Tabbed Inventories

Tabbed Inventories (Optional Feature)

This is another no-brainer, in my opinion. I searched "tab inventory" and didn't find a relevant post, so here you go:

The inventory should be tabbed. The tabs should be:

All
Clothing
Weapons
Products
Saved (something to consider, thanks to Violette L's idea)

Items would appear only in their respective tabs (and all would appear in "all"). Furthermore, Products would also include Quest Items and Riding Animals, or I suppose they could have their own tab -- at the risk of squishing the tabs down further. "Products" could also be labeled "Misc." or something similarly broad.

By default, the ALL tab's contents would be displayed when clicking INVENTORY. Tabs would be optional. Players toggle the feature on or off via a simple radio-button selection made in Account Settings. By default, the feature would be off, but a tutorial quest, etc. could tell the player the feature exists.

Here's a quick lil' mock-up I devised:



This feature could be as complex or as simple as the developers see fit. I would be happy with just the tabs, but you could also add sort and filter functions, based on item prices, name, damage, level requirements, etc. Like I said, however, I would be stoked just to have the tabs alone.

I feel like this should already be up for discussion somewhere, but I may have missed it when checking. In any case, I've said my piece!

Sweet idea, cool mock-up. I'd love to see this implemented, would save alot of time for those with huge inventories.

awesome frelling idea

Brilliant! Lovely mock ups too!

Actually, I think this would be more useful than separating hats from shoes. http://forum.the-west.net/showthread.php?t=10327

great idea yellow dart

The backpack already lumps items of the same sort together. I don't think having separate tabs for each one is going to be that helpful. Would rather have separate sections where I can drag items as listed in Violette's idea. One for items to sell, one for items to keep, one for quest items, etc.

The real purpose of tabs, in my vision, is to make purchasing and selling more efficient. This process is automatic, whereas moving items to various categories based on your plans for them is manual. I don't dislike Violette's idea -- in fact, I rather like it.

I suppose I've never had problems when selling items (I've never accidentally sold an item, etc.). If other people are having this problem, than I can see where this feature would be less useful than Violette's.

Perfect world solution: Implement both features together. Items are sorted into tabs, with a fifth tab titled "Safe" or something similar. Items could then be simply dragged over to that tab and back out of it if needed. The one thing I do NOT like about Violette's idea is the clunkiness of actually managing the items with modals... Drag-and-drop is much more web 2.0, people.

I like this idea

Something I could enjoy

The Yellow Dart said:

The real purpose of tabs, in my vision, is to make purchasing and selling more efficient. This process is automatic, whereas moving items to various categories based on your plans for them is manual. I don't dislike Violette's idea -- in fact, I rather like it.

Click to expand...

Again, the backpack automatically lumps together items of the same type. Shirts with shirts, shoes with shoes, etc. If you really want to make purchasing and selling more efficient then have a tab to move things into that you want to sell and a tab to move things into that you need for quests (things you won't sell). I don't need a tab to look at the hats I have because they are already all together in my backpack.

I think having different tabs for each sort of gear/item would be confusing. If I'm looking for an outfit that will allow me to do a certain job I need swimming for I don't want to click on 4 different tabs to find the best combo. I would rather just mouse over the items in once place.

Denisero, I get where you're coming from. As a counterpoint of sorts, I like things to be compartmentalized and clean. You suggest that The West already sorts inventory by type, but that is not the case (for me, at least). I have a Whip at the top, a precise deringer at the bottom, and my other weapons in the middle. This is especially the case when in the shop-view.

When in the shop view, this is what I have to deal with:


Are you kidding me? Hehe. Even if The West fixes this nuisance, I would still like to have all my products in one clean frame, with no distractions. As I suggested above, merging Violette's feature with mine would create the ultimate item-management dynamic. Players could easily browse their items by type (if they need to), and they can drag items over to the "Safe" tab to protect them from being sold erroneously.

I think the problem here is that people have various preferences when it comes to data display. If this feature were to be implemented, developers could simply provide an option in Account Management to toggle the tabs on or off (keeping the "safe" and "all" tabs, regardless).

