[Usability] Re: Opinions on menu layout for creating/modifying/deleting comments

["Andreas J. Guelzow" <aguelzow taliesin ca>]

On Wed, 2003-06-11 at 19:45, Jody Goldberg wrote:
> http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=99860
> 
> What are people's opinions on handling this in Gnumeric.
> 
> The MS excel way seems 1/2 cocked, but is at least familiar to
> users.  OO appears to use a cheap version of excel and just has 
>     Insert -> Note
> 
> for both edit and modify
> 
> Having Edit -> Comment and Insert -> Comment seems like overkill,
> and the content of the Edit menu just doesn't seem to match well.
> 
> Opinions ?

We probably agree that "Insert->Add/Modify Comment" is silly. Our
current Insert seems to be a menu containing a strange mixture of items:

cells, columns, rows, sheet   modify the basic structure of the
workbook. Strangely enough the matching delete is in the edit menu.

chart, image insert specific objects but the other sheet objects (such
as check boxes etc are missing)

function, special specifically edits the content of a cell so is again
of a different character.

name does not really insert anything but is just used to define some
non-object

hyperlink is very similar to comment

I think we should probably look at both the Edit and Insert menus and
redistribute items, possibly renamning the insert menu. That way we can
also remove duplication: Edit->Sheet->Insert and Insert->Sheet.

We may have various groups of items:

!) Cut,copy, paste, paste special, clear, delete, insert rows, cols,
cells, function, special, fill

This group seems to edit specific cell content

2) undo, redo

These are super items 

3) search, search and replace, goto, select

are essentially movement items

4) sheet->*, name, chart, image

are sheet-wide items (charts etc are attached to a sheet not really to a
cell)

5) recalculate is a control item, that doesn't really fit

6) Comment and hyperlink are essentially sheet properties.


One very far reaching proposal would be:

- add (6) to the Format menu (removing sheet from that menu)

- replacing the Insert menu with a sheet menu including (4) in that menu
(moving sheet->* out of a submenu) as well as (3)

- move (5) into the tools or data menu

- put (1) and (2) into the edit menu (since people expect (2) to be
there)


Andreas