Re: [Usability] Can't Handle it anymore! (Consistent toolbars?)

[Matthew Thomas <mpt myrealbox com>]

Alan Horkan wrote:
> >
> On Thu, 31 Mar 2005, Matthew Thomas wrote:
> >
> > > I would like the possiblity of putting a toolbar (icons only)
> > > alongside the menubar, a space which is usually wasted.  That
> > > functionality would necessitate including a handle on menubars.
> >
> > No, that function would need only a handle on the toolbars. The menu
> > bar isn't going anywhere, it's just shrinking horizontally.
>
> I assume that was a typo and you are suggestion this case would _not_
> need a handle.

I said it "would need only a handle on the toolbars". I should have said 
it "would need handles only on the toolbars". Sorry for the confusion.

> To nit pick your nit pick if you are going to have the feature at all
> you cannot assume that people wont want to move the menubar on either
> side.

But I can, and do, assume that people can achieve that by dragging the 
toolbars to where they want relative to the menu bar, without dragging 
the menu bar itself.

> The latest version of Netscape puts the menubar on the right hand
> side,
>...

Which I could achieve, for example, by dragging the toolbar to the left 
edge of the menu bar.

>...
> I'm not against the idea of turning this Customisability off by
> defualt (a small discovery penalty I think is worth paying).
>...
> > A better solution would be to get rid of the handles, and make the
> > entire toolbar draggable when the Alt key was held down.
> >
> > That would make rearrangement similarly difficult to do
> > accidentally, but would also make it easier to do when you really
> > did want to do it, because the target area would be the entire
> > toolbar instead of a tiny handle.
>...
> I expect this suggestion could be incorporated into any larger plan
> but I had exactly the same concerns about discoverability as David
> Christian Berg
>...

Regardless of whether rearrangable toolbars are worthwhile at all, I 
think it's odd to be concerned about the discoverability of Alt+drag, 
but to be okay with the discoverability of the feature being completely 
"off by default".

--
Matthew Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/