Hard to tell which stars apply to which item in a list view

Bug #802756 reported by Pedro Bessa
12
This bug affects 2 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
software-center (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
Medium
Gary Lasker

Bug Description

On left, I see software names. On right, I see software stars. As I move my head or my eye ball from left to right, I see white background above and below, but I have to go horizontally and I find matching a software's name with the software's stars hard.

1. visit a big category listing
2. skip to a software about in the middle
3. move your eye ball from left to right, white background won't help, match the name with the stars
expected:
I know what stars belong to what name
actual:
it's hard to match stars with name

<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareCenter#software-list-view>: "In “All Software” and “Installed”, the titles of items with ratings should be followed by stars for the average rating, and the number of ratings in brackets. If the width of those three things is greater than the width of the list, the stars and number should together be flush at the trailing end of the row, while the title is ellipsized at its end. (Previously the stars were always flush at the trailing end, making it difficult to see which rating belonged to which item. Moving them next to the title means stars are not aligned for different rows, but that matters little, because the ratings will much more often be used for sorting than for direct comparison.)"

Revision history for this message
Pedro Bessa (pedbessa) wrote :

*1. visit a big software listing

Revision history for this message
Pedro Bessa (pedbessa) wrote :

*0. open Ubuntu Software Center

summary: - hard to match stars with name
+ hard to match name with stars
summary: - hard to match name with stars
+ hard to match stars with name
Robert Roth (evfool)
Changed in software-center (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
importance: Undecided → Wishlist
Revision history for this message
Aaron Peachey (aaronp) wrote :

Hi, we already have a bug that suggests we should have alternating colours for the list view rows (LP: #727151) and have had discussions around if and how to implement that.
The issue is that if a list view only shows 2 or 3 results then one of them will be a different colour to the others and looks like it is being emphasised when it actually isn't.
I looked at ways to implement it differently but still didn't find anything that worked well so we've left it as is.

I don't believe this is a duplicate, so think it should stay open as this is a slightly different issue in that there are probably ways to associate the star rating with the app name, without having to distinguish the rows from one another. For example, putting the stars on the left instead of right (vice-versa for RTL locales) immediately followed by the app name.

e.g.
***** 3D Chess
   instead of
3D Chess *****

Revision history for this message
Aaron Peachey (aaronp) wrote :

Note, in my previous comment the final line was meant to be
3DChess < w i t h a h e a p o f s p a c e s i n h e r e > *****
but Launchpad trimmed all my inner spaces away!

description: updated
Changed in software-center (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Triaged
importance: Wishlist → Medium
summary: - hard to match stars with name
+ Hard to tell which stars apply to which item in a list view
Changed in software-center (Ubuntu):
assignee: nobody → Gary Lasker (gary-lasker)
status: Triaged → In Progress
Changed in software-center (Ubuntu):
status: In Progress → Fix Committed
Revision history for this message
Gary Lasker (gary-lasker) wrote :

Hi mpt, here's a screenshot with the list view stars relocated per the updated spec. Please take a look (or better, try out trunk) when you get a chance and let me know if it looks how you expected, if anything needs tweaking, etc. Ellipsizing (is that a word?) should be working correctly as well. Thanks!

Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

This bug was fixed in the package software-center - 4.1.12

---------------
software-center (4.1.12) oneiric; urgency=low

  [ Michael Vogt ]
  * merged lp:~alexeftimie/software-center/backend-refactor,
    many thanks
  * test/gtk3/test_widgets.py:
    - more widget test coverage
  * test/gtk3/test_views.py:
    - add basic tests for all gtk3 views
  * merged lp:~mmcg069/software-center/the-aesthetics, lots
    of really nice gtk3 work, many thanks to Matthew McGowan!
  * install gtk3 version as software-center-gtk3 tech preview
  * merged lp:~mvo/software-center/exhibit-api-use and cherry picked
    from lp:~mmcg069/software-center/exhibit-api-use, many thanks to
    Matthew McGowan
  * make clicking on exhibits banner work and display the exhibits
    list
  * add featured banner
  * softwarecenter/backend/spawn_helper.py:
    - remove io watch again if the child exited to ensure we do
      not run into a 100% loop
  * pyflakes fixes
  * test/test-all.sh:
    - improve test runner
  * softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/views/purchaseview.py:
    - add LocaleAwareWebView that sends a "Accept-Language" http
      header
  * setup.py:
    - install gtk3 version as well
  * softwarecenter/ui/{gtk,gtk3}/app.py:
    - do not run software-properties-gtk3 with gksu anymore
  * test/gtk3/test_catview.py:
    - add test top-rated subcategory selection

  [ Matthew McGowan ]
  * lp:~mmcg069/software-center/rnr-dialogs-gtk3:
    - support multiple toolkits for the submit review functionatlity
    - port the submit review app to gtk3
  * lp:~mmcg069/software-center/gtk3fixes:
    - fix star renderer not actually using cached star surfaces
  * lp:~mmcg069/software-center/top-rated-subcats:
    - add top-rated view for subcategories too

  [ Gary Lasker ]
  * softwarecenter/ui/gtk/softwarepane.py:
    - small fix to action bar functionality in support of oneconf
  * softwarecenter/ui/gtk/appview.py:
    - relocate the ratings stars in the list view to be next to the
      software item name, per the updated spec (LP: #802756)
  * softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/widgets/reviews.py:
    - make 'more reviews' button work in gtk3 details view
  * test/gtk/test_gui_buy_something.py,
    test/test_addons.py:
    - unit test fixes
  * softwarecenter/utils.py,
    test/gtk/test_unity_launcher_integration.py:
    - update unity launcher integration code to conform to
      new app-install desktop file naming format, update
      unit test
  * softwarecenter/ui/gtk/appdetailsview_gtk.py,
    softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/views/appdetailsview_gtk.py:
    - change name of website link in the details view per
      updated spec (LP: #715681)
  * softwarecenter/ui/gtk/appdetailsview_gtk.py,
    softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/views/appdetailsview_gtk.py:
    - don't show addons in the details view for the
      standalone deb installation case (LP: #821395)

  [ Kiwinote ]
  * softwarecenter/ui/gtk/widgets/carousel.py:
    - ensure that carousel posters always display a title
  * softwarecenter/ui/gtk3/views/catview_gtk.py:
    - connect up the 'more' buttons
 -- Michael Vogt <email address hidden> Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:05:58 +0200

Changed in software-center (Ubuntu):
status: Fix Committed → Fix Released
Revision history for this message
Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt) wrote :

Thanks Gary. The only problem I see with this is that the bracketed review counts are too busy. This is easily fixable by greying them out.

Revision history for this message
Gary Lasker (gary-lasker) wrote :

Hey mpt, I tweaked the color to grey out the reviews count per your comment, and the change is now in trunk. Please take a look when you get a chance and let me know if it needs further tweaking. Thanks!

Revision history for this message
Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt) wrote :

The greying out looks good. Thanks again!

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