I am a heavy blender user and this request is based on the custom workspaces they introduced in version 2.8.
It would greatly improve my, and I presume many other developers’ workflows if we had the ability to have custom workspaces vs the current implementation of a single workspace with multiple tabs.
There are two main shortcomings with the current ribbon bar setup.
1-Tools are grouped by category, not function. While this makes finding tools fairly easy, it also means a lot of unnecessary clicks. Most of my plugins are building based, which means when using them I am constantly having to switch between my plugins tab and the modeling tab. Also, because categories are so broad and lack any sort of organization, finding the specific tool you want can take longer (if you have a lot of plugins finding a specific one is not as easy as it should be).
2- The windows you have open are not context aware. If I am not editing terrain, I probably don’t need the terrain editor on screen. If I am editing terrain, I probably don’t need the asset manager or object inserter. Likewise, if I am editing a script, I probably don’t care about the asset manager or object importer. However, unless you use a tool very rarely, toggling these on and off to free up screen real estate is a massive pain in the rear and they are generally best left on.
Custom workspaces would solve both of these issues. Instead of having a ribbon bar with a bunch of buttons, the bar would be broken into a bunch of windows which would be allowed to be placed anywhere on the screen (same kind of system that we currently use for organizing windows). Want your basic tools on the left and constraints on the right? Why not? Want to leave them where they are? Sure. The layout of the screen could then be saved as a workspace.
Workspaces would show up in place of the current ribbon bar, allowing you to switch between them much like you would currently switch between tabs on the ribbon bar.
This would allow developers to tailor screen spaces to the specific workflows that they employ. By default there should probably be a modeling, animating, scripting and testing workspace, but these should be customizable. Additional workspaces can be added and ordered as the dev so chooses.