Scrollbars have gotten an issue
Scrollbars. Ever heard of them? They’re fairly cool. Click on and drag on a scrollbar and you’ll transfer content material round in a scrollable content material pane. I really like that shit. Day by day I’m scrolling on my pc, all day lengthy. However the scrollbars are getting smaller and that is more and more turning into an issue. I’d present you screenshots however they’re so small that even screenshotting them is difficult to do. And folks hold making them even smaller, hiding them away, its like they don’t need you to scroll! “Ah”, they are saying, “that’s what the scroll wheel is for”. My buddy, not everybody can use a scroll wheel or a swipe up contact display. And me, a contented scroll-wheeler, even I wish to rapidly soar round a while.
Why it issues
Okay so plenty of of us have positive motor management issues. Others use considerably inaccurate pointing gadgets like eye-trackers (they’re very spectacular, however not ok to your 8 pixel extensive scrollbar!!). And these folks, they wanna scroll! When my buddy is voice/sound controlling their pc (with Talon Voice which is really good btw you should try it), they don’t wanna say “scroll down” time and again or begin auto scrolling and attempt to land in the correct spot. They wanna simply take a look at the scrollbar and click on on the spot they wanna be taking a look at. You click on on the spot and the content material goes there! It’s THE GOOD STUFF!!!
I’m not the primary to note this. See this post too in 2015 discussing this problem. I’d hate to return in time solely to inform them nothing has improved.
“The straightforward undeniable fact that these skinny scroll bars exist are proof that designers don’t sit with non technical customers to conduct usability testing. As a result of in the event that they did that they might instantly uncover the issue.
Folks with dexterity and hand management challenges have a troublesome time with these skinny scroll bars.
Folks with eye sight challenges endure with these skinny scroll bars.”
The Issues
Folks hold making the bar smaller! Or attempting to eliminate it! I’m naming names of software program I exploit each day, but it surely’s not simply them, persons are doing this even outdoors the world of Linux.
In a number of the instances the issue is definitely that the bar is exactly the identical measurement it at all times has been (in pixels), however monitor resolutions are a lot greater than when that bar width was first chosen, and bars haven’t began scaling to maintain up, however in different instances the bars are literally getting smaller. Gods, bear in mind the needle-bar Ubuntu tried to introduce for a bit? lmao.
And whereas the bars had been shrinking, one other characteristic silently disappeared: buttons to click on and maintain right down to scroll left/proper in increments. Arrow-keys largely maintain this performance now, however are depending on what content material is in focus. Buttons weren’t depending on this. Truly, a few of you may not even know what I’m speaking about. These:
I don’t use these! However I added it into this submit on request of somebody who does, and desires them again.
By and huge the development that persists is, the bars get much less usable, and both there aren’t any user-configurable methods to repair them, or the power to configure the choices are buried so deep into the tech stack that no regular consumer can discover them. I’m extraordinarily technical. A lot of my pals aren’t, and it’s their troubles which have pushed me to put in writing this submit.
GTK
In GTK2, you can modify scrollbar widths straight in your gtkrc, and GUI applications existed to do that. In GTK3, that is CSS. Which, OK I assume, however there hasn’t actually been a superb user-friendly option to set it except you perceive theming. I discovered this reddit thread with a superb script for it, which I’ll reproduce right here within the seemingly occasion that reddit dies. Put this in a .sh file and run it when you want.
#!/bin/bash
echo "NEW SCROLLBAR WIDTH(px) OR TYPE 'r' TO RESET"
whereas true; do
learn uin
uin=$(echo "$uin" | xargs) # trim
uin=$(echo "${uin,,}") # decrease case
if [[ "$uin" =~ ^[1-9][0-9]?$ || "$uin" == "r" ]]; then
# RESET
# take away earlier width in gtk.css (if any)
if [ -f "$HOME/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css" ]; then
if [[ $(grep -v "slider { min-width" "$HOME/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css") ]]; then
grep -v "slider { min-width" "$HOME/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css" > tmpfile && mv tmpfile "$HOME/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css"
else
rm "$HOME/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css"
fi
fi
if [ -f "$HOME/.config/gtk-4.0/gtk.css" ]; then
if [[ $(grep -v "slider { min-width" "$HOME/.config/gtk-4.0/gtk.css") ]]; then
grep -v "slider { min-width" "$HOME/.config/gtk-4.0/gtk.css" > tmpfile && mv tmpfile "$HOME/.config/gtk-4.0/gtk.css"
else
rm "$HOME/.config/gtk-4.0/gtk.css"
fi
fi
# reset scrollbar visibility
gsettings reset org.gnome.desktop.interface overlay-scrolling
# reset flatpak overrides
if [[ "$(flatpak --version 2>&1)" =~ ^Flatpak ]] && [ -f "$HOME/.local/share/flatpak/overrides/global" ]; then
sed -i 's|xdg-config/gtk-3.0;||g' "$HOME/.native/share/flatpak/overrides/world"
sed -i 's|xdg-config/gtk-4.0;||g' "$HOME/.native/share/flatpak/overrides/world"
# if the these had been the one filesystem overrides, take away the filesystems= line
grep -vx "filesystems=" "$HOME/.native/share/flatpak/overrides/world" > tmpfile && mv tmpfile "$HOME/.native/share/flatpak/overrides/world"
# if there aren't any different overrides, take away the flatpak world overrides file
if [[ ! $(grep -vx "[Context]" "$HOME/.native/share/flatpak/overrides/world") ]]; then
rm "$HOME/.native/share/flatpak/overrides/world"
fi
fi
# APPLY NEW SETTINGS
if [[ "$uin" =~ ^[1-9][0-9]?$ ]]; then
# add new width in gtk.css
echo "slider { min-width: ${uin}px; min-height: ${uin}px; }" >> "$HOME/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css"
echo "slider { min-width: ${uin}px; min-height: ${uin}px; }" >> "$HOME/.config/gtk-4.0/gtk.css"
# apply to flatpak (if put in)
if [[ "$(flatpak --version 2>&1)" =~ ^Flatpak ]]; then
flatpak override --user --filesystem=xdg-config/gtk-3.0 --filesystem=xdg-config/gtk-4.0
fi
# make scrollbar at all times seen
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface overlay-scrolling false
fi
echo "LOGOUT FOR EVERYTHING TO BE APPLIED"
learn maintain
exit 0
else
echo "Invalid enter, attempt once more."
