Allow locations to collapse

It would be great if location groups could be collapsed by type (network locations, bookmarks, …), like Nemo does :

nemo-collapse-places
I have a lot of bookmarks and network locations, which means a lot of scrolling to get to the right one

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I have a lot of bookmarks and network locations, which means a lot of scrolling to get to the right one

But if you expand them, you still need to scroll, right?

Unless you mean the scrolling is due to being unable to hide the default places (Documents, Images, Music, etc). If that’s the case, would you rather like the ability to remove the places you don’t need, instead of the expanders?

@antoniof

But if you expand them, you still need to scroll, right?

If the places were collapsed, obviously the scrolling would be less, because I’d only have to scroll through the expanded group, not through all of them.

would you rather like the ability to remove the places you don’t need, instead of the expanders?

I don’t really have places that I don’t need.

No, for me the best behavior would be the same as Nemo’s (see screenshot), with (at least) the bookmarks and network locations being collapsible. Ideally with an option to disable the collapsible feature for people who don’t have a lot of places and who prefer Gnome File’s current behavior (ungrouped places)

In short, in my opinion :

  • Gnome File’s current behavior is best if you don’t have a lot of places
  • But Nemo’s behavior (with collapsible places) is easier to browse if you have a lot of places

Can you be more specific? Do you mean you have a lot of bookmarks? Or else what do you have a lot of?

If you have a lot of bookmarks, well, bookmarks are already at the bottom. So, there is no need to collapse: just don’t scroll if you don’t need to.

If it’s not about having lots of bookmarks, then what do you have lots of?

It’s the network locations. I have about 30 of them (online accounts, but also SFTP, SMB and NFS mounts).

In fact most of the time I don’t need the network drives, but I have to scroll through them in order to get to my bookmarks. Collapsible network drives would be nice.

About the bookmarks, yes you are right, they are already at the bottom, so there’s not point in collapsing them.

Oh, so that’s something we should look into.

Are these network locations mounted all of the time? Or do they show up even if not mounted?

We have an “Other Locations” which should be the place for network locations not currently in use. But apparently this is not currently the case.

If we automatically hide disconnected network locations from the sidebar (still accessible through +Other Locations), would it be a good thing for you?

Are these network locations mounted all of the time? Or do they show up even if not mounted?

Most of the time most of them are not mounted, but they still show up.

If we automatically hide disconnected network locations from the sidebar (still accessible through +Other Locations), would it be a good thing for you?

Yes, that would be a smart approach too : showing only the mounted network locations in the sidebar, and showing all of them in Other Locations. A soon as one is mounted through Other Locations, it should then appear in the sidebar

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Most of the time most of them are not mounted, but they still show up.

Do you know how they were found if they are not mounted?

Is it because they were mounted once and then stick around?

Or are they set in fstab? Systemd?

Do you know how they were found if they are not mounted?

It’s the online accounts that stick around. Just try and set up a google online account. The google drive will automatically show up in the network locations, even if not mounted.

I see! That helps with pinpointing the issue! :smiley:

May I ask you to file this as a bug? That online-accounts drives are always added to sidebar even while not mounted. https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/-/issues/new

This is going to help us keep track and not forget about this. Feel free to keep the bug report short, to the point, and link to this discussion for more information.

May I ask you to file this as a bug?

Done (https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/-/issues/2335)

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