Suggestions for Usability Enhancements in GhostBSD

vimanuelt

In what ways could we improve the user-friendliness or efficiency of GhostBSD? Are there specific UI/UX changes that would enhance your experience?

brianthehughes

1.
Are there keyboard shortcuts for GhostBSD?

1.1.
I found the Keyboard shortcuts for MATE, perhaps having more of these (particularly window controls) setup during install.

2.
Quick launching installed applications... like Windows... Windows Key, start typing name of app, apps filtered, XFCE has something similar.

3.
Panel settings management is currently customized or reset everything to default. How about, Default, GhostBSD, Custom 1, Custom 2, etc...

vimanuelt

brianthehughes Sure! In GhostBSD, while most keyboard shortcuts align with the MATE desktop standard, introducing additional shortcuts during installation could enhance user-friendliness. This might involve modifying installation scripts to configure shortcuts through MATE's dconf or XFCE's xfconf settings. For quick app launching, integrating tools like Synapse in MATE or ensuring xfce4-appfinder is activated by the Super key in XFCE could mirror the quick-search functionality seen in Windows. (Perhaps XFCE on GhostBSD already has this. 🤔) Additionally, for panel settings management, developing a simple GUI tool that allows users to switch between preset configurations like Default, Custom 1, and Custom 2 would simplify customization. This tool would manage different configurations stored in files, applying them via dconf load or xfconf-query depending on the desktop environment. These enhancements could make GhostBSD more flexible and appealing, offering both new users and customization enthusiasts a more tailored and efficient desktop experience.

brianthehughes

I would like to be able to hold a key and drag a window from one work space to the next.

With the displayed workspace changing (because hot key) instead of tiling the window when I reach display edge.

I like the existing Mate tiling by drag to edge window handling, but moving windows to other workspaces by click dragging in the workspace panel is tiny/finicky. Right click menu selections of tiny window corner controls is functional but on par with working in the workspace panel.

If I’m dragging a window I shouldn’t need to use both hands to trigger a keyboard combination. I only have two hands. 🦖