Re: HIG says "Page Setup" not "Page Setup..."

[Shaun McCance <shaunm gnome org>]

On Wed, 2008-02-06 at 02:19 +0000, Iain * wrote:
> > > > For Preferences or Page Setup, the dialog is what you're
> > > > intending to do.
> > >
> > > I think the HIG's recommendation of "Preferences" over "Preferences..."
> > > is also a bug. <http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=169447>
> > >
> 
> > Shaun
> >
> > > > With the exception of user interface designers, nobody ever intends to
> > > "do a dialog".
> >
> > Following is a list of some menu items in Nautilus that, for
> > one reason or another, open another window.  For clarity's
> > sake, could you tell me which ones you would put ellipses on?
> >
> > File -> Open Parent
> > Places -> Home (Computer, etc.)
> > Places -> Edit Bookmarks
> > Help -> Contents
> > Help -> About
> 
> Surely the ellipsis is to indicate actions that are not completed once
> the dialog opens
> Preferences should be Preferences . . . because the intended action
> (Setting the preferences) is not complete once the dialog is opened.
> Help->About doesn't need one, as the action (Look at the about box) is
> completed by opening the dialog.
> Page Setup should be Page Setup . . . because the action (Set up the
> page) is not completed once the dialog is opened, further action is
> needed before the page setup is complete.
> 
> thats always how I understood it all.
> (And to answer the question above: "File -> Open Parent" needs ...,
> the rest do not)

All right, I think understand your reasoning, except I don't
see why "Open Parent" would have an ellipsis if the various
places under "Places" do not.  It's just another place that
gets opened.

And I'm not sure I understand why "Edit Bookmarks" would not
have an ellipsis.  Surely bookmark editing is not complete
when the bookmarks window opens.  Then again, one might think
of the bookmarks window as a "real" window, instead of just a
dialog.  Certainly Epiphany's bookmarks window doesn't look
like a dialog, although Nautilus's does.  But if it's simply
a place you want to open, the menu item should be "Bookmarks",
because "Edit Bookmarks" is loaded with a verb that is not
complete when the window opens.

What about tool palettes?  When the palette opens, the action
the menu item implies is complete.  But who opens a palette
just to look at it?  You probably opened it because you want
to perform some action with it.  In the case of the GIMP,
many of the palettes are like little embedded preferences
windows.

Also, if "Edit -> Preferences" deserves an ellipsis, then
surely everything under "System -> Preferences" should have
one as well.

I'm not saying your reasoning is wrong.  It does make sense,
when applied consistently.  But it leads to ellipses on far
too many menu items.  Excessive punctuation will make our
interfaces harder to read.

--
Shaun