Showing full-path of project file in title bar (instead of filename-only) makes it harder to work with

[pjotrek-b]

Hi everyone 😄

I've recently updated Shotcut (from 25.01.25 to 25.03.29):

Now the full-path of the MLT file is shown in the application's window title. Before that, only the filename (no path) was shown.

IMO it was nicer and more practical to work with /without the path/. 😢

Example:

• before: my_project.mlt - Shotcut
• now: /mnt/media/archive/projects/video/editing/batch_701/my_project.mlt - 720x576 25fps 2ch - Shotcut

This also affects the title being shown in window-buttons (on XFCE's panel) for example. Now all I see is the (often identical) path - often cut, because it's too long to fit anyways.

I think the commit 5a04984 (January 28th, 2025) is changing this behavior?

Line 2309: shownName = QFileInfo(m_currentFile).filePath();

was: shownName = QFileInfo(m_currentFile).fileName(); <-- would it be okay for everyone else if we revert back to this?

Thank you very much in advance 😀

[ddennedy]

You need to be more clear about how it is a problem and not simply a personal preference.

This also affects the title being shown in window-buttons (on XFCE's panel) for example. Now all I see is the (often identical) path - often cut, because it's too long to fit anyways.

Show us please

[pjotrek-b]

Certainly! 😃

Here's a screenshot with 3 projects open in 2 different shotcut versions:

The filenames of the 3 projects are very similar (archival signatures we work with often): Now for the recent version of shotcut, you only see the both-ends-trimmed path in the window-button panel. Whereas the 2 older versions are easy and clear to read the filename.

[ddennedy]

@bmatherly I dislike the change as well from an aesthetic perspective, but I did not choose to dispute it at the time. The screen shot above might be a bit confusing. I found a clear example of "window title button" for XFCE. See top left corner

[ddennedy]

@pjotrek-b Keep in mind that if we revert that part, we will still keep the "video mode" in the titlebar as that is very helpful and the suggestion that motivated the changed.

[pjotrek-b]

Oh, the "video mode" is useful. It's just the filepath...

Thank you!

[pjotrek-b]

The screen shot above might be a bit confusing.

True! 😊 - I forged a new panel for that screenshot, to show /just/ the Window button widget in XFCE (in a very untypical position and layout, but it shows the filename/path difference so I thought it'd suffice 😄

Thanks for the 2nd screenshot, so one can see that the Window Button widget is usually in a different location.

[bmatherly]

We can easily change it back (or remove the full path). But I am not sure if that will improve the aesthetic if we leave the video mode in the title.

The reason this unintended side-effect slipped by the release is because Windows, Mac and Gnome all have default desktop taskbars that only show the icon without the label. I wonder how important the taskbar label is.

I feel that it is still important to show the video mode and the project path (which is what the full path really is) in a prominent way. These are the two most fundamental aspects of a project. Do we have any ideas of another place we could display those?

Also, just an interesting note... I did not do a comprehensive audit of other applications. But Notepad++ displays the full path the same way that Shotcut is currently showing it.

[ddennedy]

Other ways to already get the full path of a project:

• Recent > tool-tip. When you open a project it is added or moved to the top of Recent.
• File > Show Project in Folder
• Files > Location > drop-down > Current Project

Regard aesthetics, I guess I mean readability. There is a lot more to visually parse now. The video mode is valuable and common place in video editors. I do not feel too strongly about this issue.

[pjotrek-b]

Windows, Mac and Gnome all have default desktop taskbars that only show the icon without the label. I wonder how important the taskbar label is.

I totally understand.

However, colleagues of mine have explicitly asked me to "give them a taskbar as known from windows" (=Window Buttons) in XFCE. If using shotcut for multiple edits a day, where you work by "filename = identifier" in relationship to catalogs and databases, being able to see this identifying information clearly in the taskbar prevents mismatch-errors during work.

[bmatherly]

However, colleagues of mine have explicitly asked me to "give them a taskbar as known from windows"

This is kind of an arbitrary judgement. As I mentioned, tell him to open a text file in Notepad++ in Windows and see the full path there. The application gets to decide what to show there.

Here is the suggestion that lead to the full path in the titlebar. https://forum.shotcut.org/t/small-quality-of-life-feature-request/47066

I tried pretty hard, but I can't find a way to show something different in the task bar. As provided by the QT library, the task bar label always matches the application titlebar.

I do not feel too strongly about this issue.

I feel the same way. I recommend that we keep this issue open for one more release cycle and give more time for feedback. Showing labels in the OS taskbar is falling out of favor and I think there is some value to showing the full path in the titlebar.

[pjotrek-b]

I understand, and to be honest, I'm personally also not using a classical "Window Buttons" taskbar, but Plank on most of my machines. 😉 It was just so convenient, when working with parallel Shotcut projects.

Thanks for trying to check if there's a way to show the filename in the taskbar, but full-path in the title, anyways!

I guess a config-option to enable legacy behavior would be quite some extra work?

[ddennedy]

It can be a configuration file item, but I am not going to permit adding a UI setting for this.

[pjotrek-b]

Thanks for considering a configuration file item, but I'll talk to my colleagues if we can adjust to the current version (full path).

Thank you all for your time and efforts!