[Suggestion] Improvement of the General Layout

[Verjigorm]

Hi there,

I've been searching several hours now and haven't found anything bout my "problem". Maybe one of the users can help me with this:

I'd like to move the chat and its tabs to be a third column (besides the server and the channels & the channel description / details). Can you do this and if so, how do you do it? I didn't find anything regarding this topic via forum search or even google.

If you can't rearrange the elements, this would make a request, that could be really useful for a lot of people.

Regards
Verji

[Osmobot]

Current layout of the TeamSpeak client consists of three main components: Channel list (on top left), information area (top right) and chat area (bottom). Unfortunately the positions of these components can't be changed. On a modern widescreen display, the layout is very inefficient. Let me explain why:

The channel window and chat window are fighting for the same vertical space (see the image below). If you increase the vertical size of the channel window to see more channels, you are decreasing the size of chat window at the same time. On a widescreen display, there is plenty of space horizontally, but not so much vertically. Chat messages are often quite short, which makes the horizontal space on the right side of screen quite unused.

I would like the chat window to be side by side with the channel window, so both of them could utilize the space efficiently. Or, alternatively, give users an option to change the layout as they wish.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/324...peaklayout.jpg

[darkdevildeath]

I also think it should be possible to change the position of these components so that the client feel more comfortable.

[Darkhorz]

I just wanted to throw in my support for this suggestion.

I actually came to these forums to see if there was a way to change the current layout that is a nuisance.

In the current layout the channel description is taking up most space and presents the least interesting / useful / volatile information.

Then you have the channel list with users and the chat that - as OP put it very well - fights for the same vertical space. They both grow vertically where as the channel info does not.

I really don't understand why the chat and channel info is not swapped around as this would present the information you actually need more efficiently, regardless of window size.

My suggestion/wish would be to
- remove the channel info entirely and have the info accessed through headers in top bar or an info popup window
- have channel list and chat appear side by side

This would make for much better use of the limited space and presents the information that is actually being used much better.

As of now it's just a nuisance having to choose between being able to see all users or read more than a few lines of chat whilst the majority of the window is either empty or presents mostly static/technical information.

[Osmobot]

I agree with your suggestion Darkhorz. Channel info is not something an average user would need to see all the time. Hiding the channel info (and make that info available elsewhere), and placing the chat window in the place where channel info is now (on the right side of channel window), would make a lot of sense.

[dante696]

We need to discuss it first, but we plan to minimze the chat or add the function to detach this chat window.
http://forum.teamspeak.com/showthrea...dow-Detachment

But why you just don't close the channel information, when you don't need that informations.
Please do not speak for all users, that they do not need the channel informations. There is enough in channel description.

I mark this thread as rejected. It's kind of double post and the request to remove channe linformations is possible already, even when it looks ugly in current clients.

[PeterS]

We have been discussing something like this just a few weeks ago. I personally would like to offer the possibility to arrange the UI dynamically, so every user can decide how it suits him best. I suppose it will be impossible to come up with a hard-wired setup that will please everyone. So the UI could be configured to look like the current state (I wouldn't want to abandon the typical "TeamSpeak look", which was already present in TS2) up to anything looking like some minimal Jabber client (checkout Psi) with only the tree and seperate chat windows. As long it's customizable and the user can decide about the arrangement himself, it should be useful for everyone. That would be the most important point in my opinion.

Anyways, this feedback is appreciated.

[Osmobot]

We need to discuss it first, but we plan to minimze the chat or add the function to detach this chat window.
http://forum.teamspeak.com/showthrea...dow-Detachment

But why you just don't close the channel information, when you don't need that informations.
Please do not speak for all users, that they do not need the channel informations. There is enough in channel description.

I mark this thread as rejected. It's kind of double post and the request to remove channe linformations is possible already, even when it looks ugly in current clients.

