Accounting for Counters
Another oft-requested feature will be included in the next release of LiveClick: counters!
Beginning in LiveClick 0.3.5.0, the number of new items will be displayed alongside the Live Bookmark’s label. For livemarks on the bookmarks toolbar, the count of new items appears next to the bookmark’s name. For livemarks in menus, the counter appears before the dropmarker arrow. No number appears if there’s nothing new. You’ll have the option of showing the number of new items, the number of all unread items, or no counter whatsoever.
Toolbar Livemarks
For livemarks on the bookmarks toolbar, the count of new (or unread) items appears next to the bookmark’s name.
Livemarks in Menus
For livemarks in menus, the counter appears before the dropmarker arrow. No number appears if a Live Bookmark has no new items.
I’ve avoided adding counters to LiveClick for a while, even though they’re a standard part of feed readers these days. Two reasons for this:
First, Live Bookmarks were meant to be a simple way to use RSS feeds without the hassle of feed management. I think having a counter displayed next to the Live Bookmark urges more people to “keep up” with the feed, rather than let them browse at their leisure. This is a minor concern of mine, especially now that we highlight Live Bookmarks with new items anyway.
Second, I never liked the idea of bookmarks changing their width. When a counters pops up next to a Live Bookmark on the bookmarks toolbar, all bookmarks after it get pushed further to the right. Then when you mark the Live Bookmark as read, everything shifts back to the left. This means your bookmarks won’t always appear in the same exact spot and could be annoying for those who organize their bookmarks in a specific way or are creatures of habit.
(Coincidentally, this is the same reason LiveClick’s default style for new Live Bookmarks is orange instead of boldface. The slightly bigger type bumps everything ever so slightly to the right and I couldn’t stand that.)
Having said that, most people won’t even notice these quirks (or, like me, they’ll get used to them quickly). Let me know if you have any questions about or additional suggestions for this feature.
Posted on Jun 10 2009 at 04:00 PM
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You’‘ll be able to turn counters off via LiveClick’s Options. They are enabled by default.
Posted by protejohnny on 06/10 at 11:17 PM
I am one of those people who would be annoyed by the changing of the spaces. I only have one of those rss feeds in my bookmark bar above the tabs though (the others are placed in folders) so I can probably get used to this.
Would it be possible to make the counters optional (and enabled by default)?
Posted by cyruz on 06/10 at 05:03 PM