Replace the buttons at the top with a sidebar navigation menu

[alessio-attilio]

Currently, in terms of UI/UX, the button layout isn't ideal; it would be better to use a side navigation bar like this one, which looks better and is easier to use.

[alessio-attilio]

@loathingKernel If I start a PR about this, would you be interested? I really like it!

It looks much better; that clean look makes the app more organized and gives it better graphics, compared to buttons that don't even look right in KDE.

[loathingKernel]

This is not a bad idea, and it should not be very hard to do. I have a couple of issues with it though.

1. it reduces the horizontal space which is the most important factor on how the tiles are arranged. On small or more square displays it might look odd to have all that dead space thre. This can be fixed in a couple of ways, so I consider it minor.

2. I have been considering redesigning the library to use a vertical side list, similar to Steam. So that space would be used for that. This would also free a large part of the top bar as the drop down menus and the search could move there.

If I start a PR about this, would you be interested? I really like it!

Once a design has been finalized and you are still interested, sure. I should mention here that I do not like LLM assisted PRs so any effort should not contain any LLM assisted code and it preferably should re-use the existing custom widgets in Rare when applicable, even with modifications, to keep a consistent styling

[alessio-attilio]

Yes, it was very simple (I've actually already created it), using a completely new component; that seemed like the best solution to me, and it eliminated the need for buttons directly in the MainWindow; but before getting any pushback, I thought I'd better ask.

[loathingKernel]

It's not the exact same thing, but the final feeling should be the same. This does look odd on all other pages where there are tabs on the side already and your example will create even more empty space. To me it looks both too empty and too busy at the same time.

The lack of header also looks odd to me as the rectangle is open-ended without sides, but that can be fixed with some styling

[loathingKernel]

I am using this existing SideTabBar here for demonstration purposes, yours does look better, but this is the empty space that I do not quite like

[loathingKernel]

Icons only might look acceptable tho

[alessio-attilio]

I would move the tabs of the inner SideTabWidgets to the top (horizontally) when the NavSideBar is active.

[alessio-attilio]