It's time for UI update!
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Npp looks awfully outdated, looks like a legacy app stuck in the Windows 95 era. You should use a modern rendering engine, not just make some random polishing around an old UI API. Just changing the icons won’t do the thing. Modern, flat and clean is not just a Microsoft thing that was (badly) introduced in Windows 8, it is currently the trend in every app or web site design, just look at iOS, Android, macOS, Windows 10, etc. Let me also say that Microsoft polished their design language for Windows 10, it’s nothing like the flat and boring Windows 8 design and I don’t want that either.
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OMG…this thread is talking about “Pointless Fluff”. Functionality is what is important. I don’t care if it looks like DOS 3.3 if it works and works well. And it mostly does. :-)
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it has been a while(2 year almost) since i posted the dark themed mockup. And it seems this debate is still on going :S
A lots of things have changed since then.
Now i only use Notepad++ for quick editing stuff, the only plus point of Notepad++ is that it is superfast other than that it lack almost everything other editor does(which ofc is the point of this lightweight editor).People who thinks UI and UX is not as relevant as Functionality they are purely ignorant. They are still stuck on dos era and clearly have no intention of switching.
Right now my workflow:
for webdev: Phpstorm
for c++,c#: Visual Studio Community 2017RC
For general text editing or minor editing: Notepad++I used to use Sublime text but got rid off it since i don’e miss any feature in phpstorm combined with notepad++
Also got rid off the Atom and vs code editor, they were too slow for any quick editing. Since Phpstorm is a must have for PHP development i only use Notepad++ with it. -
@Avik-Biswas said:
it has been a while(2 year almost) since i posted the dark themed mockup. And it seems this debate is still on going :S
A lots of things have changed since then.HA. Nothing has changed with the way the UI looks – because it doesn’t NEED to. Don’t get me wrong, it would be OK if it looked more modern, but if developers are going to spend time developing, I prefer it to be functionality over fluff. And the developers seem to agree as the UI almost never gets changed purely for cosmetic reasons.
…it lack almost everything other editor does (which ofc is the point of this lightweight editor).
What specifically does it lack? I find it very powerful and complete for my needs…of course, these are apparently DOS-era needs…LOL.
People who thinks UI and UX is not as relevant as Functionality they are purely ignorant.
The UI is dated, no arguing that point. The UX (if you can divorce it from the UI) and functionality aspects are a different story…
They are still stuck on dos era and clearly have no intention of switching.
Hmmm…interesting…perhaps I could be more productive if a DOS port exists for Notepad++…
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@Alan-Kilborn said:
HA. Nothing has changed with the way the UI looks – because it doesn’t NEED to. Don’t get me wrong, it would be OK if it looked more modern, but if developers are going to spend time developing, I prefer it to be functionality over fluff. And the developers seem to agree as the UI almost never gets changed purely for cosmetic reasons.
By a lot of thing changed i mean tools that exists now. There is Atom, Visual Studio code both are gaining traction lightning fast.
I do prefer functionality also looks too. I don’t like ugly tools.What specifically does it lack? I find it very powerful and complete for my needs…of course, these are apparently DOS-era needs…LOL.
Extensions. Notepad++ has really small list of extension. Just look at sublime text’s or atom or vs code’s extension list. You can do ANYTHING!
As for specifically, well i would like middle mouse click and drag for multi select(available on atom and as extension on vs code)
linter? Codesniffer? Git integration? docblock integration? do i need to say anymore?Hmmm…interesting…perhaps I could be more productive if a DOS port exists for Notepad++…
If only we had stucked on MS-Dos, the technological progress would not have boomed over the years. specially good gui is already proven to be more productive.
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I will add my vote to the anti change crowd.
When looking for a good coding editor under Linux I tried all of the “modern” products you described. And even though they are native on Linux I still prefer Notepad++ over wine. Mainly because it it not modern.
One of the good thing about free projects is that they care less about market share in order to survive (although developers still care because of ego). So they don’t need to make random changes and “modernize” things that work perfectly just to convince the crowds to spend more money.
Windows 8 and Windows 10 are both very modern and both suck. Specifically they are worse than Windows 7. I spent about a minute today trying to find “print” in a ribonized Microsoft Word. I would switch to a “menu” based version in a heartbeat.
Notepad++ has a huge list of plugins and I couldn’t care less if Sublime has more of them. I vaguely remember how impressed I was with Sublime smooth scrolling. It is very modern. But quickly anything that takes 0.2 seconds longer than it should starts to annoy the eyes and I turn off ALL the eye candy.
I work with git and I don’t want git integration.
It would be nice if Notepad++ could turn into a visual debugger but I don’t believe it can be done in high enough quality so i rather it would not try.
Notepad++ will ever be just one of the tools in my toolbox. Its a very important tool and I would like it not be broken. It is a text editor not a full development environment even though some of its plugins take it closer to this realm. It should not try to be Jack of all trades ending master of none. Please don’t let it become Eclipse.What I hope for Notepad++ is extra polish for existing features and internal improvement to the code base. Sadly some extra work need to be done to support new OSes since Microsoft’s random modern changes break backward compatibility and cause glitches in Notepad++.
