[Ovirt-devel] [PATCH] Add task list to dashboard

[Jeremy Perry]

On Jan 9, 2009, at 7:02 PM, David Lutterkort wrote:

> On Thu, 2009-01-08 at 18:43 +0000, Scott Seago wrote:
>> Refactored task list functionality to allow for the dashboard-level  
>> task list.
>> The dashboard task list shows all tasks initiated by the logged-in  
>> user, and is
>> filterable by task type and state.
>
Good comments David - I've got a page in the wiki now to start  
capturing UX for the Dashboard.
http://ovirt.org/page/Dashboard_UX

> This causes trouble for me when looking at the task list for a VM pool
> (see below)
>
> Some minor nits on the presentation:
>
>      * When I look at the dashboard now, I have a single tab that says
>        'Dashboard' - shouldn't that say 'Tasks' ?
If the dashboard is a singleton, I think it might be best to have no  
tab at all. But otherwise, Tasks seems to be a better label.

>      * When there are no tasks to display, I get that empty splash
>        screen with a '+' in it, as if I could add a task - that
>        shouldn't be there
Agree
>
>      * Some general comments on how task lists are displayed (nothing
>        to do with this patch in particular):
>             1. Could we use an icon to indicate state ? Using a whole
>                column is kinda bulky, and not as informative as a nice
>                icon
>             2. The column 'Message' is only visible after scrolling,
>                even though it's pretty important - that should be  
> moved
>                to a more prominent position (like right next to
>                'Action')
>             3. The column 'Args' is almost always empty - why not just
>                drop it from the default view, or roll the info from
>                that into another column, e.g. Action
>             4. It would be nice if you could combine several of the
>                Type resp. State filters (like look at all Storage and
>                Storage Volume tasks) - and as somebody else mentioned,
>                a clearer indication of the currently active filters
>             5. Conceptually, do users really care about the  
> distinction
>                between 'Storage' and 'Storage Volume' tasks ? Why not
>                just lump them all into 'Storage tasks' ?
I agree with all the comments here - I think we should do all we can  
to make the Dashboard and specifically the task list more consumable  
at a glance.
...

- Jeremy