Ubuntu MATE Welcome screen

Development Discussion
1

It is not finished yet, but the new Ubuntu MATE Welcome screen is taking shape.

Ubuntu MATE Welcome available for testing

I've published 1.0.0 release candidates for Ubuntu MATE Welcome in PPAs for 15.04 and 15.10. Please come and test, particularly the Software Install feature :slight_smile: Ubuntu MATE Welcome won't pop up default when installed outside of Ubiquity, so you'll find it in Applications -> System -> Ubuntu MATE Welcome.

Ubuntu MATE 15.04

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/vivid-mate
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-mate-welcome

Ubuntu MATE 15.10

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/wily-mate
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-mate-welcome

Friday June 19th

This is how the Ubuntu MATE Welcome looked on June 19th.

Welcome.png770Ă—525 97.6 KB

This will be integrated into Ubuntu MATE 15.10 at some point at will pop-up when you login to a session. It can be configured to stop popping up too. The idea is simple, try and put all the useful information front and center so new user can find there way around :smile:

It is basically a local webapp but also knows how to launch applications with using specially crafted URLs. Currently, Introduction, Features, Community, Chat Room and Get Involved are finished.

Saturday June 20th

This is how the Ubuntu MATE Welcome looks now. I've listened to the feedback I've had from this forum and the social networks. I've changed the design a little and all the features are implemented, but some content needs work.

Home

The opening screen.

01_Weclome_index.png770Ă—581 108 KB

Introduction

Documentation that describes the Ubuntu MATE project and what Ubuntu MATE is.

02_Welcome_introduction.png770Ă—581 94.3 KB

Features

Documentation that explains what the core applications are and what they do. It goes on to talk about Accessibility, Steam and mobile device integration.

03_Welcome_features.png770Ă—581 100 KB

Getting started

A selection of useful activities you should probably complete after an initial install. Yes, those buttons all do exactly what they say they do and there are several more activities down the page including User Interface and full documentation for every keyboard short-cut.

04_Welcome_gettingstarted.png770Ă—581 49.1 KB

Community

05_Welcome_community.png770Ă—581 63.8 KB

Chat Room

The HexChat icon and button launch a preconfigured profile that directly connects to the #ubuntu-mate channel.

06_Welcome_chatroom.png770Ă—581 63.3 KB

Software

A really tiny "software center" that recommends best of breed applications that integrate well with Ubuntu MATE. Yes, those install buttons work. I've only put about 6 applications in here so far, I don't want it to be a huge selection but it does need expanding.

07_Welcome_software.png770Ă—581 89.7 KB

Get Involved

This page need some work :blush:

08_Welcome_getinvolved.png770Ă—581 59 KB

Shop

What the... :hushed:

09_Welcome_shop.png770Ă—581 69.9 KB

11 Likes
2

Very nice, I like the darker look.

3

Maybe if it only appears the first few times after install? But it doesn’t look bad. Good job.

4

I like it Martin. Very nice.

5

Not trying to be picky here, but I don’t hink black on dark grey is a good idea.
I’d suggest to lower the contrast on the pic. (and have it a bit brighter)

Also I believe there’s a comma missing in “We the Ubuntu MATE developers, hope that…”

6

@coli I actually spotted that missing comma while posting the screen shot here and fixed the source afterwards :slight_smile: I know what you mean about the colours, I’m focused on getting the functionality and content done first, but I’ve removed the backdrop logo from everything other than the opening screen to improve the readability :slight_smile:

7

See the opening post, new screen-shots added :slight_smile:

8

Very much approve of the changes Martin. Really cool, elegant look on the buttons with white font on black background.

1 Like
9

May I just be a punctuation Nazi for a moment and make mention of the following opening sentence of the splash screen. Namely, “Welcome to Ubuntu Mate, and thank you for joining our community”.

Strictly speaking, the comma, after “Ubuntu Mate”, is not correct since the “and” that immediately follows it is a conjunction word and so connects the two parts of the sentence together. Thus rendering a comma, to clause the two parts of the sentence out, unnecessary.

The only occasion where a comma may be deemed appropriate immediately preceding an “and” is where the “Oxford” rule might apply. For example:

We had coffee, cheese and crackers, and grapes.

In this, the comma may be legitimately used for clarity to indicate the cheese and crackers came as a single item…

I’ll get my coat… :grinning:

10

Actually, I have just been reading the stuff on those screen-shots. Really nice professional work Martin. Especially all of the opening buttons that facilitate users’ implementation of initial software tweaks pertinent to their particular rig.

1 Like
11

Release candidate available for testing. See first post :slight_smile:

1 Like
12

The new version of Ubuntu MATE Welcome is in the PPAs. It is a pretty massive update.

  • I’ve replaced gksudo with PolicyKit.
  • I’ve removed the dependency on Synaptic (for updating the package cache) and replaced it with my own implementation using AptDaemon. When adding a PPA or 3rd party repository only that source needs updating, not every package source on your system. Means faster.
  • I’ve removed the dependency on apturl (for installing packages) with my own implementation based on AptDaemon. My implementation is transactional and can batch packages, so no more multiple prompts.
  • It is now possible to install, reinstall and remove software. Upon restarting the Welcome screen the Software section will change the available buttons that are available for each software title based on the install status.
  • I’ve added several more titles to the software section and (hopefully) fixed the issues you’ve all kindly reported.

It’s not finished, but it is much closer to what I was intending to create. Please test :slight_smile:

1 Like
13

Hey @wimpy is the package in Launchpad or shall we continue bug reports on this here? When you click on any of the get involved links it goes to a page in it’s own original window with no way to return… Also I think it should just maybe open in a new browser window so it is easy to go back to and navigate elsewhere.

Same thing happens when you install an app…there is no where to return to after you install when, you have to repopen the welcome app.

14

I’ll fix the get involved links. I’ll be opening up this project on BitBucket soon. The current version of the Welcome app in the PPA should install without requiring a restart of the app. Not sure what you describing there :slight_smile:

1 Like
15

@wimpy the other issue is fixed since last I updated…

1 Like
16

@Wimpy the only bug i found so far is when you install or remove applications from the software page it does not update.

Screenshot-Welcome to Ubuntu MATE.png804Ă—613 87.7 KB

the only way it changes is if you restart the welcome screen,

17

Yep, I’m aware of this. I’m not quite sure (yet) how I get an asynchronous task to update a stateless application. If anyone knows, let me know there is a beer in it for you :slight_smile:

18

Is the text/content that the user sees in the stateless application inside the actual code/structure of the application, or does it reside in a separate file and is called in when the stateless application is loaded?

19

The later.

The Welcome screen is basically a primitive web browser.

20

And the next version reflects that application install status correctly :grinning: So happy that I’m going to treat myself to some :wine_glass:

2 Likes