Re: [Usability]file menu

[Christian Rose <menthos menthos com>]

On 11 Jul 2002, Sunnanvind Fenderson wrote:
> > > I currently use three gnome apps - nautilus, galeon, and
> > > gnome-terminal - more often than the others, and I noticed that the
> > > "file" menu in some of them have nothing to do with files, it's all
> > > about "new window" and "new tab".
> >
> > Galeon can open and save files.
>
> Nautilus too, if a file is actually selected, but opening files isn't
> that menu's most common task in neither of the apps.

Probably not, but moving menu entries from one menu to another is a big
no-no I think. Browsers are not *that* different from your usual
document-centric application or viewer.


> > > This is quirky.
> > >
> > > Maybe it should be called "main" or "windows", and "edit" in terminal
> > > should be called "settings" like the settings menu in galeon.
> >
> > "File" is pretty commonplace and over time it has come to be less about
> > file manipulation but rather certain basic actions that people expect to
> > be there from other environments.
> > The HIG recommends "Game" for games that don't file operations. Games
> > usually don't use other document operations, such as opening new windows
> > or printing the current document. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to
> > call the menu "File".
>
> But having a "File" menu on the terminal window does make sense to you?

I didn't say that. :)


> > I'm not sure about the "Main" title though. I think "Windows" is out of
> > the question; that name is already reserved for another type of menu
> > that only lists the open windows.
>
> I don't have that menu in any of my apps - for those who have, that
> functionality could be moved to the new "window" menu (née "file").

I think that would require an extra sub-menu in file, which is pretty
awkward when switching windows. I don't see any benefit in this.


Christian