Thoughts on the Cinnamenu redesign (+ a bug)

[binarynoise]

Looking at the new menu as it opens on the Live ISO:

First we see the new descriptions below the menu entries (neat).

Then we notice that the categories lost their colour and they don't follow the icon theme set in the theme settings any more (bug).

Finally, we see that the favourites on the left which now have labels (neat) but take up more horizontal space (annoying).
To reclaim that horizontal space, there is an option to hide the sidebar.
Now the system buttons are gone (bug?) and we need to go to the Appearance tab in the menu settings to move the buttons to alongside the search bar, which moves them to the right (annoying). A fix would be to have the system buttons left of the search bar so they align with the categories and the search bar aligns with the menu entries.

In the menu settings: when hiding the sidebar, the options for Avatar, Favourites and Recents don't get hidden correctly (bug). There must be some layout change as the scroll handle moving indicates height change, but the toggles stay visible.

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More generally: it's cool to have options to tinker with UI layout etc, but usually, once it's done, I want things to stay as they are without great disruptions (like this redesign unfortunately is).
Luckily I just found the Classic Menu applet that I'll probably install on all my devices.
So my idea would be to add the new menu as new applet, to make it the new default and to offer the user some post-upgrade screen to replace the old with the new applet if they want.

[haggen88]

I agree, it would be useful to have an option to show only the icons in the favorites section/sidebar (perhaps in the next development cycle ¿?¿?). This would make the menu take up less space, which is appreciated on laptop screens, and would allow the menu to be edited to something more similar to the current menu, especially for people who are not comfortable with the new menu.

#47 related

[mtwebster]

Those are symbolic icons. Themes can override those as well if they wish. Uncheck 'use symbolic icons for categories' in the applet's settings to get the old color category icons back.

[binarynoise]

Oh, I must have overlooked that, I'm sorry. Anyway, happy new year!

[yaxunil2]

Just upgraded and I don't like the new menu. I looked at all the settings, and yes I can change the location of the search bar, decide what is listed on the left side (docs, download, avatar, etc..), turn off the symbolic icons and so on, but I can't make it look and behave like the old one?
It's supposed to have rounded corners and have a small gap between the bottom panel and the menu - but not on my system? (this is a minor issue and I actually don't care much about that) What I miss the most with the new menu is the description of the apps - in the old menu, hovering over the apps would display a description on the bottom of the menu. On the new menu the description is permanently (in very small and faded font) under the app name itself, However I find it hard to see and read especially on a dark theme and it's only on one line, so a long description is truncated! or you need to extend the menu halve way across the display to see the lot? Also on a dark theme (mint-x-dark) there is no visible distinction between the 3 columns? they merge into one!
I'm not sure if it is still in 'Beta' and some more improvements are in the works? but I would like to get the old menu back.

[anaximeno]

The old menu is installable from the applets module with the classic-menu (https://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/applets/view/432) applet for those that want it. I personally like the new one.

Regarding unofficial themes, themes downloaded from the themes setting module might need to be updated to support the new menu so during the transition time they might not look in it's best form until the theme developers update the themes.

[binarynoise]

I don't know who is responsible or not, but
have you (or know the Mint team has) discussed our ideas to make the menu a bit more configurable to make it likeable?

• hiding labels, moving session buttons to the left of the search bar
• showing inline or tooltip descriptions

[yaxunil2]

Regarding unofficial themes, themes downloaded from the themes setting module might need to be updated to support the new menu so during the transition time they might not look in it's best form until the theme developers update the themes.

Ok so maybe the theme 'mint-x-dark' may need some tweaking for the menu to render correctly. I keep an eye out for it.

don't know who is responsible or not, but have you (or know the Mint team has) discussed our ideas to make the menu a bit more configurable to make it likeable?

* hiding labels, moving session buttons to the left of the search bar

* showing inline or tooltip descriptions

Yes I support that, customizing for example the 'tooltip' display type, location, color and size of font would be good.

Is the 'classic-menu' truly the old menu? or an app that tries to reproduce the old menu? There is another contender 'cinnamenu' did anyone try that? which of those 2 is closer to the original menu?

[tuxfanmatze]

I think it would be very useful if you could only select icons without text in the NEW favourites bar, so that the menu doesn't take up so much space, and the on/off buttons are vertical again and only the new avatar icon, without long user name. Then you have a better choice.

[clefebvre]

Interesting ideas. With 6.6.3 the sidebar width is configurable.

Going forward though I think there's room for progress here for future releases.

[clefebvre]

added to the roadmap.