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clindhartsen ā MetroIRC - UI Elements
by-nc-nd
Published: 2010-08-18 20:32:25 +0000 UTC; Views: 25180; Favourites: 62; Downloads: 2179
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Description
Shifting into another little program segment, this is a general idea for an IRC client with a Metro-inspired UI.I will admit, I use an IRC client on a daily basis [X-Chat] and I'm a rather basic user, so there's only so much on the screen, something which I'm assured some users wouldn't like because there is a lot more hidden inside these IRC clients.
As for UI elements, the navigation in this program would be based on your favorite IRC chatrooms/servers, which are shown on top, and you can add networks with just a click and some data entry.
I'm open for any suggestions, so does anyone have any suggestions for improvements, changes, or otherwise?
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Comments: 45
This is a very Metro-style take on a retro-style protocol.
Awesome. Hats off for having the guts to do this. You can host this on Github.com or Sourceforge.com, so that this can become community-driven. That, I think, will help immensely.
I think the UI should be skinnable. Again, going open source will help in this matter. As for the UI design, it's a bit too sharp at the edges and should be more subtle. The textbox borders are innovative as well e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/sā¦ " width="15" height="15" alt="
Also, the Metro UI design philosophy thrive on lowercase. The endless amounts of caps don't look nice e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/sā¦ " width="15" height="15" alt="
Good luck. Go for it.
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I'll be follwoing this project, count me in as a friend 
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wow, havent used irc for 10 years or so, mainly as it feels old.
But with this client I would use it again and move my friends back to irc (force?).
Are you implementing this, or is it just an idea and mockup?
If you are implementing it, what language? Maybe one I know and can help out with?
Otherwise, is it OK to use this design for an implementation if youre not working on one? I was thinking QT/QML for gui, python for app, to speed up development and make it possible for all OS's to run.
Not that I have too much spare time, being father of small kids, but I can do some work now and then, and eventually have it done.
EDIT: ok, I have to scroll down a bit more on my tablet to not miss the comments next time. seems ppl are working on this
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Better to make pop window/other window like setting and server into embedded window. Like github for windows. It's cleaner and more focusable
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All looks great except I'm not sure about the gradient buttons
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Looks really nice
I'm getting a new laptop in a month or so, I'll just keep using webchat for now, I guess.. but most irc clients just look so old and kinda ugly, this looks way better.
It's a desktop thing though? Would be kinda nice to have an actual metro app, I imagine irc would actually be something that's nice to have pinned to the left/right 
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Great idea! I've started using metroIRC and it's awesome, so thanks for coming up with the idea for this, it's awesome.
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I like the shadows under the head elements and colored borders around the buttons. And the plain dark theme looks easy to read. I think it's good to use! I will somedays
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I checked out a copy of your repo, and its empty! why not make it open source? I'd fix this issue myself if I could.
Anyways, bug report created.
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hey, has this happened? I'm a new WPF developer and I'd like to help you in this project if I can, granted I know very little about the IRC stack.
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note to self: read comments before hit "Add Comment"
--my mistake
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This seems to use almost 25 times the resources as mIRC...
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It's me again...with a more evolved version: [link]
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So...here's my near-final try at it: [link] (portable, no install required)
Don't forget to check out the private conversations
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Wellp. I don't have much of a critique to give, because there's not much to improve on, really. There's a spelling mistake (alturnative vs. alternative), but not much else. I think I'll take a shot at making something like this, just like everyone else seems to have tried
We'll see how it goes, eh? Anyway, off to see if you've done any other mockups
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Here's what I did...this is an alpha, there might be bugs (especially with servers that do not comply to the IRC RFCs...) : [link]
It's built using my own IRC library (I'm creating an IRC client as a school project, and I decided to try to mimick this mockup because I suck at creating GUIs from scratch), in C# and WPF, which means the .NET 4 Client Profile is required.
