Sage Usability Tasks

Source: Sage Usability Improvements List. This is an attempt to organize the desired changes into tasks of varying difficulty (e.g., easy, medium, hard).

1. General

• Y. Aner's notebook threat model (PDF).

• Keith Lang's Top 10 UI Myths.

• Sage Forge.

2. Documentation

• Allow $ for reST math - #6892.

• Document pexpect interface.

• Document notebook port forwarding.

3. Notebook: Admin

• Dashboard for server settings / status.
  • View logged-in users, load, processes, etc.
  • Backup all critical data.
  • Configure thresholds, alerts, snapshot behavior.
  • Manage user accounts, groups, privileges.
  • Restricted version for users.

• Selective registration with reCAPTCHA, challenge questions, admin approval, and/or revokable custom tokens.

• Custom authentication: LDAP, UNIX accounts, etc.
• Password "recovery:" Use secure tokens.
• Email address as username.
• User groups.
• Privileged users, e.g, admins.

4. Notebook: Introspection

• Use Sphinx for sagenb.org docstrings.
• Live introspection cells.
• Introspection cross-links.

• New documentation browser. Send docstrings to this browser.

• Better error detection, e.g., for Maxima command completion.

• Matrix B mentioned twice in B.solve_left?: B.solve_left(B, ...).

• Completions link for mobiles.
• Improve introspection / completion interface: floating div, RHS div.

5. Notebook: "Modes"

• Graph editor - #1321.

• LaTeX doc mode.

• reST editing.

  • TinyMCE-style editor.

  • %rest cells (auto-hide, double-click to show) sent to Sphinx on-the-fly.

• %timeit.
• Preparse in the browser: implicit multiplication, less work for server.

• Math input GUI plug-ins.

• Vector graphics editor - SVG-edit.

6. Notebook: User Interaction

• Automatic tips for keyboard shortcuts, editing features, etc. Opt out.
• Friendly bug buddy that emails reports, bundles session history, etc.
• Easy backups of own work, with or w/o data, output, snapshots, etc.
• Toolbar with buttons to interrupt running code, save, get key help, etc.
• Easily identify idle, queued, and running cells.
• Keys
  • Insert new cell after current cell shortcut.
  • Restart worksheet shortcut.
  • Custom shortcuts, e.g., ctrl-bksp to delete previous word, not join cells.
  • Use js-hotkeys.
  • Splash-screen with common keys.
• Interactive 2D/3D plots

  • coordinates, zoom, pan, annotate

  • matplotlib, canvas, SVG, Flot, Open Flash Chart.

• Animated 2D/3D plots using only JavaScript.

• Always show long output links, regardless of interrupt or length.
• Custom window close callback.
• Suppress browser warning for Konquereor.
• Unique cookie for each login.

• Cells: Select, delete, (un)group, move multiple cells.

• Slideshow mode.
• Published worksheets:
  • Delete them.
  • RSS feeds.
  • Live cells, e.g, interacts.
  • Only to selected users or groups.
• jsMath fonts:
  • Ship with Sage.
  • Clear install directions.

• TinyMCE synchronization problem.

• Default options:
  • Implicit multiplication.
  • Typeset output.
• Reorganize help page.
• Automatically save / restore worksheet state. Pause / resume.
• Function to update worksheet titlebar.
• Auto-update cells, e.g., interacts.

• Full-text search: SQLalchemy, Whoosh (codenode-devel).

• Math-enabled chat. qwebirc / Web IRC.

• Tags.

• Externally embed live cells / worksheets. Live published workseets. #6855.

• Prevent text movement by a pixel on cell frame focus.

• Leading space input bug - #6729.

• Python debugger a la Pylons.

• Editor a la BeSpin

  • Command-line history.
  • Syntax highlighting.
  • Context-sensitive completion.

• Fix MoinMoin.

• Use notebook as IDE for running sage instance.

• Download zip files of multiple worksheets, even if accounts=True.

• Parens matching - #3646.

• Optional always visible menubar at top of worksheet.

7. Notebook: Under the hood

• Better handling of concurrent worksheet use.
• Smartly manage Jmol applet count, or memory use.

• Component architecture.

• Cythonize pexpect.
• Client-server synchronization:
  • TinyMCE problem
  • Server-to-server sync for backups, possibly with authentication.
• Track worksheets and user data with Mercurial.
• Balance server pool loads.
• Load JS / CSS components on demand.

• Migrate to another server and/or framework: Django, Pylons, Pyjamas, Tornado, etc.

• URL routes.

8. Build / Tests

• Notebook testing infrastructure: Selenium, Testled, Webdriver, WebTest, Windmill.

• Binary distibutions that don't use SSE3, etc.
• Windows port.
• Windows build farm.

• VirtualBox Sage.

• andLinux Sage.