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Story
If I select an item, Magnolia provides me with a preview of the item as well as the list of common actions applicable to it. I can also retrieve a list of all actions defined on the currently selected item if I choose to do so, but it's the common actions which are visible by default.
Magnolia also offers me additional information on the item if available and if this makes sense in the current context. I could get a list of users working on a page in a interface showing me the status of work items. Or I could get access to a page's history to check out the changes applied to it in the last 24 hours.
Description of desired behavior
The Actions sidebar is used in AdminCentral to show both the actions on and a preview of the currently selected item or items. It is usually shown on the right-hand border (left-hand border on RTL setups) and is divided into two main areas.
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The lower part of the sidebar is entirely reserved to the preview of the selected item. The preview may be minimized to make more room available for the rest of the sidebar.
The Preview
The preview takes over the entire lower area of the sidebar, which is always bottom aligned. It may be collapsed to make more room available for the Actions Rack and thus for the list of actions possibly other units currently visible.
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Additional info on an item
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Collapsing the Actions sidebar
Examples of additional information on a page item are the comprehensive page status consisting of publication, work flow and collaboration status and the page history showing the latest changes and providing access to older versions of the same page.
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Note that if the new unit does not fit into the space available to the upper area of the sidebar, a vertical scrollbar appears and the user has to scroll up and down to see all data and actions available. She may also maximize the unit and/or minimize the preview to give it more space.
Minimized usage
The sidebar can be collapsed so it uses up less space. When collapsed, only icons for the common actions, copy&paste, undo/redo as well as an icon to show the preview in a popup window are visible. A collapsed sidebar doesn't support the display of all available actions or of additional information on an itemThe preview of the sidebar actually collapses alongside the Action Rack and remains available: it shows the thumbnail on request in a popup window.
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Showing notifications
The following definitions ensure that:
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Use animations to smooth transitions
The sidebar can see some changes in shape and positioning of its elements. Every such transition must be accompanied by animations similar to how an accordion menu does. New elements appearing move others away; elements being minimized do so by animating their size change.
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