Is there a way to disable the recent font group in the text tool? I'm trying to browse through my fonts to choose the right one, but the moment I select a font to try it out, the selection in the list jumps to the top of the list. I understand the value of this feature in some instances, but I'd like to disable it temporarily.

serranoabq wrote:... I understand the value of this feature in some instances, but...

... I still haven`t found that one.

I use fonts a lot, hence 0.48.5 installation aside of the current one.
Also, maybe you didn`t already notice but the current version is friendly towards just a few types of fonts. I don`t get this change but am aware of explanation/s and am eagerly looking forward to seeing this specific issue resolved in favour of diversity.

I dislike it a lot, too (the jumping, not the list). It's annoying as hell to have to scroll down all the way again when you're just trying out some fonts. It cannot be deactivated, as far as I know :-/
I can't find a bug report about that usability issue, currently. Would you like to do a more diligent search here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/

And if you cannot find one, could you create one? And post a link here?

I don't know if this will help. But the font isn't moved up there, technically. It still is displayed in the list as before. They just put it also at the top.

I don't know whether it would be hard to make that optional. But you would be welcome to make a feature request for such an option.

Feature requests are handled like bug reports, so you can make your request here (after registering, if not already): https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+filebug

For myself, maybe it's because I have so many fonts, but that recently used area doesn't bother me. I have a lot of scrolling to do, with or without recently used fonts section.

Oops, Moini posted while I was typing.

Do you mean that the font list scrolls to the top each time? It doesn't do that for me. After I change a font, the font menu closes. When I open it again, it opens right where it was, with the font I chose still highligted. (I'm on Windows.)

Oh, that's quite different from what we get. Do you have it floating?

Floating? Oh, you're talking about Text and Font dialog? I'm talking about the control bar.

I'll test the dialog....

Oh yes, I do see that behavior in the dialog. I can see where that would be terribly annoying indeed!

Since we got the Text tool control bar with all the same options as the dialog (a couple versions ago), I don't have any need for the dialog anymore. I've been curious why it's been kept around.

Although it seems like they would use the same code for the menu, whether on the control bar or in the dialog. At least that's what would make sense to me. It seems strange to me that they behave so differently, when they serve the exact same purpose. Although it's entirely possible they have some different purposes that I'm not aware of.

The text+font dialog has a preview, and 3 tabs.