Improve first run experience

[miguelsolorio]

This issue to explore how we might improve the (default) first run experience from the file explorer (and other areas).

Current Experience

Desktop

Today, when you install VS Code for the first time and open a file you are greeted with a series of views in the explorer:

1. Open Editors
2. Folders
3. Outline
4. Timeline
5. NPM Scripts

Proposal

We can consolidate some of the features that have overlap in other areas:

1. Hide Open Editors in favor of Editor Tabs
2. Folders - Keep Visible
3. Hide Outline in favor of Breadcrumbs + Go To Symbols in Editor
4. Timeline - Keep Collapsed
5. Hide NPM Scripts in favor of adding an action in the editor toolbar via codelenses in the package.json file to surface it

Other Ideas

In addition to this proposal, we also discussed the following options that would require more engineering effort:

• Once we add a secondary sidebar, we could move file specific views onto it (outline, timeline, etc.)
• For Codespaces: hide the remote explorer and surface port forward through the remote picker
• For the GitHub extension: combine the PR and Issues view into the SCM view since they are all git related features
• Make the sidebar headers clickable to surface the view options (right-click menu to toggle views)
• Add an action from the Go To Symbols in Editor quick pick that toggles the outline view

[regs01]

Outline is not a Breadcrumbs alternative. Those are two highly important distinctive features. It's shouldn't be anywhere hidden by default. #49923 shows how many users not just need Outline on screen, but also completely dedicated, so always on screen and maximized as possible.

So instead of 3 it's better to revert #93764. It has poor usability.

1 is also has huge popularity and very important.

[isidorn]

Also assignign to myself since I will have time this and next week to look into this.
To start I suggest that we do the following from your items above: "Make hidden views more discoverable".
That I think is good to have independent of this work and is a good first step so we can hide views more aggressivly by default.
For that I like from the above the following:

• Make the sidebar headers clickable to surface the view options (right-click menu to toggle views). Also use pointer icon for it.

Ideas from @misolori and me which we discussed on Slack:

• Have an additional action in each view container Title area clicking on it would show all views
• Make the View main menu have submenus. So instead of Explorer, it would be a submenu Explorer > Folders, Open Editors, Timeline...

[miguelsolorio]

Here are two ideas for how to improve the discoverability.

Global view menu

This would add an ellipsis icon to all global viewlets and surface the view menu. This is the same menu you get when you right-click in the sidebar.

This means that we would need to account for when a viewlet only has a single view and the view actions are collapsed with the title:

And when a viewlet already has a context menu:

Clickable title

This would make the title on all views clickable and surface the same menu.

[isidorn]

@misolori great work, love it. Especialy the first since it makes it very discoverable. The only nit pick, when a viewlet already has a context menu: I would do it
Views >
Extension actions

So do not put the Extension actions in a submenu. But the Views should still be the first entry.

fyi @sbatten @sandy081 @bpasero even though I think this will be discussed in today's UX call.

[sandy081]

I like moving them to ... action and also liked @isidorn suggestion to only move view actions as sub menu when the viewlet has ... actions already.

[miguelsolorio]

@isidorn got it, so then the context menu would look like this: