear that the crash happened inside the extension, a dialog could pop up which asks the user if this specific extension should be disabled
- Support of licenses for extensions when they are installed together with OOo
Extensions support a simple mechanism for showing a license to the user. This happens during installation. The user must agree to the license before the extension is installed. This works well when the extension is installed by the Extension Manager. However, when an extension is part of the installation set, that is, it is installed along with the office, then this mechanism does not work or integrates well. For example, when installing the rpms every extension with a license would require a user interaction on the console. When developing a solution one should bear in mind, that one has to make sure that an extension is not usable, does not leave any marks in the GUI, and best is not copied at all to the office installation when the user refuses to agree to the license.
- Enhance system integration
- another instance of unopkg gui is running
- another instance of unopkg is running
- Solving dependencies when running the online update
The "Extension Update" dialog should make sure that dependencies are resolved. That is, an extension A version 2 depends on extension B version 2. The user selects extension A v.2 but does not have B v.2 installed. If B v.2 is also available as update, then the user should not be allowed to unselect B v.2. Or in case the user used the context menu for A to invoke the "Extensions Update" dialog then the dialog should automatically offer B v.2 rather then showing that A v.2 cannot be installed because of an incompatibility.
- Solving dependencies when running the online update
The "Extension Update" dialog should make sure that dependencies are resolved. That is, an extension A version 2 depends on extension B version 2. The user selects extension A v.2 but does not have B v.2 installed. If B v.2 is also available as update, then the user should not be allowed to unselect B v.2. Or in case the user used the context menu for A to invoke the "Extensions Update" dialog then the dialog should automatically offer B v.2 rather then showing that A v.2 cannot be installed because of an incompatibility.
- Separate Text-To-Wikitext Converter
- As an extension that can be installed on MediaWiki - provides a pop-up for a user to paste text, which then converts it and places it in the editing window.
- As a tool packaged separately from the OpenOffice suite - runs as a split-pane window in which a user may paste text into one pane, convert it, and then copy it from the second pane and paste it into the wiki editing window.
- AutoPaste
It should be possible to install an extension by double clicking them. This should even be possible in these scenarios:
This would probably mean some interprocess communication between two unopkg instances.
OpenOffice has the best tool for converting formatted text into wikitext. It helps create a "zero-training" environment where less advanced users can create text in a word processor of choice and paste it into the wiki or convert existing docs to use in the wiki. However, these users are unable or unwilling to download the entire OpenOffice suite to take advantage of the conversion feature, and thus require a simpler method.
A separate text-to-wikitext converter could be designed in one of the following ways:
I see that there is a Sun Wiki Publisher, and I think another useful extension would be an AutoPaste feature, that would paste into an open document whatever is copied onto the clipboard. An old and discontinued wordpro (a superior replacement for WordPad) called TextShield had it, and I found it very useful when selectively copying large amounts of text. The Jarte wordpro may implement it in a future version.
It would be helpful to be able to choose to paste unformatted as well. As it is now one can change keyboard shortcuts to perform this function quickly, but an AutoPaste feature would greatly increase speed. Firefox has an AutoCopy extension which copies whatever is selected, and which would complement an AutoPaste extension in OOo.
A problem might be that of multiple documents being open, unless the AutoPaste feature only applies to individual documents in which it is turned on.