I would rather most of Notepad++ new features to be added as plugins so they will be optional and would not burden the core product. Perhaps for that the internal framework should be extended to provide more power for plugins over Notepad++. Perhaps one day you could even develop a plugin that turn it to be “modern”. -
Hi all,
let me do my vote as well. I vote for more modern UI like a Ribbon, or at least change color of tabs to dark and make them a bit flat (I’m using VS2015 style) or add possibility to change it.
I suspect, Ribbon can take a lot of additional resources (but it depends from realization and for now main menu is too overloaded), so don’t insist on it, but tabs should be updated! The style of current tabs is so old fashioned!
I found in the Internet nice concept and it looks awesome. Hope, author doesn’t mind if I paste it here.
NPP RibbonNPP is one of my main working tools and the only one thing I’d like to see changed there is UI.
Atom and VS are beautiful but slow and don’t have needed functionality.
And I agree, it’s time to update UI :)
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One reason i still use NPP++ is because it is SUPER-LIGHTWEIGHT.
A problem with anything using Electron etc is that it is very resource hungry.Just by not using Atom.io (my default editor otherwise) while on the run i literally get 2x the more battery life.
I really wished someone would fork npp++ and modernize it.
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Hello, I use it more than 8 years and I really think that announces to UI update. I love it and will not replace NPP it for anything, but I would be very happy if there is an UI update.
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My vote: No change to the UI, especially no UI like a Ribbon!
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I hope that if there is a UI like a ribbon, it is user configurable, so people like me can configure it off!
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I don’t think there is anything to worry about, UI Ribbon or otherwise. Nothing’s changing anytime soon. That’s just a prediction, but it’s based upon history.
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Please NO!!! Don’t change the UI. The thing I love about notepad++ is it is lightweight on system resources and diskspace. It is functional as it is. It does not need to be ‘modernized’. A lot of people still use the old XP interface because it works better. The look of notepad++ now might not match the default windows 10 ui but not everyone uses the same OS or has the ui set the same. notepad++ is a tool. It should not have things changed just because of a new fashion.
I don’t like the ribbon interface because it takes up more vertical space. Items in drop down menus are easy to find because they are in a list and your eyes only have to scroll down. If I want to access a function quicker, I can learn the shortcut or make a macro for it.
Please don’t change the colours or even the button icons unless there is some visual problem with them. Our familarity with the button icons and their button placement is what makes us able to use notepad++ quickly without having to waste time hunting stuff down or relearning things changed for no real reason.
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Few have mentioned the Ribbon Interface that is terrible and takes 10% of screen space etc. It’s more about making the UI modern and be able to follow the rest like Atom.io etc.
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I support that the DEFAULT GUI should not change. Notepad++ is used often in education and so many educational tutorials are written with the current gui in mind. It would be very disruptive to change it.
However, that being said… myself and (I imagine) many others would love a ui/ux redesign at least as an option. Perhaps by making a ribbon like ui option that can be enabled and is scriptable. That should keep the base very lightweight, yet allow downloading of third party ribbons. This would enable and inspire creative experimentation in ux/ui, and allow the community to discover new alternatives that could one day become the new default (at which point the conventional ui would be available via an option).
Being scripted is the key. Adding to the plugin api for creating ribbon components, allows to distribute ribbon custimizations as plug-ins. Only part that needs to really be native is the base ribbon ui (ribbon, tabs, components), customization (drag and drop components from list), and component/tab creation api accessible in python. Or allow some hook for a custom ui, and even those base parts could be packaged as an extention perhaps using Qt, but as a separate download.
I think the key here is offering a way for the community to create advanced ui/ux and experiment, while keeping the base notepa++ download small and light, and the default notepad++ gui consistent/conventional.
TLDR:
- optional new ribbon ui
- default ribbon empty (to keep notepadd++ light)
- ribbon is scriptable with python.
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So this discussion seems to be getting nowhere so actually did a more ‘real-world’ mockup:
Mockup, new NP++
Full size link: http://i.imgur.com/FqKopcM.jpg
Old, my custom style
Full size link: http://i.imgur.com/i0adi2H.jpg
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Very Nice!
– Serdar -
Plus 1 for the design…
Keeps the simplicity but makes it sleek! -
@Tommie-Hansen your design is beautiful. Do you have a variant with a toolbar?
Its a shame that the NPP developers don’t prioritize aesthetics, your design is the most beautiful by far.
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OOh PLEASE NO, the UI is PERFECT the way it is ;^_^;
I CANNOT STAND the Metro UI style of Windows 8+… :pTRUE, if it ain’t broke don’t fix!
Changing the UI to Attracting new users :Rolls-Eyes: is dumb…
so its attract new at the expense of ALL those that already use NP++, that’s just sadNP++ is G.R.E.A.T. because its NP++ and not necessarily like other programs
for example the program, CCleaner updated their UI to be more Metro like and it S.U.C.K.S. its got so much white space now its hard to look at and see the difference between different data areas and stuff… ie from v4=great to v5=WHITE-SPACE-HELL.so for all those clambering for a NEW UI, PLEASE GO FIND ANOTHER PROGRAM TO USE that meet your needs!
