3.1. The User Interface

The user interface includes the following components:

The following screen shots show the user interface, using the Email application as an example.

Menu bar Contains the following icons and buttons:

  • Buttons for launching applications like Email or Calendar

  • Depending on the action, additional buttons might be displayed e.g.,: if composing a new email or editing an appointment.

  • Unread Badge icon . The icon notifies you of the number of new objects e.g.,: unread email messages or scheduled appointment invitations. Clicking opens the notification area .

  • Refresh icon Reloads objects from the server. Irrespective of this function, objects are refreshed in regular intervals.

  • System menu icon . Opens a menu with the following entries:

    • Settings. Opens a page that allows customising settings.

    • Help. Opens the online help.

    • Full screen. Switches to full screen mode or back to windowed mode.

    • Sign out. Signs you out from the groupware.

Tool bar  The tool bar is on the left. It contains the following icons:

  • New icon . Creates new objects like a new email or a new contact.

  • Toggle Folder icon . Opens or closes the folder tree.

  • Toggle Search icon . Opens or closes the search input field.

Depending on the application, additional icons may be available e.g.: an icon for selecting a view for the display area.

Toggle Search input field  If you click the Toggle Search icon in the tool bar, the Toggle Search is opened or closed. When entering a search term, the side bar only displays elements matching the search term. To reset the search result, click the Toggle Search icon in the tool bar.

Folder tree  When clicking the Toggle Folder icon in the tool bar, the folder tree is opened or closed. It shows the following contents:

  • an alphabetically sorted list of application specific folders

  • depending on the application, sections for personal, public and shared folders

    Note: Depending on the groupware configuration, those sections might not be displayed if there are no public or shared folders.

  • The Folder-specific actions icon next to the selected folder. It contains functions for organising folders. Depending on the folder, further functions might be available.

    Tip: You can also access the folder-specific actions by right-clicking on a folder.

Side bar  Depending on the application and the view selected, the side bar displays a list of the objects in the current folder. Depending on the application, additional buttons are shown below the list e.g., for sorting objects.

Display area  Depending on the application and the view selected, the display area shows the content of the object you selected in the side bar or the content of the folder selected. If you selected an email, the display area shows the following elements:

  • application specific buttons for replying to the email, forwarding it or for using other functions

  • the header and the content of the email

Clicking on an object in the display area opens a pop-up window. In the Files app, a function bar is displayed in the upper part of the display area.

Pop-up Displays detailed information about an object shown in the display area. In order to open the pop-up, click on a groupware object in the display area. If you read an email in the display area and click on the name of the sender, the following elements are displayed in the pop-up:

  • buttons for certain actions, e.g.: copying the sender's contact data to a folder.

  • the sender's contact data

  • relevant information, e.g.: your shared appointments or your email conversation with the sender

These person related data are called halo view. If clicking on a certain element in the pop-up, an additional pop-up might be opened. In order to close a pop-up, click on Close in the upper right side. In order to close all pop-ups, click on Close all

Notification Area Displays information about the following objects:

  • unread email messages

  • new appointment invitations

  • queued tasks

  • tasks with a due date in the past

In order to open the notification area, click the Unread badge icon on the right side of the menu bar. The following actions are possible:

  • To read a new email, click on it.

  • To open the inbox, click on Show Inbox.

  • To confirm new appointments, click on the Confirm button.

To close the notification area, click the Unread badge icon again.