So I was reading the UI guidelines here on maemo.org and it says you shouldnt use a GTK toolbar unless only one content item is visible (such as an edit screen).
If an app has multiple windows, as most do, where are we supposed to put our window icons/buttons?
For example - let's take the ipod music app on the iphone/touch. Along the bottom it has 5 icons, Playlists, Artists, Songs, Albums and [... More], with each bringing up a slightly different interface for different things - but the toolbar stays.
If you were to require a similar window changing functionality, what are the UI guidelines that apply?
How does one allow the user to always be able to select from a set of windows (a maemo example would be when you wish to provide the user with a view windows, categories, tags, search, settings, etc).
Use the widget GtkToolbar as you would use it in a GTK+ application, but consider the following:
* Use GtkToolbars when only one content item is visible (for example when editing a single image or editing a single email).
* Provide no menu commands or settings for hiding or showing toolbar. The toolbar is always shown in the view where you decided to put it.
The key point here is you should not be using a *Gtk*Toolbar. HildonToolbars, on the other hand, are nice and finger friendly, appear on the bottom, and are used by some stock applications (in Maemo 5 as well as 4).
Eurgh, I'm high, sorry. There is no such thing as a HildonToolbar, but you add a GtkToolbar to the window. Sorry. But my point still stands: Some stock applications still use them.
Although, on the other hand, HildonAppMenus can also be a good substitute if you need space (and are seperate to each window, even StackableWindows [but you can make them all have the same menu...]):
The HildonButton widget used for the first two buttons supports (as you can see) two labels, but you are also free to add an image onto it as well, a little like a toolbar.
(I was using an older firmware there, but newer ones place a little blue arrow going down in the titlebar to tell you that there is a menu)
I will test this tonight. It would be really great if we had a resource somewhere which identified what each of these interface elements are, for those like me who are just getting started.
If there is interest in a wiki document I don't mind heading that up, but I don't have the knowledge to make it useful..
