Open Source Software & Usability

I finally installed LibreOffice 5.3 to try it out. (This is actually version 5.3.0.3.) This version comes with a new interface called MUFFIN, which I wrote about as LibreOffice updating its user interface.

MUFFIN stands for My User Friendly Flexible INterface. Because someone clearly wanted that acronym to spell "MUFFIN." The new interface is still experimental, so you'll need to activate it through Settings→Advanced. When you restart LibreOffice, you can use the View menu to change modes. The new interface has several modes:

1. Default
2. Single Toolbar
3. Sidebar
4. Notebookbar

You can probably guess what the first three modes are about. These just tweak the interface in different ways, but I'd say it's still very "LibreOffice-y."

The last mode, Notebookbar, is interesting. This is very similar in concept to the Microsoft Office Ribbon. People who come from an Office background and are used to how Ribbon behaves, and how it changes based on what you are working on, should like the Notebookbar setting.

And in Notebookbar, you have a few options:

1. Contextual groups
2. Contextual single
3. Tabbed

For me, "Tabbed" was the default when I activated Notebookbar. LibreOffice functions are divided into different tabs, which are clearly labelled. New tabs appear and disappear as suits the context of what you are working on. For example, if you insert a table, then when you go into the table, you get a "Table" tab, with different table-oriented actions like adding a new row or column.

Here are a few quick screenshots of the different tabs in Notebookbar. The "Home" tab is the default, so that's my first screenshot:








I haven't experimented too much with the other modes in Notebookbar, but "Contextual single" gives you a single action bar loaded with icons. I find it too busy, even though there's a lot of empty space in it. The single bar just "feels" too busy.

"Contextual groups" is closer to what you might think of as the "Microsoft Office Ribbon." Rather than adding new tabs to expose new functionality, the Notebookbar changes the content of the bar to add features as they are needed. If you insert a new table, then a table style menu appears. Exit the table, and the Notebookbar removes the table style menu in favor of other actions.

I'll need more time to explore and experiment with Notebookbar. My first impression is that I like it, and that I prefer tabs to contextual groups. I may share more on this blog as I continue to learn the new interface.