Sidebar

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The sidebar is a UI feature that was introduced for all OpenOffice applications in version 4.0. It is based on the Symphony Properties Panel which in turn is based on the old Impress task pane.

The sidebar window is located on the right side of the edit views of Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Base. It contains one or more panels, based on the current docoment context. Panels are organized into decks. A tab bar on the right side of the sidebar allows to switch between different decks.

The 'Properties' deck is context sensitive. When text is being edited then it contains panels for changing the font or text attributes, when a graphical object is selected then other panels give access to fill and line style as well as the object's position and size.

A panel is basically a mix of a toolbar and a non-modal dialog. That means that sidebar panels do not lock the document. The user can freely mix working in the edit view to eg enter text and use the 'Text' panel to change text attributes.

At the moment tool bars and sidebar panels share many functions. For example the buttons for making text bold or italic exist in both the text toolbar and the 'Text' panel. This duplicity is the result of a design decision to allow users to gradually learn to use the sidebar. It is our plan to reduce functions provided in tool bars and provide them only in the sidebar. The speed and scope of this change depends on feedback from our users.

Information about the implementation of the sidebar and how to extend it with new panels can be found in the Sidebar for Developers page. A Glossary is available below.

Panels

Eleven property panels have been migrated from IBM Lotus Symphony: Alignment, Area, Cell Appearance, Graphic, Line, Number Format, Page, Paragraph, Position and Size, Text and Wrap. Seven panels come from the old Impress tool panel: Available for Use, Custom Animation, Layouts, Recently Used, Slide Transition, Table Design, Used in This Presentation. Four are non-modal (ie non locking) dialogs: Functions, Gallery, Navigator, Styles and Formatting. One is new: Insert.

Some of these are displayed in the context sensitive 'Properties' deck, others are displayed in a deck on their own. In that case the panel title bar is usually not displayed and the deck title is the same as the panel title. When the panel title bar is shown then a mouse click on it collapses the panel to just its title bar. Another click and the panel is expanded to its former size.

Some panels have a 'More Options' button in their title bar. A click on it opens a dialog with many more options than would fit into the panel. These dialogs, however, are modal, ie. the edit view is locked while the dialogs are open.

Alignment (Calc only)

Alignment of cell text (horizontal, vertical, rotation)

Sidebar-Panel-Alignment.png

Area

Fill style of shapes like color, gradient, bitmap, hatch, transparency.

Sidebar-Panel-Area.png

Available for Use (Impress only)

List of all available templates.

Sidebar-Panel-AvailableForUse.png

Cell Appearance (Calc only)

Cell background color and border.

Sidebar-Panel-CellAppearance.png

Custom Animation (Impress only)

Add or modify animations of shapes.

Sidebar-Panel-CustomAnimation.png

Functions (Calc only)

Insert functions (mathematical, string related, other) to a Calc cell.

Sidebar-Panel-Functions.png

Gallery

Gallery dialog as sidebar panel.

Sidebar-Panel-Gallery.png

Graphic

Adjust bitmap attributes like brightness, contrast, colors, gamma.

Sidebar-Panel-Graphic.png

Insert

Layouts (Impress only)

Assign a predefined layout to a slide. There are different sets of layouts for the different edit modes standard, handout and notes.

Sidebar-Panel-Layout-Standard.png Sidebar-Panel-Layout-Handout.png Sidebar-Panel-Layout-Notes.png

Line

Adjust color, width and style of lines and outlines.

Sidebar-Panel-Line.png

Navigator

The navigator dialog as sidebar panel. Small differences between the different applications.

Sidebar-Panel-Navigator-Writer.png Sidebar-Panel-Navigator-Calc.png Sidebar-Panel-Navigator-Impress.png

Number Format (Calc only)

Set the number format of selected cells.

Sidebar-Panel-NumberFormat.png

Page (Writer only)

Set page properties like orientation, margin or size.

Sidebar-Panel-Page.png

Paragraph

Adjust paragraph properties. There are small differences for different contexts.

Sidebar-Panel-Paragraph-Impress-Table.png Sidebar-Panel-Paragraph-Writer-Annotation.png Sidebar-Panel-Paragraph-Writer-DrawText.png Sidebar-Panel-Paragraph-Writer-Table.png Sidebar-Panel-Paragraph-Writer-Text.png

  • Position and Size
  • Recently Used
  • Slide Transition
  • Styles and Formatting
  • Table Design
  • Text
  • Used in This Presentation
  • Wrap

Decks

A deck is a container for one or more panels. In some cases, where there is only one panel and the panel title and deck title are the same, the panel title bar is not painted.

The deck title bar is not an active element, ie mouse clicks are ignored, but it can receive the keyboard focus. That is an accessibility feature.

  • Custom Animation (only Impress)
  • Functions (only Calc)
  • Gallery
  • Master Pages (only Impress)
  • Navigator
  • Properties
  • Slide Transition (only Impress)
  • Styles and Formatting

Glossary

Work in progress. Comments are welcome.

Schematic overview of sidebar components. Location of elements do not reflect UX design.
sidebar
Name of the feature and name of the control including all its components (icon bar, content panels).
Also known as task pane(l) or tool pane(l)
tab bar
Similar to a vertical tool bar. Clicking on buttons switches between sidebar decks.
deck
Contains one or more content panels. Only one deck is visible at any one time.
content panel
Displays information about the document and/or provides the means for document modification.
Each content panel focuses on one topic like font, table or shape properties.
There may be more than one content panel in a deck.
Examples are the task panels of the Impress task pane or the property views of the Symphony sidebar.
title bar
Displays the title for the current sidebar deck.
Can contain a closer button.
content panel title
Displays the title for one content panel. Optional when there is only one content panel.
configuration menu button
Opens a popup menu that allows switching between decks and also allows the activation and deactivation (tab is not shown) of decks.


References

The UX part of the work is described on another page. This page focuses on the API design and implementation.

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