Re: Word-a-Day: capplet, preference tool

[Shaun McCance <shaunm gnome org>]

On Thu, 2008-04-10 at 22:45 -0400, Curtis Hovey wrote:
> On Thu, 2008-04-10 at 15:52 -0500, Shaun McCance wrote:
> > ======================================================
> > capplet
> > Do not use.  Use "preference tool" instead.
> > ======================================================
> > preference tool
> > A small application that allows users to change their
> > preference settings.  Refer to a specific preference
> > tool using its title and the phrase "preference tool".
> > If the title ends with the word "Preferences", drop
> > this when used with the phrase "preference tool".
> > 
> > Do not use the word "capplet".
> > 
> > Correct:
> > To adjust the handedness of your mouse, open the
> >   *Mouse* preference tool.
> > 
> > Incorrect:
> > To adjust the handedness of your mouse, open the
> >   *Mouse Preferences* tool.
> > To change the appearance of the applications on your
> >   desktop, open the *Theme* capplet.
> > ======================================================
> > 
> > There currently seems to be about equal usage of
> > "preference tool" and "preferences tool".  My pick
> > is "preference tool", because I think it sounds more
> > natural.
> 
> I have some misgiving about the use of 'tool', which is often used to
> produce something, and it is an indirect means to making a change. I
> think 'manager', 'control', or 'panel' are better words that users will
> understand. Perusing several appliance manuals, 'control' and 'panel',
> and 'control panel' are used. The only 'tools' I see is the special
> wrench used to unlock my sink's garbage disposal, and the jack to my
> automobile.

Hmm.  Well, I just went with our current usage.  We don't
have any current recommendation, but "preference tool" and
"preferences tool" seem to be what gets used the most in
our documentation.

I'm not fond of the term "control panel", if only because
we don't ever use it.  It would be odd for our documentation
to see "Mouse control panel" when "control panel" doesn't
appear anywhere in the interface.

We could use "preferences window" and "settings window"
when referring to them generically, but not use any term
when referring to a specific one.  So:

  To adjust the handedness of your mouse, open the
    *Mouse Preferences*.
  To change the primary language your computer uses,
    open the *Language Settings*.
  The *Preferences* submenu of the global *Settings*
    menu provide access to open various preferences
    windows.

Or we could keep the currently common word "tool", but
still go with the recommendation of only using it to
refer to thing generically.

Thoughts?

--
Shaun