Re: [Usability] 'Capplets' (was Re: background/font capplets)

[John Sheehan <john sheehan sun com>]

Ian McKellar wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 2002-04-04 at 14:07, John Sheehan wrote:
> > To pick up on this earlier thread .... So, if we can no longer use 'capplets',
> > what common name should we use to refer to system preferences.  'Control Center'
> > was a good handle with which to collectively group these preferences (like MS's
> > Control Panel) but that is now also defunct.
> >
> > In Gnome 1.4 you could document along the lines of 'You can set the desktop
> > background using the Background capplet in the Control Center'.
> >
> > 'Preferences' as they are called in the Applications menu is too unspecific.
> > 'Property dialogs' doesn't work.  GNOME Preferences ? System Preferences ?
> > Global Preferences ?
> 
> On classic MacOS each of the "capplets" are called a "Control Panel"
> (well, initially there was *the* control panel which was a single dialog
> but now there are many of those) and the folder that holds them is
> called "Control Panels". So perhaps we could call the collection of
> "Property Dialog"s "Property Dialogs". I don't really like that name but
> its pretty clear that you find property dialogs inside the property
> dialogs folder.
> 

It is not correct to equate preferences with properties.  Eugene O'Connor's distinction
in the Gnome documentation glossary is:

preference: A characteristic of a program which a user can modify to alter how the 
            program interacts with the user.
property:   A characteristic of an inactive entity. 

If instead of "Property Dialogs, we were to use "Preference Dialogs" that would not
distinguish between the dialog to change the desktop background and the dialog for 
Wanda preferences.  We need a name which distinguishes the former from the latter.

John

> I think using a name thats distinct from the name thats used to describe
> the dialogs used to configure applications would be good.
> 
> Ian
> 
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