I was thinking about exactly what I use the Left menu bar for , it occured to me that it was only for very specific things. I primarily do the Supcom thing - Zoom out , zoom here-click , zoom out zoom there-click ..because with strategy , being able to see where things actually are located is very important. Thus the left bar was only useful for alarming me to certain things happening before i do the supcom-thing to assess the actual location.

My idea is a toggle so you can switch between a gameplay orientated "Focussed mode" and the default overview "left-bar mode".

The Focussed mode ,creates separate mini-lists that runs down the left.

They consist of the following...

[=] Homeworld Star/Planets --> Shows your Homeworld and the Star your homeworld is located in. You will always have easy excess to selecting your homeworld. This is just a small list comprising of the one planet and its star that will always stay in the top left corner.

[=] Build Capable planets --> All Planets with Shipyards. In this list every planet with a shipyard is shown. This will allow you to see how many planets you have that can build ships so its easy excess.

[=] Fleet Activity --> Planets with Fleets of 2 pips or greater or capitals. Measuring pip activity will probably be easier to program with the game engine. This will allow you quick access to your major fleets.

[=] Pirate Activity --> Shows any planet with pirate activity. The pirates pop-up in a planet, that planet will show up in the pirate activity list.

[=] Enemy Activity --> All your owned planets with Enemy Fleets of 2 pips or greater or with capitals OR any owned planet that is currently under fire. ( the pirate and enemy activity bars , could be joined.)

[=] Pinged Worlds --> All worlds that are pinged show up in this section. Allow for 5 Pings.

This reflects what I use the menu-bar for , but if other people use it for other reasons then its possible to include that minilist

Here is a pictorial example...