"Modern Look" (for test)

[Salomon-Mazatlan]

Alternative proposal for a modernised look, with no restructuring of the .ui files.

Tested on Windows 10 and 11, where it works as expected. Still untested on macOS and on Linux distributions.

A new "Look" option is added in Settings, next to Style, with four values. Classic leaves everything exactly as it is today. Modern, Soft and Aurora apply a visual layer on top of whichever colour theme the user has chosen (native, original, dark, blue and the rest).

The layer flattens the icon buttons in the tool strips, rounds fields, drop-downs and content areas, turns tabs into pills, draws thin scrollbars, gives the tool strips a soft band with a small top margin, and draws the separator lines defined in the .ui files as clean one pixel lines. Check boxes get a white box with a dark mark so they read the same on every theme.

No .ui file changes. The layer relies on two conventions the .ui files already follow, icon-only buttons have no text and tool strips are untitled group boxes, and tags those widgets at runtime the first time Qt styles them.

Everything is translucent greys (or translucent accent colours in Aurora), so a look sits on any colour theme without fighting it. Interactive states (hover, pressed, focus) are defined by the layer, so themes no longer leak their orange borders through it.

The layer writes three small SVG files (check mark, radio dot, chevron) into ~/.qualcoder, in the same way the fonts are installed.

Performance

Installing the layer at startup costs about 7 ms, once. There is no per-event cost, tagging happens in the style's polish step, not in an event filter. Repainting is slightly faster because there is less decoration to draw.

Screenshots

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Current (Look Classic + Style Native)

Look Modern + Style Native

Look Aurora + Style Native

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Current (Look Classic + Style Dark)

Look Modern + Style Dark

Look Aurora + Style Dark

[Salomon-Mazatlan]

Additionally, for this update, @qwertygc 's suggestions could be added to the log tab, to include a section for project management.

[qwertygc]

Tested on Linux Mint 22.3, seem good, not problem.

I am more skeptical about making only cosmetic changes (colors, rounded corners); to my mind, deeper work is needed on the button layout to eliminate that "airplane cockpit dashboard" look. At the same time, we need to get rid of themes that look distinctly "2000s," as they could harm the software's image. However, these things complement each other, and your work is heading in the right direction. Personally, between "Modern" and "Aurora," I prefer "Modern"—though my own approach is heavily influenced by Bauhaus and Swiss Design.

[Salomon-Mazatlan]

Tested on Linux Mint 22.3, seem good, not problem.

I am more skeptical about making only cosmetic changes (colors, rounded corners); to my mind, deeper work is needed on the button layout to eliminate that "airplane cockpit dashboard" look. At the same time, we need to get rid of themes that look distinctly "2000s," as they could harm the software's image. However, these things complement each other, and your work is heading in the right direction. Personally, between "Modern" and "Aurora," I prefer "Modern"—though my own approach is heavily influenced by Bauhaus and Swiss Design.

Hi @qwertygc

Thanks for testing it on Linux Mint.

The main idea, for now, is to spare us a complete restructuring of the .ui files, since this update works with the ones we already have (even if they are modified later), and to use it as an entry point for something bigger.

[kaixxx]

Thank you, Lorenzo. I like the subtle modernization and the clean styling of the "modern" look. The Aurora look is also nice, but a little too playful in my eyes for a scientific research platform. Besides, MAXQDA uses a similar looking color gradient to mark AI generated codes and codings, which might confuse people switching over from that app.

I also agree with Justin that we should use this as a starting point for an even deeper redesign, and that we should get rid of some of the old styles in the process.

What I don't like so much is the new style/look setting. First of all, it is hard to understand what the difference actually means, because styles and looks both change colors as well a the general widget appearance. Its all a bit confusing. Also, these two settings create many possible and sometimes weird combinations that don't work well together (imagine the "rainbow" style combined with the "aurora" look). Lets keep it simple.

[Salomon-Mazatlan]

Thanks @qwertygc and @kaixxx for the feedback, I'll take note.

[qwertygc]

Maybe we can delete theme and keep look for example. In my opinion, the "Native" is a good starting point for improving the interface.

[ccbogel]

I am OK with just keeping 2 themes a light one and a dark one. I added the coloured ones as a novelty once upon a time. These can be removed, for the next version.