I have to admit this looks really good! 
1 Like
This would need to be consistently applied across the OS e.g. Text Editor side panel
Also weâre trying to stay close to Adwaita which uses a solid colour for the sidebar but doesnât use its main colour for the folder iconsâŠmaybe we could go for gray folder icons, that would be a more consistent decision with upstream rather than changing the highlight in the sidebar⊠Iâm not too fussed with all the orange though, imho itâs very Ubuntu to use âtoo muchâ orange xD Then again Iâm usually very not fussed with most design decisions xD
1 Like
As stated, Iâm happy with the current orange selection - to me its consistent. I only uploaded screenshots for discussion.
I agree that using any of the styles from my screenshots would make some apps look inconsistent., For example Geary - which has 2 lists, folders, and the messages. Would look odd there. So I vote for leaving it as is
1 Like
That does look very good 
Alright, here we go, excuse my terrible mockup skills, Iâm not a designer 
Fig. 1) Non-maximized version with lighter sidebar
Fig. 2) Maximized version with lighter sidebar and non-transparent top panel & dock
Fig. 3) Maximized version with lighter sidebar and transparent top panel & dock
I do personally quite like the lighter sidebar - IMHO itâs still clear which one is the currently active element and it looks a lot less âheavyâ
1 Like
I am all in for conventional full bright orange highlight. While the discussed above are cute and interesting, it can also pave way for confusion with people who are not familiar with the UX.Letâs go the conventional way for the default.
I like your idea but I also like the current orange block. So itâs a ± for me 
At least for me, this looks nearly perfect. Very elegant. I liked horizontal line more but @c-lobrano has his reasons. In reality the grey bar would be a little bit thicker, right? Like in the highlight.
So when clicked this happens: vertical orange line appears + text gets bold + text gets black + grey highlight-color stays + (maybe this should be added: symbol gets as black as the bold text). I really like it. Thank you for the mockup! Glad i could make my suggestion clear and that it could be refined.
@pojntfx did add the idea to his mockups too. Very nice! 
And yes, i like it transparent (Fig. 3).
1 Like
I have to admit this looks really good!
Sooooooo⊠Would you reopen the ticket on github?
@nusi
I did not have the impression that this design decision has been made. Weâve seen mockups which some agree with and some donât.
@madsrh @c-lobrano @didrocks
Itâs up to you to decide. Feel free to reopen it or let it stay closed.
1 Like
Vertical line looks better for me
@nusi As mentioned, it seems we miscommunicated 
I think we all understood perfectly what you meant. I believe the valid reason that was refered to earlier, was me saying that:
âŠwe discussed this earlier and tried a few things but landed on this pure orange. âŠIMHO this is a wonât fix.
I know that it takes a long time to write a bug report (or writing this reply) when english isnât your first language, so I understand why you felt a bit disappointed when it was closed so quickly, but ( and I canât stress this enough) no offence was intended.
So, back to the issue again: I did actually suggest the Microsoft styled sidebar myself back in november '17.
There were many ideas that we considered but we landed on the current design.
I really like some of the designs posted in this thread, but I like the current one better.
This is a sensitive topic - I know that. Reading the comments above, itâs clear that there are people in both camps - and thatâs how it always will be. Valid points were raised both for and against.
What Iâm saying here is that we did consider other options and we know that itâs a lot of orange, but weâve decided (at least for now) to go with the orange bar.
If you feel differently @c-lobrano @godlyranchdressing @luxamman feel free to correct me.
5 Likes
I like the orange dot concept (with the bright highlighting). Thatâs even nicer than the vertical bar because it would match the orange dots in the Ubuntu Dock (which indicate the opened favorite apps).
Honestly, I even think that all other options seem more subtle/professional than the one we seem to have gone with.
But funny that such a small detail can be so divisive.
1 Like
A definite highlighting is always better. Letâs not get users into a guessing game.
2 Likes
But it has a different meaning. One is one of the (dozen? ) opened application, the other is a selected line in a list.
Thatâs probably because there isnât any âwrongâ design among those proposed. Any of them could do fine itâs job.
2 Likes
I agree the dot with highlight looks good equally the vertical line with highlight looks good.
The bright orange bar however does not
1 Like
I disagree. The vertical line looks more elegant and sleek and I really am attracted by its look but it has the big disadvantage over the orange block that it is very hard to track.
Keep in mind that this theme should also be usable for color blind or handicapped people. Elegance is not everything. Thatâs the reason for many adwaita decisions. So IMHO the communitheme is a great middle way (sorry for this translation ⊠My German is too strong and my English is too weak) between elegance and usability.
6 Likes
@frederik-f @c-lobrano I must agree in that the current solution is simply the most accessible one. While I prefer the looks of @CraigDâs suggestion, I guess that the current color is just the most ⊠obvious one. Is there some automated tool for color checking/testing such things (contrast & color blindness)? In Webdev we can do such things with E2E testing, is it also possible in GTK themes? Could identify such issues a lot quicker then
2 Likes
Thank you for your answer. Would you tell us the reasons that let to the decision to keep it how it is? I am all in for orange lines. Making the use of orange more stylish. But if the reason is really to make it usable for handicapped i will support this.
You wonât believe it but i found a place where i would even add orange.
When you get asked for permission (by the shell?) you can enter your password but the frame in which you enter it is white. How about orange? (my first âmockupâ ever!):
I really hope we could keep the use of orange more minimalistic.
1 Like
@nusi It looks good, but it should only be orange if the password has been typed in incorrectly, then it would make sense.
That being said, when you type the password incorrectly, there already is a warning below the text field saying âSorry, that didnât work. Please try again.â. Itâs in red font already (at least in vanilla Adwaita).