Re: Gimp-style menus

["David Grega" <webmaster overtech zzn com>]

I believe if we are to make Gnome more user-friendly, we
should avoid copying GIMP too much since most novice users
find the GIMP interface simply too confusing but only use
GIMP because it's free and does a great job and has
basically no real competition.  Gnome on the other hand does
not have such luxury.  If people don't like Gnome, they'll
simply click onto KDE during logon.

- David Grega

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Newman" <mike gtnorthern demon co uk>
To: "colin z robertson" <c z robertson ndirect co uk>
Cc: <gnome-gui-list gnome org>
Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2001 8:14 AM
Subject: Re: Gimp-style menus


> On 15 Apr 2001 12:30:46 +0100, colin z robertson wrote:
>
> > I'm about to start work on the section of the UI
guidelines dealing
> > with menus and there are a few issues I'd like some
feedback on. The
> > first is about the status of Gimp-style menus accessible
via a
> > right-click on the document. Should these be encouraged
or discouraged
> > in the guidelines? To what extent are they appropriate?
> >
> > Any thoughts?
>
> In my opinion (and I do seem to be expressing a lot of
them today :-)
> these "Context Menus" are valuable and useful - but no GUI
environment
> has yet achieved a consistency that actually makes users
think "Ah! If I
> right click on this...". A context menu should relate
directly to what
> in selected, focused or (at worst) under the pointer at
the time of
> clicking, and should display (or allow activation of) only
items which
> are possible/reasonable/advisable(?) in that specific
context.
>
> The Gimp (and other graphics/DTP apps using) take this to
the ultimate
> extent of saying "everything you can do with this image,
you do by right
> clicking", but most programs will not need to approach the
menus in this
> way. In my own code I use right click menus to expose
features which are
> common enough to make moving the mouse to the toolbar,
dropping down a
> menu or hitting accelerators a hassle.
>
> Mike
>
> --
> Mike Newman, Weston-super-Mare, UK |
http://www.gtnorthern.demon.co.uk
>
>
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