I think you misunderstood the main purpose of this suggestion. The main problem is the channel and chat windows fighting for the vertical space. Detaching the chat window completely would in my opinion be even more inconvenient, as then I would need to jump between the channel and chat windows.

Easy solution would be to give user possibility to put channel and chat window side by side (regardless of whether there is channel information visible or not).

[Darkhorz]

I personally would like to offer the possibility to arrange the UI dynamically, so every user can decide how it suits him best.

I agree with this notion. A user interface to fit every size is impossible unless you offer customization. Although OP's and my suggestions would probably be more convenient to the majority and could be implemented over a cup of coffee, you will also have users that for whatever reasons have different needs. Dynamic arrangement of the UI addresses this effectively and is obviously the superior solution to the challenge of designing user interfaces.

The idea of a chat popup window is a further extension of this. My preference would be to have the chat included in the main window (either as I suggested or as a dynamic entity) with the option to open it as a popup window, separate from the main application window, like you often find of stream sites (twitch.tv e.g.).

[willy_sunny]

I am aware of the two chat layout suggestions currently.

Thread 1: Pop-out Chat window (http://forum.teamspeak.com/showthrea...dow-Detachment)

Thread 2: Layout Improvement (http://forum.teamspeak.com/showthrea...ghlight=layout)

And I am pretty sure dante wasn't fully grasping what thread 2 was suggesting, so, I'll make my own version of suggestion, summarizing both.

Thread 1's idea is quite simple, it's like the new Windows Live Messenger (in Win 7), where chat tabs can be combined or detatched.

Thread 2's idea is quite simple as well, instead of

[Channel Tree] [Information]
[Status & Chat (colspan=2)]

He wanted something like

[Channel Tree (rowspan=2)] [Information]
[Channel Tree (rowspan=2)] [Status & chat]

In picture form, Current layout is like

[A][B]
[CCC]

Where as Suggest layout is like

[A][B]
[A][C]

If you are still confused, take a look at your competitor, R*** C***, they did exactly what these two threads are suggesting, COMBINED. And I am telling you, as a heavy promoter for TS3 in Taiwan (which TS3 was quite popular for a while until THAT came out), alot of people switched due to the chat was very user unfriendly (and not intuitive)

Sticking to the old tradition is a good thing, but if it becomes what hinders you, you really need to think twice before sticking to the end with the idea.

[Boris8489]

Greetings,

Just thought id post a idea i would love to see added to TeamSpeak3. Well its not really an idea really, You see i've been using Nexus Mod Manager for a while now and it has a really cool feature where you can move specific modules (Plugins, Mods, Download Manager) around to your liking.

And well i thought to my self wouldnt it be cool if i could move where my Chatbox is in teamspeak to some where else or move the information tab some where else.

And maybe allow them to be stackable ontop of each other. so you could stack both your information tab & your chat tab ontop of your server tab resulting int you having 3 tabs under the current server tab.

-
Boris

[willy_sunny]

Although this could be the wrong place to ask, but I wonder if it's possible to change from

Current layout
┌┬┐
├┴┤
└─┘

to

This layout
┌┬┐
│├┤
└┴┘

by moving the chat box to the lower right (aka extanding the view range of server tree)?

Since chat text can be warpped, so moving it to bot right shouldn't hurt at all.

This thread was moved

[dante696]

This is not possible.

Since chat text can be warpped << What do you mean here? I don't see any change since beta 1 in our layout. Did i miss something?

[Air SeaTac]

What I think he meant was that since text in the bottom section wraps, there's no need for it to be the full width of the Teamspeak client, so those people who have created 100's of channels can use the full height of the Teamspeak client to display them in the left hand section

[HerrWilhelm]

I just registered here on TS forum to suggest exactly the same as suggested above.

Please TS programmers, make it able to move the chat below the information window, since that window has my lowest intrest.

My TS server has 33 channels, and i would love to see all channels and the people who is in which room. Beside that its imported for me as TS server admin to have a good view on the chat, so hide the chat is not my solution.