Move settings access to File > Preferences

[per1234]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
A pretty gear icon is shown prominently in the side bar:

When this is clicked, the very complex "Preferences" tab opens. This exposes options that will be of no use to the target user. The settings available via File > Preferences are the only thing the target user needs. It is good to give more advanced users access to advanced configuration options (as is done in the Java IDE's File > Preferences > More preferences can be edited directly in the file... but the current UI funnels all users equally to those advanced preferences.

Describe the solution you'd like
Make the gear icon in the side bar open the File > Preferences dialog. Provide some form of access (even if it's only mentioning editing the settings.json file directly) to the advanced configuration from File > Preferences.

Describe alternatives you've considered
Remove the gear icon from the side bar. Preferences are accessed only via File > Preferences.

Environment

OS: Windows 10
Version: 2.0.0-beta.2-snapshot.298cc11
Date: 2021-02-15T14:16:52.603Z
CLI Version: 0.16.0 alpha [c977a238]

[ubidefeo]

that is an elusive little UI element
I think it should be removed

[kittaakos]

It comes from Theia. I will remove it.

Unfortunately, the same can happen all the time when we update to a newer version of Theia. We might bring new, undesired features to the app.

[ubidefeo]

@kittaakos can we move it to a button/link inside the compact preferences GUI?
For now I kinda like having some advanced/unsupported way of customising the IDE for that one user over 500 who wants to achieve that particular goal.

Also the "preferences" pop-over loses alignment with the gear icon when UI is zoomed.
Must be some local-to-global mapping gone awry :)

[kittaakos]

can we move it to a button/link inside the compact preferences GUI?

Sure.

Or we can just remove it. I would expect, advanced users can use the Command Palette (with F1 or Ctrl/⌘+Shift+P) and open it if you they want to.

screencast.2021-03-04.12-10-33.mp4

Also the "preferences" pop-over loses alignment with the gear icon when UI is zoomed.

It's a known issue and has been fixed upstream: eclipse-theia/theia#9082