Add an optional configurable toolbar below the menu

[morozovsk]

Whole my life I used ide where there was a customizable toolbar. I starded to use vscode and stopped to use it after one day. It is impossible to remember all shorcuts. In any other popular ide you can put any menu item on toolbar and use it from time to time.

visual vtudio:

idea:

eclipse:

netbeans:

code blocks:

komodo ide:

atom:

notepad++:

gedit:

github:

WTF MS? VS code? VS users?

Don't tag it "out-of-scope" as you did before with similar requests. Even simple editors have toolbar. It isn't advanced feature it's basic feature for most people. Using ide without toolbar is not user friendly for most users. It is vim way.

People really need it like "exit from vim":

FAQ FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE AGAINST THE TOOLBAR:

I don't want to use toolbar so I am against that feature-request.

It is not a problem "it is optional toolbar". If you don't want you can don't use it.

If you want it so why don't you form a team and submit a PR?

People have offered, go look at the many other bug reports made on the same issue. MS has said they would likely reject it. They don't even want to add hooks to make a plugin possible. So it's not a resource issue, it's an ideological one.

Temporary workaround by @GorvGoyl:

It seems like it won't be the high priority feature in foreseeable future so I made this extension which adds handy buttons like beautify, list files, undo, redo, save all etc to the editor menu bar in the VSCode. Shortcut Menu Bar

[imthenachoman]

Microsoft has gone on record saying they are committed to Diversity & Inclusion and supporting disability needs.

A dedicated menu/button bar for user customizable icons may be a nice to have for most folks but it is a need to have for some folks with certain disabilities.

So I guess my question is, is Microsoft really committed to meeting disability needs or is it all talk?

[bet4it]

This issue is one of the top 10 issues that number of comments greater than 200 now!

[imthenachoman]

Related to this, I was wondering what about adding an option for custom menus in the menu bar? Next to Help or something? Then users can add items/links/sub-menus/dividers/etc.?

[e7o-de]

After the Atom "sunset" (what an euphemism!) I'm looking around and checking options for the future. The obvious solution, just switching to vscode, is not an solution for me. No toolbar, no vscode. I mean, even if somebody wants to write an extension, it seems not possible, as far as I read in this issue comments ... Hey, why should we switch from an hackable editor to something eat-or-die thingy? I know that you're copying Apple every day (look at Windows), but here it is just ***.

[LuminairPrime]

@e7o-de I understand your frustration at losing your favorite tool! There is no easy way to adapt to a totally different tool. I hope in time you can. Maybe one of the extensions will eventually help, like: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=jerrygoyal.shortcut-menu-bar

I agree that Code should have a customizable GUI.

[XeonG]

Might have to look at Theia for it's toolbar.. and hope most the vscode extensions I use will work on it...

Ridiculous how backwards MS has become at doing just about anything right or in a timely manner anymore.

[GitMensch]

Might have to look at Theia for it's toolbar.. and hope most the vscode extensions I use will work on it...

They do; some of the proprietary extensions (mostly from Microsoft but there are other vendors, too) don't work, but if you use the ones found at https://open-vsx.org then you should be good to go. A bunch of others (download vsix from the repos or from the MS store manually, install from vsix) work also.

[GeekyMonkey]

First time hearing about Theia. Sounds like VSCodium. Does anyone know how these compare? Seriously looking for a VSCode alternative now. It's gotten stupid waiting for this simple obvious stuff.

[GitMensch]

First time hearing about Theia. Sounds like VSCodium. Does anyone know how these compare?

Those two are totally different VSCodium is free vscode without tracking with open-vsx marketplace (and obviously without MS proprietary extensions), Theia is a completely different piece of software with a similar UI; but as the core parts used in vscode are standardized extensions commonly work. But please let's keep this issue on "we may get a configurable toolbar in vscode someday".

[moon6969]

A dedicated menu/button bar for user customizable icons may be a nice to have for most folks but it is a need to have for some folks with certain disabilities.

I asked in 2020 for the 'Accessibility' tag to be added to this issue since I can't use the keyboard for extended periods.

[imthenachoman]

I can't use the keyboard for extended periods.

Yeah. I find it frustrating that so many companies do not factor accessibility needs into their UI/UX. Fingers crossed this is remediated soon.

[netizen-ais]

Hell, let's be generous and also count the thumbs up reactions on the OP, and not even assume some of those people also commented, and call it ~450 users

Or just compare thumbs up/down which gives less than a 10% of audience against this

[imthenachoman]

which gives less than a 10% of audience against this

@netizen-ais less than 10% of audience against what?

[yyqwerty]

I've asked similar question on StackOverflow (with the crosslink to this post). Maybe someone could elaborate on this. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/72661723/how-one-could-customize-vscode-tool-menu-bar

[ronnyek]

I proposed this as a feature add for Fleet... see if jetbrains community is more or less receptive than the vscode dev community is.

[olegchir]

@ronnyek Unfortunately, Fleet is not Open Source or Free Software, right?

