Re: GUI terminology

[Christian Rose <menthos menthos com>]

Posting Kenny's reply to gnome-doc-list.

Christian



Kenny Graunke wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 09, 2001 at 04:49:35PM +0200 or thereabouts, Christian Rose wrote:
> > On Mon, 9 Jul 2001, Calum Benson wrote:
> > > FYI, the recently-published (draft) GNOME documentation styleguide
> > > contains a list of standard GUI terminology to be used in GNOME
> > > documentation... I hope it goes without saying that we should generally
> > > use the same terminology within our user interfaces where possible :)
> > >
> > > http://developer.gnome.org/documents/style-guide/wordlist.html
> >
> > This wordlist certainly looks promising! Whoever wrote it (Dan?) needs a
> > big, big thanks.
> >
> > From a quick look at it:
> >
> > * applet / panel applet
> > Some time ago, someone on usability-list mentioned that usability studies
> > showed that the "applet" terminology was confusing (confusion with Java
> > applets). "Panel applet" was suggested for those cases where the context
> > could be uncertain (i.e if you right-click on the panel, it would only
> > need to be "applet", but in other cases "panel applet"). The wordlist
> > does not mention this, maybe it should?
> 
> My favorite: Panel Gadgets. An "applet" doesn't really imply anything to me.
> Perhaps a Java applet. A "panel gadget" doesn't really imply anything specific
> either, but it makes me think "neat little things I can put on my panel to do
> cool stuff", a much clearer picture, at least for me.
> 
> Also. That applets menu *has* to go - the entire "Add to Panel" thing really
> needs to die.
> 
> http://jimbob.myip.org/sshots/2001_04_29_035028_shot.jpg
> 
> Something like this should replace it. You can select an applet and add it
> to your panel. the "Add to Panel" button would change to "Remove from Panel"
> if you selected one that was already added. Now, this would have to accomodate
> multiple copies of panel applets somehow - it's not perfect. But it's a lot
> better than having to go to:
> Main Menu->Panel->Add to Panel->Applets->Clock->Another Clock
> ...and then realizing that I picked the entirely wrong clock and have to right
> click on it, select remove, go back through the menus, and pick "Clock" again.
> 
> With this dialog, you can select a gadget, see a picture of what it looks like
> on the right, set up the most common options, and -then- add it to the panel.
> If you want the rest of the configuration options, you can click
> "More Properties..." to bring up the gadget's configuration dialog.
> 
> On a related note about the panel UI, the "Properties" menu has to die. It's
> fairly useless to me. We already have a dialog that (AFAIK) can do everything
> that the menus can do. I typically want to set more than one setting at a time,
> making the menus fairly useless and slow, as I have to navigate through many
> submenus at a time to get there.
> (Example: Main Menu->Panel->Properties->Size->Large)
> 
> I don't think most people would be against getting rid of this monstrosity.
> It's easier for me to use the dialog, and in fact I *have* to use the dialog
> if I want to set a pixmap background image for the panel.
> 
> > * folder / directory
> > An even longer time ago, there was a big discussion on gnome-gui-list on
> > the pros and cons of "folder" versus "directory" in the UI. If I remember
> > correctly the discussion finally ended on "folder" being preferred by more
> > people for various reasons. Currently, the state in GNOME regarding this
> > terminology is very inconsistent - some apps use folder, others use
> > directory. I think a decision on this is very much needed to be in the
> > word list if it is to be used as a GNOME terminology guideline...
> 
> Nautilus is supposed to be using "folder" everywhere in the UI; if you find an
> instance where it says "directory", please file a bug report. I am sure they
> have very good reasons for this, as they had some of the best UI designers
> working on the project. I personally prefer folder, as it makes more sense as
> "something to put things in" to me than "directory" - where I think of store
> directories (maps), phone books, and other such things that are typically
> published by others. I hope the rest of GNOME transitions this way as well,
> though it's clearly a "which are you used to" thing, and there are valid
> reasons both ways (though certain people seem to refuse to give any credit to
> the other side, c'mon people...geez.)
> 
> We need to pick common terminology, and use it consistently. It's the only
> professional thing to do. (I'm ignoring Microsoft's mess with lots of different
> fileselectors and other nasty things...ugh.) However, people are extremely
> opinionated about things like this. Noone will be happy with the results, if
> we push a change to folder rather than directory, some will be happy, some will
> be extremely mad. On the other hand, I don't think it really matters *too much*
> which is used. Jokingly, I suggested changing Files and Folders/Directories to
> "Treasures" and "Treasure Chests". Ridiculous sounding, but the idea is the
> same - you have something important (your files), and put it in something that
> stores things (a chest). Calm down, don't take things too seriously, and lock
> your guns back in the closet, OK?
> 
> Here's hoping the flames stay away,
> 
> --Kenny