Re: [HIG] Capplet buttons/guidelines

[Maciej Stachowiak <mjs noisehavoc org>]

On 10Dec2001 05:43PM (+0000), Calum Benson wrote:
> Calum Benson wrote:
> 
> > I assume a capplet should be treated the same as any other Properties
> > dialog, i.e. instant apply where reasonable, explicit apply otherwise.
> > Can we try and agree/write up our final decision on what buttons should
> > appear in each case (or at least let jrb know what we're going to write)
> > by the end of the week, so he can get libcapplet done and dusted and get
> > other people involved in porting capplets?
> 
> Okay, nobody took the bait, and the deadline has come and gone, so I'm
> afraid I just gave jrb my opinion :)
> 
> He was only interested in explicit-apply dialogs for now.  So, having
> re-read the relevant discussions on the usability list, and come out in
> a few cold sweats, I suggested that for now, he should go ahead and use:
> 
> [Help]   [Revert] [Apply] [OK]

No! Too many buttons! For the love of God, don't make the standard
control center panel have four buttons.

I suggest the following:

Instant apply: 

* No buttons if it's coming up inside the control-center window.

* Just a [Close] button (or maybe [Done]) if the capplet is coming up
in a separate window.


Explicit-apply:

* Just an [Apply] button if it's coming up inside the control-center
window.

* [Save] and [Cancel] buttons if it's coming up in a separate window
(you're saving the settings).

Help can be a menu item, since the control center window already has a
menu bar with a help menu. The help feature is rearely used and
needlessly clutters up the main button area.

Since I omitted any kind of revert feature, this means that the
capplets have to be designed to make settings easy to change back by
hand. If this is too hard in some cases, I would rather see a proper
"Undo" feature than a monolithic revert.


Regards,

Maciej