Re: Word-a-Day: button, command button, toggle button

[Shaun McCance <shaunm gnome org>]

On Sat, 2008-04-26 at 13:22 +0100, Matthew Paul Thomas wrote:
> On Apr 23, 2008, at 5:52 PM, Shaun McCance wrote:
> > ...
> > Refer to a button using its label and the word "button". For common 
> > buttons such as 'Cancel' or 'Help', you may simply'use the button 
> > label when instructing the user to click the button.
> >
> > Correct:
> > Click the 'Theme Details' button.
> > Click 'Close'.
> 
> In line with my general suggestion to use just control labels whenever 
> possible, I propose:
> 
>      Refer to a button using only its label if possible: for example,
>      "click 'Theme Details'". If avoiding ambiguity requires specifying
>      its type, call it a "button".

I'm tending to lean more and more this way myself.
I think there's still utility in using the label
and the word "button" when it's not the direct
object of the verb "click", such as:

  "Pressing Alt+U activates the 'Customize' button."

> And while I remember: there should be a guideline somewhere that when a 
> control's label ends in an ellipsis, help text referring to that 
> control's label should omit the ellipsis. (The ellipsis confuses any 
> following punctuation, and its normal job -- hinting at further steps 
> required -- is obviated by the visibility of further help text.)

I don't think I've ever seen a button with an ellipsis.
I was going to make this recommendation for menu items.

> > Some buttons do not have labels.  For these buttons, use either the 
> > tooltip or the accessible name as the label when referring to the 
> > button.  If possible, insert the icon after the label in parentheses.
> >
> > Correct:
> > Click the 'Attach a file' (#) button on the toolbar.
> 
> Shorter would be "Click the # button in the toolbar", marked up such 
> that the icon has the same accessible text in the help as it does in 
> the GUI itself. It would also be less confusing, in that people 
> wouldn't look for a label that didn't exist.

As I wrote this, I was thinking that perhaps the tooltip
or accessible name should be used as a description, but
not actually marked up as a label, to avoid the problem
of causing the user to look for that label.  But it may
be hard to construct sentences that don't sound dumb.

Anyway, here are three concerns I have with only using
the image:

1) We need to make some recommendation on what to do
in text-only environments.

2) Toolbar buttons have labels, but only if you're the
kind of person who uses toolbars with labels (which I'm
not).  What's the recommendation there?

3) Icon themes make it difficult for us to show exactly
the right icon.

> > The word "button" can also be used to refer to mechanical buttons.  
> > Use the verb "press" for mechanical buttons.
> >
> > Correct:
> > Press the reset button on your computer.
> > Press the left mouse button.
> >
> > Incorrect:
> > Click the left mouse button.
> 
> I'm fine with "Press the Reset button", but "Press the left mouse 
> button" seems a little weird to me. After all, the whole reason we use 
> the term "click" is because that's what mouse buttons *do*.

Every style guide I've seen says that you click by pressing
a mouse button.  It's not that pressing the mouse button isn't
clicking.  But the mouse button is not the thing you clicked;
it's the mechanism by which you clicked.

> > ==========================================================
> > command button
> > A button which initiates an action when clicked.  Prefer
> > the word "button" alone, although you may use "command
> > button" to differentiate from toggle buttons.
> 
> I don't think using "command button" would help differentiate anything, 
> really. Most people won't know which buttons are command buttons.
> 
> > See also button, toggle button.
> > ==========================================================
> > toggle button
> > A button which switches between two states.  If it's clear that the 
> > button is a toggle button, you may simply use the word "button".
> > ...
> 
> Same here -- referring to a "toggle button" is assuming knowledge that 
> most people won't have, and I don't remember ever seeing a theme where 
> toggle buttons looked different from normal buttons anyway. Just use 
> "button".

I don't disagree.  My allowance for these terms is perhaps
not as clear as it should be.  I was mostly thinking of the
case where you're trying to explain how the interface works
to a beginner.

  "That's a toggle button.  When you click it, it stays
  pressed in and changes the way..."

Something like that.

--
Shaun