Bear in mind also that my solution is -- from a code development standpoint -- a breeze compared to Violette's. All you need to do is use the existing type_ID's (or whatever) for items to sort them into the tabs (each tab references the same table it already has once for "all," but only displays type_ID items that are instructed by the tab). A new db field like would use a 1 or 0 for "safe," so again, extremely simple from a programming standpoint. All my feature really does is use information the app has already pulled from the db anyway (when inventory or shop view are accessed). It's all just display -- except for when you go to sell an item... a query runs against the item's entry in the table, searching for a "0" in the safe field. If it doesn't find a "0," the item can't be sold. Simple as that. For Violette's feature, developer's need to create a new modal window, buttons, multiple queries, etc. Violette's feature also requires some sorting and display code similar to mine; so, by implementing it, you're 75% done with mine, as well.

The West may be interested to use the extra "safe" field for all irreplaceable quest items (only a thought). Just set them all to 1 (or whatever the value for safe is). Done!

Well that is very odd. My inventory on all the worlds I play on has always been the same. Melee weapons first, then hats, shirts, shoes, neckware, products, ranged. The only time I've ever seen it different was when I bought something new and simply closing then opening my backpack up again gets everything sorted in the correct spot.

I just don't want 7 tabs plus a tab for selling items, plus possible a tab for items I don't want to sell, plus a tab for items that I want to keep together (like item sets). That is 10 tabs. I think that would be highly confusing, especially for new players.

hmmm for me it sorts it as well. maybe instead of having tabs like a line separating the sections. so um =\ i really can't do mock ups but like say you have

fancy bowler hat, fancy felt hat, lincoln's top hat, fancy stetson
______________________________________________________ a line like this but better
clothes
______________________________________________________
shoes
______________________________________________________
neckgear
______________________________________________________
products
______________________________________________________

and then at the top violette's idea.

Good idea. You could also put in a drop-down box to organize the items how you wish. Alphabetically, from cheapest to most expensive(and vis versa), from attribute to skills, etc.

Certainly there's room to improve the inventory window. (Anybody really think otherwise?)

This idea is alright, although I do agree that Vi's would add more value for me, and I think for anyone whose inventory sorts properly -- which, evidently, does not include TYD. TYD, frankly your whole proposal here gains its chief impetus from a glitch which you are experiencing. Your experience of the game is abnormal. Normal play doesn't really need your proposal, as Denisero has explained. So I'd first pursue getting the glitch fixed if I were you.

As another alternative to this suggestion of tabs or Vi's idea of compartments, what about leaving the items where they are but "flagging" them via a right-click menu (or whatever) to put a spell on them? I'm crummy with imaging but it would sort of look like the quantity display looks now, for stackable items: just a small box laid over the top of one corner of the item's background box, with a symbol in it indicating its status. Perhaps "P" = protected (can't be sold), "$" = to be sold, and for default just leave it as is. If we do have a "to be sold" status, there'd have to be a new button added to "Sell all $-flagged items" or something like that. Personally I'd be happy if we just added a "$" flag and a "sell all $" button, perhaps also a confirmation window showing all items to be sold which would pop up upon hitting the "sell all $" button, as a final barrier to mistakes.

The above paragraph needs some refining and mocking-up, but I think it has definite potential.

@ Denisero: The're sorted in the inventory, yet there still a visual pain. In shops they appear in an uncategorised order, even worse.

@ Gem when is my EEK! simile coming back

Anyway I think Oishky has hit the nail on the head with his layout, when combined with Violette's.

Yeah that wouldn't be bad. The bigger issue is the OP having a glitch where his inventory isn't sorted for him. I don't have a problem with some sort of marker in the inventory separating the different types of items and products from one another.

Denisero said:

Yeah that wouldn't be bad. The bigger issue is the OP having a glitch where his inventory isn't sorted for him. I don't have a problem with some sort of marker in the inventory separating the different types of items and products from one another.

Click to expand...

Everyones inventory is sorted in the Inventory button, but in shops your inventory is not ordered; go see for yourself. Thats what I'd like to see fixed with this.

I really don't know what you are talking about. When I go to my shop windows everything is grouped together in order:Tailor - hats, shoes, shirts; Gunsmith - ranged then melee. I'm looking at my personal inventory and nothing is switched around in there either.