The title bar in the properties window says Scene even when the scene tab is not selected. #61874

New Issue

Eric Jomphe · 2019-02-23T06:04:26+01:00

Eric Jomphe commented

2019-02-23 06:04:26 +01:00

System Information
Operating system: Windows 10 pro 64bits
Graphics card: nvidia 780

Blender Version
Broken: 2019 02 22 22 26
Hash: 779860d34e

The title bar in the properties window says Scene even when the scene tab is not selected.

System Information Operating system: Windows 10 pro 64bits Graphics card: nvidia 780 Blender Version Broken: 2019 02 22 22 26 Hash: 779860d34e26 The title bar in the properties window says Scene even when the scene tab is not selected. ![Current_tool_displays_scene.jpg](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F6692602/Current_tool_displays_scene.jpg)

Eric Jomphe commented

2019-02-23 06:04:26 +01:00

Added subscriber: @EricJomphe

Harley Acheson commented

2019-02-23 18:01:59 +01:00

Added subscriber: @Harley

Harley Acheson commented

2019-02-23 18:01:59 +01:00

Yes, this is confusing, but might not be the exact confusion you think it might be...

The title bar in the properties window...

It isn't a title bar and never shows the title of the section you are viewing. But yes, it probably should. So if you click the "Ouput" tab it would be nice if the header showed "Output" in there somewhere.

...says Scene even when the scene tab is not selected.

Here is another confusion, because "Scene" is selected, but probably not quite in the word usage you are expecting. What the header is showing you is what "thing" is being acted upon. In this case you are changing render settings for a thing called "Scene", which is a scene as indicated by the icon to the left of it.

For me this highlights two separate issues

The header of the Properties editor should indeed act more like a title showing which tab is selected. The current "breadcrumb" is fairly useless. Breadcrumbs can come in handy when a path gets long, but here it is always one or two deep - better to show only the endpoint being edited.
It causes confusion that our default scene is called "Scene", and similarly that our default view layer is called "View Layer". It would have been so much clearer had these been called "Default" or similar.

I suspect that #2 is something we are stuck with. So I think we can get around that by treating those names as special in some places. So if you click on the "Render" tab the title shown in the header could just say "Render Settings" or similar, but only if there is only one scene and it is called "Scene". Otherwise show "Render Settings - MyScene01" or similar

Yes, this is confusing, but might not be the exact confusion you think it might be... > The title bar in the properties window... It isn't a title bar and never shows the title of the section you are viewing. But yes, it probably should. So if you click the "Ouput" tab it would be nice if the header showed "Output" in there somewhere. > ...says Scene even when the scene tab is not selected. Here is another confusion, because "Scene" *is* selected, but probably not quite in the word usage you are expecting. What the header is showing you is what "thing" is being acted upon. In this case you are changing render settings for a thing called "Scene", which is **a scene** as indicated by the icon to the left of it. For me this highlights two separate issues 1. The header of the Properties editor should indeed act more like a title showing which tab is selected. The current "breadcrumb" is fairly useless. Breadcrumbs can come in handy when a path gets long, but here it is always one or two deep - better to show only the endpoint being edited. 2. It causes confusion that our default scene is called "Scene", and similarly that our default view layer is called "View Layer". It would have been so much clearer had these been called "Default" or similar. I suspect that #2 is something we are stuck with. So I think we can get around that by treating those names as special in some places. So if you click on the "Render" tab the title shown in the header could just say "Render Settings" or similar, but only if there is only one scene and it is called "Scene". Otherwise show "Render Settings - MyScene01" or similar

Eric Jomphe commented

2019-02-24 23:53:15 +01:00

Ah, I see, so technically not a bug, but it is quite confusing. I flagged it after wondering why I couldn't find the Units in the scene tab, only to realize I didn't actually have it selected. Now that I understand the intention, it actually makes sense.

What would have helped me understand it intuitively would have been to include the tab title first since this looks like a title bar, and that is the information you'd expect to find there, followed by the item being acted on. Viewlayer and world already show the tab name. To me, It would make sense for the others to do so as well.

Right now, swapping tabs and seeing the name in the top bar remain the same feels like an update bug. Also, that means the icons are the only indication of which tab is which, and having to mouseover the icon to know the purpose of the tab you're in isn't great for discovery. To someone learning Blender, the title provides context for the tools you're looking at.

Ah, I see, so technically not a bug, but it is quite confusing. I flagged it after wondering why I couldn't find the Units in the scene tab, only to realize I didn't actually have it selected. Now that I understand the intention, it actually makes sense. What would have helped me understand it intuitively would have been to include the tab title first since this looks like a title bar, and that is the information you'd expect to find there, followed by the item being acted on. Viewlayer and world already show the tab name. To me, It would make sense for the others to do so as well. Right now, swapping tabs and seeing the name in the top bar remain the same feels like an update bug. Also, that means the icons are the only indication of which tab is which, and having to mouseover the icon to know the purpose of the tab you're in isn't great for discovery. To someone learning Blender, the title provides context for the tools you're looking at.

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2019-02-25 11:30:27 +01:00

Added subscriber: @brecht

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2019-02-25 11:30:27 +01:00

Changed status from 'Open' to: 'Archived'

Brecht Van Lommel closed this issue

2019-02-25 11:30:27 +01:00

Brecht Van Lommel self-assigned this 2019-02-25 11:30:27 +01:00

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2019-02-25 11:30:27 +01:00

Closing as not a bug, UI feedback can go to:
https://devtalk.blender.org/c/user-feedback

Closing as not a bug, UI feedback can go to: https://devtalk.blender.org/c/user-feedback

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The title bar in the properties window says Scene even when the scene tab is not selected. #61874