Remade prior thread as a poll, as directed here.



There is a handy zoom level control and indicator in the left of the galaxy map display, that you can drag by mouse click, and which also changes to indicate zoom level when changed elsewhere (like via mousewheel). Neat! However, I find the gadget obstructive when I'm not actively using it or otherwise adjusting zoom: I don't care as much about the relative level of zoom to maximum and minimum when I'm just using the zoom level I've selected instead of actively selecting it.



What I missed was a time delayed fade out to partial transparency of the graphic: where the indication became fully opaque/faded-in when you passed your mouse over it or used the mousewheel so the indication became relevant, and after a short time delay after usage it faded out, though it could still be made out, but would be unobtrusive.



My specific proposed implementation, referenced as such in the poll, would be:

• The "faded out" level of transparency would be high, but not so high as the gadget couldn't be made out by directly examining its area in case a user actually is wondering about the level of zoom.
  
  
• On changing of zoom level by any means, the gadget would become fully opaque. As soon as zoom level change and mouse click engagement of the actual gadget on screen both stop (i.e., mouse might be over it, but no button is pressed), there would be a countdown of a few seconds for a "usage delay" before it "faded out".
  
  
• Any time the mouse passes over the gadget, it would become fully opaque, but it would "fade out" almost immediately after the mouse pointer was no longer over it. If the gadget was used by mouse clicking and dragging the level indicator, it could still fade quickly, but only after the "usage delay" of several seconds elapsed after mouse usage was stopped, as described above.
  
  

I've tried to provide some meaningful options and ways to address this in the Poll selections above, so please: share your preferences and comments.