[ronnyek]

I dont think JetBrains has ruled that out (I seem to recall Q/A about fleet, and they basically said they haven't decided) for fleet... but its possible it ends up closed. Regardless that doesn't help people wanting to use VSCODE with toolbars

[xinatcg]

the toolbar is useful, for example, the current debug tool is floating and can cover the content of the editor. Putting it into the toolbar is the best solution.

[ygoe]

@xinatcg What is that toolbar and how can we use it? Or better, how can we use it for commands added by extensions? But I don't consider "overlapping the editor" a good thing. After all, it will be in the way when you want to access the covered parts of the editor.

Browsing the beginning and end of this issue (what GitHub showed to me), I reinforce my doubts that Microsoft (or whoever runs this project) is actually competent to do so. The team seems to add stuff that may or may not be useful to very few people, and stubbornly ignores users who wish for UI improvements of all kinds. It feels like it was never planned to release VSCode to the public and deal with foreign users. VSCode is the weirdest software I've ever seen: It has the most potential to become the best universal code editor but at the same time it's the most comprehensive collection of missing essential features for a code editor.

Has somebody already suggested forking this project, giving it a proper name that doesn't confuse every second web search with an older similarly-named IDE, and add all those essentials like this one?

[NickMaev]

Any updates?

[ronnyek]

I reinforce my doubts that Microsoft (or whoever runs this project) is actually competent to do so.

I don't think there is any problem with competence... what code does do is impressive, and is a fairly good user experience... its a matter of the governance of the project. "Let's allow this that and the other thing... but we dont like toolbars so we'll just passively ignore any and all efforts or requests to do so"

Has somebody already suggested forking this project, giving it a proper name that doesn't confuse every second web search with an older similarly-named IDE, and add all those essentials like this one?

There are several forks of code, but everything I've seen so far, tends to follow code in this way. Infact they tend to keep ui and code as close to code as possible, and decided to fork code for... unknown reasons?

What's more disappointing is that "all new" ide's or "code editors" are springing up, copying vscode in a lot of their user experience decisions, which I think is a huge mistake. (fleet appears to have massive potential, but already copying some of what I see has vs codes biggest shortcomings =( )

[drizztdourden08]

300+ likes and 4-5 years since this has been opened. Incredible how long a company can ignore it's user base... pretty stupid imo... Is that an elitism issue where the core dev team of the product just are dead set on their ideologies?

[Pethical]

300+ likes and 4-5 years since this has been opened. Incredible how long a company can ignore it's user base... pretty stupid imo... Is that an elitism issue where the core dev team of the product just are dead set on their ideologies?

Oh, maybe the dev team don't use VsCode (because the lack of toolbar), so they don't understand users 😃

[Hobart2967]

the toolbar is useful, for example, the current debug tool is floating and can cover the content of the editor. Putting it into the toolbar is the best solution.

I really hate that one, tbh. It is literally ALWAYS in the way of something, constantly moving that around. I would love to stop playing "Debug Bar Simulator"....

[XeonG]

Another year I'm still seeing this pop up in email notifications.. everytime I see a vscode changelog I just wonder how in the fuck can this company implement anything but what so many are asking for.

[oviano]

I'm trialing VS code at the moment.

When I click on a CMake Preset at the bottom of the window, it brings up a menu at the top of the window. This is surely a bug and not acceptable UI behaviour?

The point is, this would be improved if we could have that toolbar, or configurable elements of it at the top. Then at least when you click on one of these extension buttons to bring up the command palette it would be closer to it.

However, in my opinion, it still wouldn't be as good as a dedicated CMake Preset menu which when clicked on just acts as a normal selection box for choosing the preset, rather than a shortcut to the command palette. Personally I think the command palette seems like a cheap way of providing all functionality in one go, but from a usability perspective, having come from Xcode, MSVC, and CLion, it's awful and I won't be continuing with VS Code until CMake integration is more user friendly for projects with multiple presets and targets.

All I want is some nice clean menus at the top to select the current Preset, the current Target, and a Build menu to Clean/Rebuild/Install in various scopes (current preset/target, current preset/all targets, all presets/targets).

Neither this or CLion can do this. CLion comes closer, but has a dreadful search/find functionality with all these annoying and fiddly pop-ups and so forth, whereas VSCode is much closer to Xcode's, with the ever-present search side panel, which I prefer. I also prefer the feel of VS Code editing, again, it's more like I'm used to with Xcode.

Still searching for the ultimate CMake/C++ IDE...

[Tharkis]

There isn't much point in this thread anymore. The powers that be aren't interested in making VS Code more accessible or listening to the users. You can tell by the lack of any movement after 5 years.

[oviano]

Actually having discovered the CMake Project Status option, hidden away in the settings this gives me much of what I need in the sidebar for choosing configuration/build presets.

[m6502]

And here is another perfectly reasonable request about a basic feature that serious code editors have had for ages being ignored since forever. The day this project loses steam the debacle will be really fast.

[mattsmall1972]

I'm being forced to use VS Code and now I see this... this is so typical of Microsoft PMs. "We need to get feedback on something that is easily understood, already proven in concept, requested by customers and optional to use. Maybe next decade."

[ronnyek]

Its not even that... it's the whole massive demand for this, and the conspiracy theorist level (I know how crazy this sounds) of ignoring feedback.

Consensus from ms/vscode team seems to be "vscode is an enhanced text editor, not an IDE" until you need plugins for every last little framework, developing against some random obscure hardware, etc etc etc..

I've all but given up hope on this topic, don't think its gonna change (even if hundreds of thousands of people showed interest or asked for this.. .it seems to have been decided, and I'm skeptical it'll be reconsidered). I'm all about supporting competition at this point.

[yyqwerty]

Just a reminder to celebrate 6 y.o. issue soon.

[XeonG]

they are... retarded

[msimic]

They think that CTRL-SHIFT-P and CTRL-O are easier...

On Wed, Nov 1, 2023 at 6:50 PM XeonG @.***> wrote:

they are... retarded

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/41309#issuecomment-1789396346, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AABHCCPEGUN5MWVGIPRB2HLYCKDYBAVCNFSM4EK3PIJKU5DIOJSWCZC7NNSXTN2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQ5TCNZYHEZTSNRTGQ3A . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.***>

[notV3NOM]

Still waiting ...

[toddmo]

I need custom buttons as well, but once I went to the trouble of adding my task to the status bar with the status bar command extension, I was "fine". I do wish VS Code would not need an extension to do this...Right clicking on the status bar should add a new option to add custom task, and take you to a wizard or something so we don't have to remember how to create a custom task every time.

[neko-js]

Don't give them ideas. The status bar does not do justice for our needs because after installing a few extensions the status bar becomes a cluttered mess with tiny icons.

I've been using IntelliJ's IDE instead of VS Code and the toolbar is a bliss (along with detachable tabs). And this is what we need in VS Code. I would even welcome a big customizable toolbar with tabs like in MS Office. But a classic toolbar would suffice.

Programs like Open Office have options to switch between classic, tabbed or no toolbars. What is stopping us?

[netizen-ais]

This makes me miss Githib's Atom

[realhaik]

For all the losers who use VS Code, you are not a real programers, real pros use Visual Studio 20XX.

[drizztdourden08]

For all the losers who use VS Code, you are not a real programers, real pros use Visual Studio 20XX.

If you can't say anything constructive, just don't talk.

there isn't any need for trolls or kids here.

[m6502]

For all the losers who use VS Code, you are not a real programers, real pros use Visual Studio 20XX.

If you were one of those pros you would know the best one is still Visual C++ 6.0 and not one of the lame 20XX releases :-)

[gdbrianj]

How do you debug your Salesforc APEX code? Or how about debugging PowerShell?

On Fri, Jul 12, 2024, 1:47 p.m. realhaik @.***> wrote:

For all the losers who use VS Code, you are not a real programers, real pros use Visual Studio 20XX.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/41309#issuecomment-2226083432, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AN2HCYVXUBWTTYUP6NCZYDTZMAJEFAVCNFSM4EK3PIJKU5DIOJSWCZC7NNSXTN2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQ5TEMRSGYYDQMZUGMZA . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: @.***>

[minig0d]

For all the losers who use VS Code, you are not a real programers, real pros use Visual Studio 20XX.

No... real programmers use Notepad or Vi... (and know how to spell programmer)

How do you debug your Salesforc APEX code? Or how about debugging PowerShell?

Salesforce you debug by one of those rim raff procedures and work on something more fun... PowerShell while VSC has some flaws, it's still been my goto...

And to the REAL topic... 6.5 years later the devs are busy adding AI chat functions rather than this... Because of course we all need more chat methods in our lives, right? Who do we need to bribe to get this thing done?!

[mkvlrn]

And to the REAL topic... 6.5 years later the devs are busy adding AI chat functions rather than this...

For real. Copilot fell hard and unless it becomes an actual sentient entity, I'm sticking with Supermaven for my auto complet needs.

But yeah, for the people in the back:

COPILOT SHOULD NOT BE A PART OF THE EDITOR, IT SHOULD BE AN OPT-IN ADDON DEVELOPED BY A SEPARATE TEAM.

[GitMensch]

Let's not topic drift, but copilot isn't a part of the editor "vscode" (only necessary APIs are) if the proprietary copilot extension is a part of Visual Studio Code and you don't like that, then use the free licensed binaries like VSCodium instead.

... but as the editor and keyboard is part of vscode, you'll have the same "insert key only (partially) works as expected after installing an extension" for a feature that should be integrated.

[MattWLeonard]

I would also really love to have a customizable toolbar in VS Code!

Some people simply work better with visual buttons than with remembering keyboard shortcuts.

For example, in my other IDE I could indent a whole block of selected code with a button in the toolbar. Or comment out the selected code. Or various other actions. This would be really handy for me!