It has built-in support for multiple languages, but only French and English are supported right now (I hope I didn't make mistakes in the English version)
Link (portable version): [link]
The biggest missing thing is SSL support, and the fact that you can't join a channel by clicking on its name in a conversation. (links are converted into links though)
The "join on startup" checkbox for channels doesn't work unfortunately.
Joining channels on startup on networks with authentication is also a bit buggy sometimes (but it should work)
Also, the GUI isn't exactly like the mockup (especially the all caps things), the main reason being that the XAML designer in VS 2010 crashes every time I try to open it.
The PDB files are not necessary, but they give much more information about crashes.
Creating this made me realize how bad and imprecise the IRC RFC's are.
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You should consider the IRC.NET library instead, which is a fully compliant .NET 4.0 library for IRC in C#, found here [link]
Actually we're a group that's been working on a Metro styled IRC client before, ##wChat on irc.freenode.org - Perhaps you should join us, and we could make this for real?
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As I said, this is a school project, and I'm gonna get a big grade on this.
I'm 100% sure the IRC.NET library has more features than mine, more contributors, is faster, et. al. but I have to write my own library because otherwise it'd be too easy.
This is also the reason why I can't just take part in an existing project. Sorry.
(PS: Sorry for the delay, I was on holiday)
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and that would be irc.freenode.net of course. I'm Windcape, and the project-lead is Noldorin (also the main author of the IRC.NET library).
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Wow, that's a mighty impressive start though sir. I do notice that with the IRC account I typically use, it doesn't appear to work, but a starting point is a starting point. Is there any way I can help you on this?
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What networks are you trying to connect to?
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The one I was trying to connect to was irc.twit.tv
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I hate to say that but...connecting to irc.twit.tv:6667 works on my machine :/
I'll add logging into the next build, in order to have a better look at bugs.
(while testing that, I noticed a bug in my user mode parsing which resulted in "Aethec's mode is now " without the mode...fixed)
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tested on irc.rizon.net - i even joined channel but after I wrote test word, aplication crashed. Maybe you should add some site or soutce to write issues or features for your application?
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Indeed.
I put it on BitBucket: [link]
You have to create an account to download it and report issues, but it's really quick and easy.
I uploaded an updated build which fixes a few bugs, uses more smooth gradients for buttons, and - most importantly - adds a log and a crash log.
(I don't want to share the code right now, since this is a school project, I really really don't want to see it forked)
PS : again, irc.rizon.net:6667 works on my machine :/
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We already have a functioning one of this. Which also recognizes youtube links, pictures and mp3s. So u won't have to click the link but u can play them in a Popup. We're still working on it. But I suppose we be releasing it soon
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Oh my gosh, that concept art rocks! It's about as colorful as my favorite mac IRC client, Linkinus. Somebody needs to make this a reality!
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is this an existing program or is it just a concept? D= because it looks amazing and i want it
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It's only a concept sadly.
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Go right ahead sir. Feel free to let me know how it goes!
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I'm giving this a try too (in C#/WPF)...the main window is nearly complete.
I'll release a beta when the "add network" window is done too, if you don't mind (it's your concept after all).
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Let me know when you have something working, I would love to beta/alpha something like this. XChat is nice, but I'm coming from OSX and Linkinus is waaay slicker. Metro IRC would be the level of slick I require.
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Hi Clint. What fonts did you use to make?
I'd love to give a go at creating this interface for real, though I'm pretty busy thee days so it will be time permitting. Could be pretty damn awesome I'd say.
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I typically use Segoe as my main font through these UIs. Sadly, I can't remember how I got the font exactly, Segoe UI is included ala Office/WindowsVista/7 but that has some variations I don't care for personally (full strokes top and bottom of capital I). You could always get Segoe WP which works quite well, and that's available by downloading the free Windows Phone Development Kit from Microsoft.
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Usernames need to be on the right, other than that, not bad at all.
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just installed metrotwit. like the look so much started looking for a IRC client using the metro UI, so far this is all i've found but its exactly what i wanted.
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