Anyway, that's about where the least-impact version stands for me.
I am also thinking about a more-changes version as well. As I see it, functionality is almost currently grouped by:
1) (far left) Who you are 2) (centre) Where you are/what you're seeing 3) (far right) look for things
...and solidifying that would both make the navbar more useful and easier to understand.
Keeping that in mind: Group 1 is pretty reasonable as it is. Group 2: the style viewing selector really should be with Group 2, not Group 3. Group 3 could pick up the "Support/Help" link that's missing compared to everywhere else, or some other similar bit of functionality not currently exposed. So we could talk about things like:
Group 1: Basically okay, I think. But if the user is not logged in, add a top-level "Join" option to the Login group which replaces the User group in this position, because right now, there isn't one, and... yeah. Should be.
Group 2, Own Journal View: In addition to the above notes (which apply to all Group 2 views), I'd lose "Invite someone" and replace it with "Share this." It's something that refers to where you are at the moment and accomplishes a the goals of "invite someone," depending upon how you handle the sharing. (The "so and so shared this with you" mail could have a "Join Dreamwidth" link, etc.)
Group 2, Reading Page: Add an "all but feeds" option in the dropdown. Personally I'd find that useful and you can already build that URL yourself (and I have a separate bookmark for it), but maybe that's just me.
Group 2, Individual Entry: Again, lose "Invite someone" in favour of "Share this." Change "your journal" to "your post" if on your journal, or to "a community post" if in a community. Possibly add simple "previous" and "next" icons, since it is, after all, a navigation bar.
Group 3: Keep search as is, add links under it to Help | Support | FAQ (maybe), other functionality, since the view options would be moved to Group 2.
If done tightly enough, there are opportunities to add additional functionality hooks as well. For example, in Group 3, you could have a link to the Directory Search page, which could be given a name like "Advanced Search" or "User Search" or "Member Search" to distinguish it as separate to the simple keyword dropdown search.
I could play with this if it's of interest. This would be more of a true mockup process instead of a "go ahead, implement it then take screencaps" process, but that's to be expected when adding more changes.
thoughts on a more substantial change
I am also thinking about a more-changes version as well. As I see it, functionality is almost currently grouped by:
1) (far left) Who you are
2) (centre) Where you are/what you're seeing
3) (far right) look for things
...and solidifying that would both make the navbar more useful and easier to understand.
Keeping that in mind: Group 1 is pretty reasonable as it is. Group 2: the style viewing selector really should be with Group 2, not Group 3. Group 3 could pick up the "Support/Help" link that's missing compared to everywhere else, or some other similar bit of functionality not currently exposed. So we could talk about things like:
Group 1: Basically okay, I think. But if the user is not logged in, add a top-level "Join" option to the Login group which replaces the User group in this position, because right now, there isn't one, and... yeah. Should be.
Group 2, Own Journal View: In addition to the above notes (which apply to all Group 2 views), I'd lose "Invite someone" and replace it with "Share this." It's something that refers to where you are at the moment and accomplishes a the goals of "invite someone," depending upon how you handle the sharing. (The "so and so shared this with you" mail could have a "Join Dreamwidth" link, etc.)
Group 2, Reading Page: Add an "all but feeds" option in the dropdown. Personally I'd find that useful and you can already build that URL yourself (and I have a separate bookmark for it), but maybe that's just me.
Group 2, Individual Entry: Again, lose "Invite someone" in favour of "Share this." Change "your journal" to "your post" if on your journal, or to "a community post" if in a community. Possibly add simple "previous" and "next" icons, since it is, after all, a navigation bar.
Group 3: Keep search as is, add links under it to Help | Support | FAQ (maybe), other functionality, since the view options would be moved to Group 2.
If done tightly enough, there are opportunities to add additional functionality hooks as well. For example, in Group 3, you could have a link to the Directory Search page, which could be given a name like "Advanced Search" or "User Search" or "Member Search" to distinguish it as separate to the simple keyword dropdown search.
I could play with this if it's of interest. This would be more of a true mockup process instead of a "go ahead, implement it then take screencaps" process, but that's to be expected when adding more changes.