Any suggestions on how to do this would be welcome. A clean-n-simple look is very important there. Tooltips + right-click was the cleanest, but we don't think it'll hold up in usability tests. Ideas?
I realize I answered to quickly. Now, I see the solution is harder to find, since each item to show has different necesities and "we" need to handle items and subitems.
I guess the goal is to minimize (or even suppress) any right-clicking.
I think regular tabs are necesary to handle the item to show. About the "sub items", we need different solutions, and I think the "Active Window" could be as a standart window (I mean it could hold menus and toolbar). I wonder about each item individually:
1) Tab "Drag, Drop, and go"
Drag and drop target could be a drop down list. Look at WMP drop down list to select the playlist to play. Could also be a title-menu-link (a title that becomes a normal menu when you click on it). The semi-toolbar you used in previous betas did not seem a drop down list, so you should consider a different design.
The actual "List" item, would become the normal right--click (just the same as right-clicking in the detailed list).
2) Statistics tab
It seems obvious to me that each individual item has to be in a drop down menu. I dont know
By the way, a "Artist" statistics is missing.
3) Images tab
The Image tools could be a menu inside the "Action Window". Or even better, a droppable button. Actually, there exists little difference between a normal menu and a droppable button.
4) Info tab
A button to "Copy to clipboard"? I dont see why not.
5) Playlist tab
A menu for Playlist tools. Or a droppable button.
6) File properties tab
The easy solution to supress right-clicking would be to have 2 menu items: "Library tools" and "Fields to show", but I think "Fields to show" shoud be a button that wuold open a dialog window to check (and even sort or group) the fields user wonts to shows.
I am sorry, but there is the need to make a dialog window to select columns to show. IMO.
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I think this could be easy to implement using regular Windows controls, only question is about if it can still be clean. I think it can, we only need the right controls and the right icons.
Another question someone has to think is about how to group all "properties windows" in one side, and the new "Drag, Drop, and Go" in the other. Because "properties windows" (file info, image, playlist, etc.) refers to the selection. "Drag, Drop, and Go" is another thing. I understand you dont want to hear about tabs and subtabs, but I had to say it