Unity Blue Corner -- Feature, not Bug

[aaaantoine]

Since I installed 11.04 and started using Unity full time, I would occasionally see a blue arrow up in the top left corner, and think it was a graphical glitch.

Evidently, that blue corner is meant to indicate that one of the tasks on the launch panel is asking for attention.

I write this hoping someone else might learn something (that, or tell me I'm wrong ;)).

[whatthefunk]

I dont use Unity so have never seen this blue arrow but that seems like a silly way to get peoples attention.

[fillmont]

Since I installed 11.04 and started using Unity full time, I would occasionally see a blue arrow up in the top left corner, and think it was a graphical glitch.

Evidently, that blue corner is meant to indicate that one of the tasks on the launch panel is asking for attention.

I write this hoping someone else might learn something (that, or tell me I'm wrong ;)).

Nah, you're right. That's what it's there for. You'll also see the blue arrow next the individual program that has done something.

[JDShu]

It's pretty horrible. While something overly intrusive like the bouncing dock icons in OS X is no good either, the tiny blue triangle is not noticeable at all and causes the user to miss messages easily. This is one area where I think Windows/Gnome 2 struck a happy balance and newer interfaces like Unity and Shell haven't figured out yet.

[cgroza]

It's pretty horrible. While something overly intrusive like the bouncing dock icons in OS X is no good either, the tiny blue triangle is not noticeable at all and causes the user to miss messages easily. This is one area where I think Windows/Gnome 2 struck a happy balance and newer interfaces like Unity and Shell haven't figured out yet.
Maybe they should make the Ubuntu button flash slowly, and when the user hovers over it, show the panel with the respective icon flashing too.

[aaaantoine]

I do believe the point is, when the panel is hidden, to get you to move your mouse to that corner and then see the application that is asking for attention.

Unity also does have the icon bounce into view briefly, but only when it receives the attention signal at first.

[Oxwivi]

But why blue?! It should be orange!

And whether noticeable or not, it's useful since launcher is hidden in default configuration When the corner is blue and you hover for the launcher, you can see the window pointer for an application also glowing blue indicating the application wanting you attention.

[kaldor]

This is possibly one of my biggest gripes with Unity. How many times I have had to tell people "oh sorry I didn't see the message" after noticing people trying to talk to me for the last 30 minutes :(

[whatthefunk]

Isnt there a way to change the notification type? Maybe look in panel settings??

[Lucradia]

But why blue?! It should be orange!

The little blue triangle / etc. I believe is based on the color of the background in the unity panel. Or, that's what it's supposed to be based off of.

[cariboo]

This is possibly one of my biggest gripes with Unity. How many times I have had to tell people "oh sorry I didn't see the message" after noticing people trying to talk to me for the last 30 minutes :(

What you are talking about is different from what the op is talking about, the blue triangle is just a notification that a program needs attention.

What you need is the icon in the me-menu to flash or change color. I installed indicator-xchat, so that whenever someone on irc pings me while running xchat, the envelope turns blue.

[aaaantoine]

The little blue triangle / etc. I believe is based on the color of the background in the unity panel. Or, that's what it's supposed to be based off of.

I think in Lucid, the message icon turns green. Not sure why this was changed to blue in subsequent releases.

[3rdalbum]

The triangle isn't the only notification you get. The program's icon also pops out of the launcher and wiggles around when the program first calls for attention. If you open the launcher at any time you'll also see the program's icon tilting left and right.

So, that's three forms of notification.

It *should* be a bug that when you open Gimp, it puts a blue triangle in the top-left corner because one of the newly-spawned windows has called for attention.

[Oxwivi]

The little blue triangle / etc. I believe is based on the color of the background in the unity panel. Or, that's what it's supposed to be based off of.
What background? I don't see anything blue, in the Ambiance theme, other than notifications.

[Lucradia]

What background? I don't see anything blue, in the Ambiance theme, other than notifications.

My empathy icon has a blue background in the unity launcher panel.


It *should* be a bug that when you open Gimp, it puts a blue triangle in the top-left corner because one of the newly-spawned windows has called for attention.

It's a bug in GIMP actually. Even in windows, GIMP sets the taskbar to grab your attention. This should be fixed in the new interface that's all-in-one. Because as of now, GIMP's dialogs all try to grab attention, but the main window is auto-focused, causing the image work area to try and grab attention.

[Oxwivi]

Sure, but that's when there is chat activity. Color changed to bring it in line with the corner notification. It was green previously.

[Lucradia]

Sure, but that's when there is chat activity. Color changed to bring it in line with the one in the corner. It was green previously.

That's because the envelope icon turns blue for me now in the upper right.

[Oxwivi]

That's because the envelope icon turns blue for me now in the upper right.
... That's what I'm talking about...?

Anyway, my point is orange would go with the theme much better, period.

[Lucradia]

... That's what I'm talking about...?

Anyway, my point is orange would go with the theme much better, period.

Pretty sure the OP was talking about the blue triangle that appears in the upper left, not the upper right envelope. So, why did you bring up the envelope?

[Oxwivi]

Oops, I got confused with the Empathy icon background mention. And speaking of which launcher icon's background color does not have anything to do with theme.

[aaaantoine]

Pretty sure the OP was talking about the blue triangle that appears in the upper left, not the upper right envelope. So, why did you bring up the envelope?

I am. Though part of the reason I originally thought it was a graphical glitch was because for me, it would often happen in conjunction with the envelope lighting up blue from Pidgin messages.

[Oxwivi]

I am. Though part of the reason I originally thought it was a graphical glitch was because for me, it would often happen in conjunction with the envelope lighting up blue from Pidgin messages.

... and the mystery is no more!

Anyway, it looks like it's not mentioned in the Ubuntu Desktop Guide. Maybe you can contribute to fill knowledge gap or at least file a bug?

[BeRoot ReBoot]

Ugh, absolutely unnecessary. I want my applications to keep their behaviour in their own damn windows. I'm capable of deciding which ones need my attention by myself. This is just fuel for the ADD "must do ten things at once to feel productive" crowd.

[Lucradia]

Ugh, absolutely unnecessary. I want my applications to keep their behaviour in their own damn windows. I'm capable of deciding which ones need my attention by myself. This is just fuel for the ADD "must do ten things at once to feel productive" crowd.

Plus One.

[Merk42]

I honestly thought it was a bug. Why is it in the completely opposite side from where the notifications are?
If they want to highlight what application needs attention they should make it's background blue in the launcher, of course that would mean actually putting some function behind the colored backgrounds on the launcher...

[3rdalbum]

It's a bug in GIMP actually. Even in windows, GIMP sets the taskbar to grab your attention. This should be fixed in the new interface that's all-in-one. Because as of now, GIMP's dialogs all try to grab attention, but the main window is auto-focused, causing the image work area to try and grab attention.

Oh yeah, that's what I meant - it's a bug in GIMP that it calls for attention. The wording in my post was a bit confusing, so sorry.