Nemo Side Bar more intuitive Structure

[Papermanzero]

Currently the sidebar in the file browser (Nemo) seems a little bit disorganized.

you have the categories: my computer, devices and network. Under “my computer” there are links to the home folder, file system, the bookmarks and the trash bin. Under “devices” there are disc drives, usb devices, external hdds etc and under “network” are all network drives.

is it possible to rearrange the items to have a more intuitive presentation. My idea would be to have

• Bookmarks
• My computer
• Network

In “Bookmarks” you have:

• Home Folder
• Desktop
• Documents until Downloads (all folders in home)
• Recent (which can be disabled)
• Trash bin (which can be disabled)
• “own bookmarks” (which the user defined as bookmark)

In “My Computer” you have:

• My File system
• The root of each HDD or partition on an HDD
• The root of disc drives
• The root of external disc drives
• The root of external storage devices (HDD)
• The root of external usb drives (usb flash stick)
• Etc. (Root of all connected devices)
• The trash bin for all devices

Finally under “Networks”:

• Network drives
• Shared Folders
• etc.

This would be a much better overview for the users. I recognized that many people for whom I set up Mint get a lil bit confused with the current implementation which states “My Computer” and “Devices”.
This is why I propose this alternative solution to make Mint more intuitive.

[mtwebster]

You're looking at the default layout.

As soon as you 'Add bookmark' on a location, or attempt to rearrange existing ones, a proper 'Bookmarks' section appears and you can further arrange things.

Places like Videos and Pictures are just bookmarks also, but it's more natural to see it as part of My Computer for most people, along with trash, and the root filesystem.

Things like this aren't really significant enough that new users will have trouble getting used to them, but we're very likely to annoy existing ones.

[Papermanzero]

That’s actually what I mean. It is a lil bit confusing, because you can combine the current implemented sections “bookmarks” with “my computer” to have a better overview. At the moment it is somehow mixed (file system under my computer, but no root under my computer, devices are listed separately, home folders under my computer, but can be created as bookmarks)

The structure can be more logical and intuitive (tidying up the navigation)

A “computer” section to access all roots for internal and external devices including the system files.
Maybe there is even an UI possibility to differentiate between internal devices (HDDs, Partitions, Disc Drives etc), external devices (USB HDDs, USB drives etc) and virtual drives (virtual disc drives)

A “bookmark” section for favorite places like home, documents, pictures, custom places etc. Like what you do with the current “my computer” section however removing system references, and adding new bookmarks below the home folders.

A “network” section for all network devices, folders, online accounts (like dropbox, onedrive etc) etc

That’s the basic idea to clean up the navigation.

[Papermanzero]

Here a mockup about what I mean.
Normally the left sidebar should be a list, but I did not have the space 😅 so imagine, the nemo sidebar as a list

Edit: after making the mock-up I had another idea which follows the linux slogan „custimize as you like“. Why not adding the possibility to add custome sections or categories?

Under „network“ the user can create a category section for his own marked bookmarks or a category for external devices, a category for internal devices or a category for online services like dropbox, onedrive, google drive. Therefore you have full flexibility how the user organizes his sections in nemo. Maybe with hiding the system default sections (my bookmarks, my computer, my network)

[JosephMcc]

I really don't think that's better in any way. Really not a fan of the multiple column things. Not everyone uses 3 letter names for things.

[Papermanzero]

I really don't think that's better in any way. Really not a fan of the multiple column things. Not everyone uses 3 letter names for things.

I need to quote myself. 😏

„ Here a mockup about what I mean.
Normally the left sidebar should be a list, but I did not have the space 😅 so imagine, the nemo sidebar as a list“
It should not be two columns

But if you want a list, here:

[Papermanzero]

After I created yesterday the mockup (sorry for the two lists in the mockup), I had the idea to make the side bare totally flexible depending on the user needs.

Current Sidebar as default (which should be the standard setting):

My initial idea was to integrate the bookmarks into the “My Computer” section and rename it “My Bookmarks”. “Devices” became “My Computer” with “File System”

after creating the mock up yesterday. I thought to make it totally flexible depending on user demands.

For example 1, you can directly create a “Home Section” which is the root of your home folder, a “My Computer” section for all hardware devices and let the other sections stay as is.

For Example 2 I thought you can also differentiate between “internal and external devices” and create the “My Bookmarks” section

Example 3 distinguish between “Home Network” and “Cloud Services”

Example 4 is a use case in which the user switches between his home environment and his work environment (workplace, university, school). As soon as the user is in the work environment, he has access to the section “My Workplace”.

Actually the use cases to create various sections and categories is enormous. Thanks to “lsblk” you can detect all storage devices and sort them easily. The productivity can be increased by sorting all devices into the sections/categories.
For instance you can create a category “USB devices”, or a Category “Network Drives at Work” or a category “Private Cloud Services” and “Business Cloud Services”. Or you create a section/category for all virtual storage devices (virtual HDDs, virtual optical drives)

With lsblk you can detect hard drives (sata, sdd), optical drives (cd, dvd, bluray), virtual drives, removable devices (via rm - usb, esata) or read-only devices. If the side bar becomes more intuitive and adaptable (customizable) there are several use cases from which the user benefits (like with its own menu in the task bar).

[Papermanzero]

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=442882
linuxmint/nemo#2407

Reference that there are requests to modify the sidebar. For instance hiding “File System” from my computer.

[mtwebster]

This can't be overstated:

Things like this aren't really significant enough that new users will have trouble getting used to them, but we're very likely to annoy existing ones.

[Papermanzero]

Then at least make a possibility to remove/hide “file system” and other links in the “My Computer” section. Current users are not bothered and new ones have the freedom to remove finally links (like desktop, home, files system etc).

Common opinion about the sidebar from Nemo:

https://wiki.robotz.com/index.php?title=Nemo_File_Manager

linuxmint/nemo#2494

https://github.com/orgs/linuxmint/discussions/1100

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmint/comments/1l5wp7r/how_to_customize_the_icons_in_nemos_left_side/

So customization is a general feedback you get for years. I looked into the nemo code
(https://github.com/linuxmint/nemo/blob/4825be242adce942756be57ebde86d8720cb3164/src/nemo-places-sidebar.c#L152)
and it is hard to implement, because a lot is hardcoded. But you can start with a step-per-step approach to slowly add one customization possibility after another.