@ikloecker suggested in https://dev.gnupg.org/T7814#205501 to make the default status of the check boxes in the sign/encrypt dialog configurable.
There is currently only the setting "Use symmetric encryption only." in "Crypto Operations".
Which additionally is hard for users to find.
All settings regarding the sign/encrypt operation defaults should be grouped together, e.g. under "Sign/Encrypt defaults". As there are many possible combinations of options to select or not, I propose to only offer
- symmetric encryption only (or maybe better "password based encryption only")
- public key encryption only (would we want this to apply to the notepad, too?)
- remember settings from last sign / encrypt operation
and then a clearly marked section (like e.g. with a frame) showing the options in the order they appear in the sign/encrypt window:
- Sign as
- Encrypt for me
- Encrypt for others
- Encrypt with password
- Encrypt / Sign each file separately
Instead of the first three proposed options we could add a drop down menu behind every of the settings in the section wit the options:
- start always with this setting
- remember setting from the last operation
- force this setting
The latter seems strange to me in a user-config, this is something an admin would set to force the users to do (or do not do) something. I guess this would be set in the registry usually and then shown here as active and greyed out.
ebo's opinion is that the "remember" setting is the most user friendly and she'd prefer that to be the default. Only power users will have a look at the config to change settings.
Another possibility would be to have a "remember selected check marks" check box in the sign/encrypt dialog. That would - in contrast to the settings in the config - be easily discoverable.
The display name of the action could possibly be changed from Sign/Encrypt to Sign or to Encrypt, depending on the settings.
Or not, as it is still possible to e.g. set an additional check mark for "sign" if only encryption was selected automatically.