changes in UI - how to move groups of nodes

[dan]

Since the change to 0.7, there has been a fairly big change in how nodes can be selected - the cylinder tool is gone, to be replaced with a marquee tool. The problem is that it doesn't seem possible to select using the marquee and then move with the necessary tool.

(I'm also a little confused about what has happened to the quite extensive filter gradients system that was in 0.6).

[mbastian]

The cylinder tool is still there, but a bit hidden in the UI. You can find it by clicking on the properties bar, like in the picture attached.

The filter gradient module which was in 0.6 has been repaced by the use of Ranking and Filtering module.

[jacomyma]

The idea in the 0.7 was to replace the filter boxes of the 0.6 by something that allows a smoother learning curve as well as compatibility with dynamic and / or multilevel graphs. That's why :
- The "semiotic" features (size, color) are now apart in the ranking / partition panels
- There are no more "layers" or "places", they are replaced by "query sights" that dynamically show/hide some nodes
- The filters still chain in a tree, but only to set which nodes are shown / hidden (or selected /unselected)

So now the steps are :
- Filter your graph depending on what you want (ex: nodes of category "country" is "france" and where degree is 3 or more)
- Save this "dynamic subgraph" or "query" or "sight" (call it as you want) to recall it if you need to
- Apply some sizes / colors to the nodes / labels / edges in the ranking or partition panels

[dan]

Great, thanks for those answers.

I will comment that some of the UI approaches seem to hide tools or diminish the intuitiveness of the interface (from a personal perspective, I think that having tools available from a right click would make a lot of sense, since it's both commonly used in other applications and so a good first guess for people, and it involves less mouse movement for any particular task).

[jacomyma]

I think that you're right ! Could be a good feature.