fi
accomplished
Naturally the script has to override flatpak individually as a result of heaven forbid my flatpak purposes look the best way I themed my system. They’ve additionally began hiding the scrollbar totally by default till you hover over the place it’s alleged to be, what’s that???? You may get it again in GTK 3 if you realize the correct command line command to kind in. (the script above does this too btw)
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface overlay-scrolling false
Or you’ll find it within the GUI if you know the way to navigate the Dconf Editor, I assume. lol. Although in GTK 4, you may’t even set this setting globally. See this thread right here, which to one of the best of my data continues to be true as of writing.
> > Who ever stated they had been going to "go"? The API to make an software use
> > them continues to be there. Packages used regularly on tablets or such can take
> > characteristic requests to have their very own choices to make use of non-overlay scrollbars.
>
> So I simply must file a characteristic request in opposition to each gtk software that I
> use?
> And once I set up GNOME I am going to want to enter every software and allow it.
Qt
To cite /u/cfeck_kde on /r/kde:
“The width of Qt scrollbars is decided by the Qt widget fashion plugin you’re utilizing. So far as I do know, solely the Skulpture fashion permits configurable sizes. For different types like Breeze, you would wish to alter the C++ supply and recompile.”
On the one paw, recompile my GUI theme? – however hey I’m a gentoo consumer I do that each friday anyway, I might simply drop a patch in I assume… RECOMPILE MY GUI THEME??
I repeat,
However on the opposite paw, as a result of Qt fashion plugins are actual code they do get to have much more energy right here when you discover one that allows you to change what you need. I exploit Kvantum personally. I can’t appear to discover a setting in its configuration to alter scrollbar width, however I can disable scrollbar disappearing (which it calls “Transient scrollbars”) in order that’s good.
In any case, I attempted out Skulpture just like the reddit individual beneficial and it appears kinda cool, give it a attempt! I can’t determine a option to configure it with a GUI although with out utilizing KDE Plasma although. No shade on Plasma, I simply don’t have it put in proper now to attempt it out, however perhaps when you’re a plasma consumer it’ll be good for you.
Nonetheless, if our solely hope is that this one theme engine which will or could not hold working as Qt improvement continues, I can’t assist however really feel just like the struggle is being misplaced.
Firefox
Firefox has additionally joined the struggle on scrollbars it appears, with an extremely tiny scrollbar on the facet of my display. Fortunately, Firefox is at the very least fixable (for now…), however it’s important to go into about:config to do it which is rarely an excellent signal. HOWEVER, you CAN do it.
- Sort in
about:configin your deal with bar - Seek for
widget.non-native-theme.scrollbar.measurement.override - Edit it to no matter quantity you need
- You can too edit
widget.non-native-theme.scrollbar.fashionto alter the form of it, set it to4for a pleasant chonk rectangle - Lastly, activate “At all times present scrollbars” within the regular settings window
about:settingsif you need them at all times on.
Right here, I set the dimensions to 50. I don’t need it this large myself however by goly am I glad I could make it this large anyway. Behold, scrollbar glory:
Chrome
Think about with the ability to configure something helpful in chrome ever.
Electron
For that matter, think about configuring an Electron app. Couldn’t be me. Or anybody else, for that matter. Possibly you may inject some customized CSS into the electron app to make things better up? Actually when you’ve got options for Chrome or Electron please inform me as a result of I don’t know.
THERE ARE MORE
Look these are simply those I encounter frequently, however all of those so-called “trendy design ideas” appear to be in a struggle in opposition to scrollbars and everybody that makes use of computer systems barely completely different from the folks implementing this are struggling as a consequence. Shit sucks yo!
The Finest
OK you realize what guidelines although? You recognize what I really like, what my buddy who makes use of eye trackers loves, what my pals who use pill pens love? MINIMAPS
YEAH!!!!!!!!!
I can see the content material. I can click on the content material. I can go to the content material. And the hit goal is large. What extra might a lady need?