[HIG] Icons in application menus and dialog action buttons

[Gregory Merchan <merchan phys lsu edu>]

The HIG has not yet addressed icons in application menus and dialog action
buttons.

Status:
  GNOME pre-2.0 allows a global setting of whether icons appear in menus and
dialog action buttons. Unfortunately, this is dependent on programming nits.
It is possible that:
  * the setting will apply to the widget,
  * the widget will always have an icon, or
  * the widget will never have an icon.
This holds to the particular widget; the results in a menu or dialog may be
mixed. The setting cannot be changed while the program is running and the
setting affects both the panel menus and the application menus. There is
at least one existing application partially loses functionality if menu
icons are not on. Though there is a stock icon group, it is neither
user-configurable nor does it span all possible menu items or dialog 
buttons. This contributes to the mixing of widget types as programmers may
try to force their own icons despite the presence of an API for adding to 
the stock. The provided stock set has issues in its own right.

Pending:
  My experience with Gtk+ 2.0 (pre-releases) has revealed some things. The
stock item system from GNOME is now part of the toolkit and is themable. All
of the other aforemention problems still exist, but it is not yet clear if
the existence of icons can be globally determined or how. The default is that
icons exist wherever a stock item is used (pending the completion of the stock
set).

Recommendation:
  HIG should adress this by advising that:
    * icons must not be used for application menu items
    * icons must not be used for dialog action buttons except
      a Help button which should have only the icon.
    * icons must be used for global menu items (i.e., the panel)

Rationale:
  The presence of icons on application menu items distracts from the supreme
importance of the user's document. The mixed presence of icons results in
a user interface that either appears broken or incomplete or as if it is
calling special attention to those items with icons. The use of graphics
for indicating toggle state and also for whatever reason the item icons are
present presents a duality of purpose with no commonality. This lessens the
value of check marks, radio marks, and submenu indicators; it may also confuse
users who expect a graphic on a menu item to be indicative of direct
functionality rather than duplicating the message of the item label.
  Much the same applies for action buttons in a dialog. The mixed presence
may appear as breakage or incompleteness or distract from the purpose of other
buttons with graphics. As the same widget (programmatically and in general
appearance) is used for dialog action buttons as elsewhere, the mixed message
is even more confusing. On the other hand, by making the Help button appear
with just an icon and no label, this makes it appear as similar to a toolbar
button which must never dismiss the window it is in; the same may apply to
the Next and Prior buttons in assistants (a.k.a. - Druids or Wizards). The
similar widgets here include scrollbar buttons, disclosure buttons (which are
not yet standardized), combo box buttons, option buttons (a.k.a. option menu
buttons), and buttons as may appear on toolbars and within dialogs or on
web pages.

Provision:
  If there is an option to toggle the presence of icons in these places, we
should advise that the defualt must be as would result from the above
recommendation. Whereas this will present the problems experienced prior
to GNOME 2.0, guidelines for the icon designed must be available and a guide
to proper use of the stock system should be available. However, since the
nature of that system is not known at this time, it is not yet possible to
make the latter set of guidelines.

Cheers,
Greg Merchan