Re: PROPOSAL: UISG Menu Line Standardization

[famrom ran es (Guillermo S. Romero / unnamed / Familia Romero)]

>The UISG currently proposes that the FULLY LOADED Menu Line appears as:
>   Program | File | Edit | View | Options | Preferences | Help
> o Program, and Help are manditory items. (!)'marked.

Agree, with option to choose between foot icon and text (all apps at a time,
of course -> consistency) cos:
 o For someone, icon look fine: branding, File still is the first, Mac guys.
 o For others it is not a good idea: "if all menu entries are text, why an
icon?" my sister said that whe I showed the mockup series
(http://www.sonetech.com/~bry/mockup*.gif); it can be really confusing for
newbies, she thought it was decoration at the begining ("stupid decoration"
was the exact phrase, sorry for the artist ;] , she says the same of NT top
left icons/menus). Then I tried the other mockup series
(http://www.cybersites.com/~xkahn/gnome/mockup*.gif), and the response was
"now it is a button" ... "hey, but launches a menu as the other images!"

Order of tests can change things, I realize that, not "the button that
launches a menu" response (she has used computer to the degree of
differencing menu from button), but the other, she supposes she will know
(cos she has seen the other image before), but still keep saying that if
something is text, the "brothers" must be text ("all text or all icons", but
a all icons menus is not a menu, IMHO, it is a button bar).

I say configurable cos IMO the theme has ~50% people in each side.

> o File, Edit, and View are optional items. Some programs will
>   never need to load/save files, for example. Some programs
>   will never need to edit anything. Some programs will never need
>   to alter the user's view. (?)'marked.

Agree.
I prefer consistency (always "File", so menu shortcut remains unchanged)
than pleasing others ("Session" or "Document" or "Graphic" depending on app,
and changin shortcut), cos the way I saw it, file references filling cabinet
(told the audio tech that, he is not stupid) [<asbestos suit>English, IMHO,
drives speakers to forgot how to build phrases or even two word
constructions </asbestos suit>].

About Edit, well, not every app needs Edit (ie, games). For small edition
(entering the same name in the scores, for example) you can use keybindings
(or type again, lazy guy).
   
> o View, Options, and Preferences are contingent items, present
>   only when required by the app. They are not manditory.

Agree, except that preferences can be under "Program"/Foot-icon, if they are
one or few entries. They are rarely used and program wide, so they can be
put under a root menu, instead of giving them a full top level entry.

Bowie: this kind of "polls" are a good thing... maybe this make the GUI list
more productive (I came from vacations, and found lots of msgs, some really
dumb).
Rest: and asking non-list people with any level of computer expertise
(family, work mates) also seems good.

GSR