Awesometray: a JavaScript Quick Access Toolbar

Hey there, folks. This is a copy of my Google Summer of Code application for this project. The original discussion can be found here. For mentor-y folks, the view of the proposal on the GSoC page is here (I think, anyway, this link works for me--please let me know if it's broken!). Thanks for reading, and any feedback is appreciated!

Overview: The abstract really does say most of it. Awesometray is a tray (a JavaScript toolbar that affixes to an edge of the window) that allows for both administrator and user customization to offer a sort of quick-launch functionality for whatever they might want to make easily available.

Description: rpfilomeno gave an excellent description of the idea, so I'll paraphrase his original idea a little bit, then offer my own suggestions and alterations.

Awesometray is a JavaScript-based tray. Unlike Drupal menus, the Awesometray will be user-customizable, allowing authenticated users to manage what features they see in the tray. The toolbar can keep track of bookmarked pages as well as display DHTML popups for a Block, a View, or an Application, such as the output provided by the Embed Widget module. The toolbar will be relocatable (probably just to any of the four sides of the browser window, for simplicity's sake, and changing orientation from horizontal to vertical if the tray is placed on the left or right sides) and either integrate with the Color module to allow for recoloring or provide its own more robust theming mechanism to allow for more than a simple recolor.

Each shortcut icon will need to have the ability to in some method display a state change. For example, a bookmarked node may show up with a different background, an asterisk by its name, or a different icon to highlight the fact that it has been updated. Each non-bookmark Awesometray tab can be configured to either activate on rollover or click and each can be configured to display in a verbose mode (showing the item's title) or a brief mode, showing only an icon. For example, the Blog module may push an Awesometray tab that is click-to-display (perhaps indicated with a small notch in the bottom of the tab?) and displays only a small pen-and-paper icon, while the Menu module might attach a menu with its given name and have it display on rollover.

The reference of Awesometray functionality being exposed to other modules obviously necessitates the creation of an API to register these different Awesometray tabs. While I'm sure I'm missing some necessary functionality, the following seems like a decent start:

• Adding an Awesometray tab to the available list (perhaps permission-based?)
• Removing an Awesometray tab from the available list
• Configuring an Awesometray tab
  • Tab caption
  • Tab icon
  • Display style (brief/verbose)
  • Behavior (rollover/click)
  • Action
• Set a notification on the tab (so it flashes, changes colors, whatever)

I disagree with the way rpfilomeno suggested a few parts of the project, however. For example, while I think that bookmarking functionality will be a handy part of Awesometray, I don't think it necessarily should be a part of Awesometray itself. Some users may not want it and it strikes me as being easier to wrap that in a module that adds a "Bookmark This" tab to the tray. I think that "Awesometray Bookmark" (integrating with other bookmarking solutions, if applicable) would be a good test of a module that specifically exercises Awesometray functionality. The Awesometray module itself should only be the renderer, the API for registering and controlling tabs, and the assorted configuration "glue"; the rest of it will be whatever modules we decide need to be packaged with Awesometray releases.

Also, I don't think I've said "awesome" enough times, so I'd just like to conclude with this: I think this is an absolutely awesome project that will add awesome functionality to an already awesome website framework.

Thanks for reading. You're awesome too.

Mentors:

• rpfilomeno - it was his idea in the first place. This dude? He's awesome.

Difficulty: Medium