ellipses in the menu [was Re: Proposal for a new Preferences window]

[Steffen Klemer <masterofheap gmx net>]

Am 2002.11.17 11:41 schrieb(en) M. Thielker:
> Hello,
> 
> On 2002.11.17 10:10 Steffen Klemer wrote:
>> Simply speaking about the menu - there shouldn't be these ellipses 
>> after the words "Preferences", "Customize" and "Identity" because they 
>> don't need further interaction to be performed - they simply open new 
>> windows.
> 
> Well, it seems like it's a common practice to have an ellipsis after a 
> menu option that opens a modal dialog. There is no ellipsis after 
> options that open modeless dialogs, but these, AFAIK, should really be 
> in te "View" menu, generally speaking.
> 
> This, of course, is not from the HIG but from my personal observations. 
> I believe that M$ HIGs mandate an ellipsis in this case, but Windoze 
> uses modal dialogs much more than Gnome does, as a matter of fact, in 
> Windows dialogs ae modal by default and special steps have to be taken 
> to make them modeless.

 From the Gnome HIG:
---------
Label the menu item with a trailing ellipsis ("...") only if the command 
requires further input from the user before it can be performed. Do not 
add an ellipsis to items that only present a confirmation dialog (such as 
Delete), or that do not require further input (such as Properties, 
Preferences or About).
--------

The only items in the Balsa menu needing ellipses are in my eyes:

* The new items
* Print
* Search
* The items in Message already containing the ellipses except "View source"
* and perhaps "edit/apply filters"

But perhaps that is a minor problem... :-)

> Melanie



cu
/Steffen

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