From: "Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com>
Subject: suggestions on toolbar icons
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 17:27:46 -0800 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <MEEKKIABFKKDFJMPIOEBCECGCKAA.drew.adams@oracle.com> (raw)
Some minor suggestions on toolbar icons (in Windows version, at
least). No need for a lot of discussion. If any of this makes
sense, good; if not, forget it.
ALL BUFFERS
-----------
- Magnifying glass for search: This symbol is often used for
Zoom, and it should be reserved for Zoom.
Suggestion: Use binoculars instead. (People don't search with
magnifying glasses, anyway.)
- Manuscript "X" for quit/exit: This symbol is often used for
Delete. It's not too bad for quitting (killing) a buffer, but
extending this to stand for "quit" generally (e.g. Info) is
not good.
Suggestion (my preference): Use the "exit" international
symbol, which is an arrow leaving a box by its open end:
+----+
|
<---- |
|
+----+
Reserve the manuscript X for a real delete operation that
cannot be assimilated with quitting. Whenever "delete" can be
considered to mean quit, use the exit symbol.
Alternative suggestion (but I prefer the one above): Use a
non-manuscript X for quit (perhaps like the one Windows uses
to close a frame, in the upper-right corner). It is only the
_manuscript_ X that means delete and so can be confusing.
- Tooltip for quit/exit:
Suggestion: Use "Quit buffer", or "Delete buffer" instead of
"Discard current buffer". I prefer "Quit buffer".
INFO BUFFER
-----------
- Right arrow targeting yellow disk (go to named node):
Suggestion: Arrow should point to the word "Node" or "Xxxx",
not to a nameless yellow disk.
- Index:
Suggestion: Add the letter "i" at the top of the icon
(lowercase i, as in the information symbol, but without any
enclosing circle). Split the "text" of each line, to show that
these are entries in a list (index):
_ _________ ___________
_ _________ is better than ___________
_ _________ ___________
- Arrows Previous, Next, Up, History Back, and History Forward:
The structural-move icons (Previous, Next, Up) look too much
like the chronological-move icons of Web browsers. I don't
have a slam-dunk suggestion here, but we should come up with
something better: browser users are used to these fat arrows
for chronological moves. (It's best to avoid them altogether.)
Suggestion (my preference): U-turn arrows for chronological
moves (right-then-left for back, left-then-right for forward);
small arrows with ellipsis (indicating continuation) for
structural moves: ...<-- and -->...
By "U-turn" arrows, I don't mean the current curly arrows, but
arrows that make a full sideways turn, like a U on its side.
Alternative suggestion (but I prefer the one above): U-turn
arrows for chronological moves; thin arrows for structural
moves. (The current curly arrows would not be good for
structural moves, because their shape suggests moving up and
over.)
Second alternative: If people don't like U-turn arrows, then
use the fat arrows for chronological moves, a la web browsers.
- Tooltip for Up arrow: Should say "Go to parent node", not "Go
up in the Info tree".
- Home (Info-top-node): Icon is good. However...
It takes you to the top node of the current file. Once there,
the icon remains active, although it then does nothing. Either
it should then be deactivated, or (better, IMO) `Info-top-node'
should take you to (dir) if you are already at the top of a
manual. We already have the notion of "Home" being relative
(different manuals have different homes), so letting it have
two levels this way would not be disruptive - in a sense there
_are_ two levels of "home" (or "top").
EDITING BUFFER
--------------
- Folder (for "file): This is _not_ good. A folder icon is used
ubiquitously for, well, a folder - that is, a directory.
Suggestion: The new-file and existing-file icons should be
very similar. Use the current new-file icon for both, but, in
the case of new-file, make it slightly smaller and have tiny
"sparkle" lines emanating from it ("[ ]" here represents a
slightly smaller version of the current new-file icon):
` | '
- [ ] -
' | `
Such sparkle lines (I don't know the real term) are often used
to indicate action, change of state, newness, or creation.
Alternative suggestion (perhaps better): Put just a tiny
sparkle star in one corner of the new-file icon. Example:
http://did.mat.uni-bayreuth.de/geonext/ru/start.html?CONTENT=help&head=Dokum
entation
- Directory (Dired):
Suggestion: Use a regular folder icon. Duh?
- Tooltip for Directory:
Suggestion: Mention "Dired" - "Operate on files in directory
(Dired)".
- Help:
Suggestion (my preference): Use a large, lowercase "i" in a
circle, the international symbol for information.
Alternative suggestion (but I prefer the one above): Use a
question mark (?) in a circle. A question mark is closer to
the meaning of Help, but Emacs Help is more than help; it's
really an Information center.
BTW - Why is the Help icon not available in an Info buffer (in
all buffers)?
- Preferences: This wrench+screwdriver icon is commonly used for
Preferences, so it will be recognized by users. However,
although common, it is not a good choice for preferences, and
it can be confused with the kind of thing that is in the Tools
menu.
Suggestion: Use an icon with a pair of checkboxes, one
checked, one unchecked. Examples:
http://did.mat.uni-bayreuth.de/geonext/ru/start.html?CONTENT=help&head=Dokum
entation,
http://www.tobiasjung.net/html/popmonitor.php,
http://www.databeacon.com/rele60/rele/user/help/general_preferences.htm,
http://www.ej-technologies.com/products/install4j/tour.html,
http://www.aurora-solutions.net/trn/discover/userguide.htm,
http://argouml.tigris.org/documentation/defaulthtml/manual/ch09s04.html,
http://www.boreas.dti.ne.jp/~air1/ud/ud_sr1.html,
http://wildfruit.gayone.com/sys13/tour/2.html,
http://www.inklineglobal.com/products/mb/.
In GNU Emacs 21.3.50.1 (i386-mingw-nt5.1.2600) of 2005-01-30 on
NONIQPC Distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 5.1.2600
configured using `configure --with-gcc (3.3) --cflags
-I../../jpeg-6b-3/include -I../../libpng-1.2.8/include
-I../../tiff-3.6.1-2/include -I../../xpm-nox-4.2.0/include
-I../../zlib-1.2.2/include'
next reply other threads:[~2005-03-17 1:27 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 21+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2005-03-17 1:27 Drew Adams [this message]
2005-03-17 6:45 ` suggestions on toolbar icons Lennart Borgman
2005-03-17 7:11 ` Jan D.
2005-03-17 17:08 ` Lennart Borgman
2005-03-17 20:06 ` Jan D.
2005-03-17 20:22 ` Lennart Borgman
2005-03-17 21:08 ` Jan D.
2005-03-17 18:33 ` Drew Adams
2005-03-17 19:41 ` Jan D.
2005-03-17 22:47 ` Drew Adams
2005-03-18 5:52 ` Jan D.
2005-03-18 7:36 ` David Kastrup
2005-03-18 17:37 ` Jan D.
2005-03-18 18:03 ` David Kastrup
2005-03-18 17:16 ` Drew Adams
2005-03-18 17:49 ` Jan D.
2005-03-17 21:44 ` David Kastrup
2005-03-18 1:40 ` Miles Bader
2005-03-18 17:16 ` Drew Adams
2005-03-18 17:56 ` David Kastrup
2005-03-18 18:20 ` Richard Stallman
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