• I never use the gradient toolbar, I always work with the fill and stroke dialog and think the toolbar is a dupplicate and not handy way to do the same job :o) (it's hard to move it, having the toolbar changing at each function requires attention, the inline presentation is not very user-friendly for me and such a function, on my mind the left toolbar where the gradient button is is more for creating objects than for modifying them...).
  
• This proposal is mixing three concepts so the user can't differentiate them anymore. Unlike you I like the current interface because it let us differentiate them:
• How to apply the gradient,
• What gradient is selected,
• What is the gradient.
• Don't forget a whichlist item that is to add a gradient rename feature (I'm part of those who are asking it!!),
• With a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng toolbar, will the user be able to use it easily on small screens? On multi-windows at a time?
• A toolbar is not very evolutive in terms of widget positionning, and you will still need to show dialogs to change the stop colors
  
• I would not love to go on fill and stroke, that opens a dialog and then to change the gradient it changes a toolbar in the main window (I think first I would not see it), and so hiding another one and I've to switch from the fill and stroke dialog to the main window... A strange workflow...
• I would rather prefer to include directly the gradient dialog in the gradient tab of the fill and stroke dialog and remove this toolbar or at least let the actual one simply doing:
• How to apply the gradient,
• What gradient is selected

This is how I use the gradient feature, but I understand others use it (or want to use it) in a different way!! If I'm hurting anyone, please let me know.

@+

On Sat, 2011-12-17 at 08:34 -0800, Josh Andler wrote:

Romain,

The gradient toolbar should eventually look like the following:
http://i.imgur.com/DZFC8.png

Note I hacked this together really quickly and it isn't pretty...

The 3rd gradient button is for Mesh gradients, which exist in a branch
currently. Following changes get other existing options in the user's
view. Repeat is the function from the Fill & Stroke dialog to allow
None, Repeat, or Mirror options. Following that is a Reverse Gradient
button (Shift+R in the gradient tool, but should have UI). Following
are stop controls from the beyond broken gradient editor. Buttons to
Add & Delete stops (Insert & Delete keys respectively), the Stop
Selector, and the numeric Stop Offset widget. Note, all of the
features already exist, they just need to be updated in the code and
hooked up in the toolbar. Note the absence of the "Edit..." button.
The VERY BROKEN Gradient Editor can be safely removed once these
features are added to the toolbar.

It will be nice to no longer need the gradient editor. Note that I will
probably add a fourth button to create a conical gradient (as a special
form of mesh gradient). A number of the items will need to be grayed out
when editing meshes: Repeat, Reverse, Offset. We may also want to
specify the initial number of rows and columns in a mesh. But this is
all a ways off.

					Tav