Design and Layout:Layout:System Tray

From KDE-HIG_Wiki

The system tray is an area on the panel that informs the user about the system state, notifies about events and allows access to frequently used applications which are currently active.

By default, the system tray is located left to the system clock.

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Applications in the System Tray

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Guidelines

Applications that belong here Applications that

notify about user events, e.g. chat, mail.
notify about system events, e.g. battery, upgrade.
display the system status (and possibly allow to change it), e.g. language, battery, resolution, wallet state.
are typically running and are likely to require frequent access, e.g. music player, volume, clipboard or chat.

Applications that don't belong here

Applications that run in the background without the users' awareness and are not likely to require frequent access, e.g. KOrganizer daemon or KGPG.

Feedback Mechanisms

If it has a main window, an application should never move to the system tray at initial start-up.
When the user tries to start an application that already resides in the system tray, open the main window. It is not convenient to do nothing, to start the application a second time or even to present an error message.

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Button Behavior

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Guidelines

Left Click

Show/hide the main interface of the application on left clicks. If there is no main window, show the main menu.
The first left click shows the main window, the second click hides it.
Make sure single and double clicks have the same effect.

Right Click

Show a popup menu with at least a quit and a configure option.
If the application has a main window, also provide an option to "Show/Hide [window name] Window", e.g. "Show Chat Window".

When the user closes a systray application for the first time, show this dialog.

Window Closing

If the main interface of the application is a window then closing (with the 'X') that window will only close the window and keep the systray icon visible.
When the user closes a systray application for the first time, show a dialog that informs him that the application is accessible in the system tray, and tell him how to quit. Use a screenshot to illustrate your message.

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