Menus Whiteboard

Fast User Switching

DanBallard: Windows XP has had user switching and multi user log on since 2001ish I think. It's really cool that we are getting there but putting the menu option for it in Applicaion -> system tools and labeling it "new login" is IMHO a really bad plan. No one will find it becasue no one will look there. When they don't see it beside logout in the desktop menu they will assume it is not supported and doesn't exist. What newb would think, "I want to log out but keep this sesion open so I'll look under System Tools"? This needs to be tweeked adn cleaned and inserted into a sane place with a sane title so people become aware of it.

CalumBenson: I guess things have improved a bit on this front in 2.14... "Switch User" is now available in some of the same places it is on Windows (on the Log Out dialog and on the locked screen dialog).

CalumBenson: While putting together the UI spec for the OpenSolaris desktop, I took the opportunity of reviewing all the .desktop file Comments, which appear as menu or launcher tooltips. Needless to say, despite HIG guidance on the subject, there wasn't much consistency and some of them weren't very descriptive. Here's my first pass at a suggested rewrite.

Vague guidelines I kept in mind while writing them:

  • For document/file editing apps, "Create or open..."
  • For viewing/browsing apps, "View.." (for doc-at-a-time apps), or "Browse..." (for "pick from a list/group" apps)
  • For preferences, "Change..." (things you might want to do often) or "Configure..." (things you're going to do once or infrequently)

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

Help

Read documentation for the desktop and applications

N

JoachimNoreiko

Lock Screen

Protect your computer from unauthorized use

Y

CalumBenson

Log Out

Log out of this session to log in as a different user

Y

CalumBenson

Run Application

Run an application by typing a command or choosing from a list

N

CalumBenson

Accessibility

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

gok

Type into and navigate applications using alternative input devices

N

CalumBenson

dasher

Type into and navigate applications using alternative input devices

N

CalumBenson

gnopernicus

Output on-screen text as speech or braille, or magnify the screen

N

CalumBenson

Accessories

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

file-roller

Create or open compressed file archives such as ZIP or TAR

N

CalumBenson

gcalctool

Perform arithmetic, scientific or financial calculations

N

CalumBenson

gucharmap

Insert special symbols or characters into documents

N

CalumBenson

gedit

Create or open text or source files, with optional syntax highlighting

N

CalumBenson

gnome-terminal

Open a command line shell

N

CalumBenson

gnome-dictionary

Check word definitions and spellings in an online dictionary

Y

CalumBenson

gnome-screenshot

Save images of your desktop or individual windows

Y

CalumBenson

Games

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

gataxx

Dominate the board in a modern variation of Reversi

Y

CalumBenson

glines

Remove colored balls from the board by forming lines

Y

CalumBenson

gnect

Make lines of the same color to win

Y

CalumBenson

iagno

Dominate the board in a classic version of Reversi

Y

CalumBenson

gnotski

Slide blocks to solve the puzzle

Y

CalumBenson

mahjongg

Dismantle a pile of tiles by removing matching pairs

Y

CalumBenson

gnomine

Clear hidden mines from a minefield

Y

CalumBenson

gnibbles

Guide a worm around a maze

Y

CalumBenson

gnobots2

Avoid the robots and make them crash into each other

Y

CalumBenson

same-gnome

Clear the screen by removing groups of colored balls

Y

CalumBenson

gtali

Beat the odds in a poker-style dice game

Y

CalumBenson

gnotravex

Complete the puzzle by matching numbered tiles

Y

CalumBenson

Graphics

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

gimp

Create, edit or convert images between standard graphics formats

N

CalumBenson

gtkam

Browse and download images from an attached digital camera

N

CalumBenson

eog

Browse and rotate images

Y

LucasRocha

Internet

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

evolution

Read email and schedule meetings and appointments

N

CalumBenson

epiphany

Browse the worldwide web

N

CalumBenson

gaim

Text chat using your MSN, Yahoo! or Google Talk account (why not put a generic description in here?)

N

CalumBenson (comment by WouterBolsterlee)

ekiga

Video chat using a webcam

N

CalumBenson

Office

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

evince

View and print PostScript and PDF documents (Why not just documents? Evince aims to support more than that!)

N

CalumBenson (comment by WouterBolsterlee)

oobase

Create or open a database

N

CalumBenson

oocalc

Create or open a spreadsheet

N

CalumBenson

oodraw

Create or open a drawing

N

CalumBenson

ooimpress

Create or open a presentation

N

CalumBenson

oowriter

Create or open a text document or web page

N

CalumBenson

Programming

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

glade

Create or open user interface designs for GTK+ or GNOME applications

Y

CalumBenson

Sound & Video

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

sound-juicer

Convert audio CDs to sound files

N

CalumBenson

rhythmbox

Play and organize your music collection

Y

CalumBenson

totem

Play videos and DVDs

N

CalumBenson

gnome-volume-control

Control loudspeaker, headphone and recording volumes

N

CalumBenson

gnome-sound-recorder

Record audio clips from a microphone or other sound source

N

CalumBenson

System Tools

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

gnome-about

Desktop version and licensing information

N

CalumBenson

bug-buddy

Report desktop problems or feature requests

N

CalumBenson

gnome-system-log

View or monitor system log files

Y

CalumBenson

gdmflexiserver --xnest

Log in to a new desktop session in a window

N

CalumBenson

gnome-system-monitor

Monitor disk, memory and CPU usage of running processes

N

CalumBenson

Places

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

Home Folder

Open your personal folder

Y

CalumBenson

Documents

Open your personal documents folder

N

CalumBenson

Desktop

Open the contents of your desktop in a folder

N

CalumBenson

Computer

Browse all local and remote disks and folders accessible from this computer

Y

CalumBenson

CD/DVD Creator

Open a folder into which you can drag files to burn to a CD or DVD

N

CalumBenson

Network

Browse bookmarked and local network locations

Y

CalumBenson

Connect to Server

Connect to a remote computer or shared disk

N

CalumBenson

Search for Files...

Locate documents and folders on this computer by name or content

Y

DennisCranston

Administration

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

disks-admin

List and format disk partitions

N

CalumBenson

gdmsetup

Configure GDM login window appearance and behavior

N

CalumBenson

network-admin

Configure network devices and connections

N

CalumBenson

gnome-power-preferences

Configure power saving schemes for this computer

N

CalumBenson

gnome-cups-manager

Add and remove printers and queues

N

CalumBenson

spadmin

Configure OpenOffice.org printer settings

N

CalumBenson

services-admin

Configure services to be run at startup

N

CalumBenson

shares-admin

Configure which folders are available to other users on your local network

N

CalumBenson

time-admin

Configure system date, time and time zone

N

CalumBenson

users-admin

Create, edit or remove users and groups

N

CalumBenson

Preferences

WouterBolsterlee: the Preferences menu is HUGE. It has 23 items on my machine. I know flat hierarchies are A Good Thing, but some grouping would really improve the usability of the Preferences menu. Actually, we already use a submenu for the Accessibility settings. I would really like a decent categorization like "Look and Feel" for things like the gnome-font-properties, gnome-background-properties and gnome-ui-properties, "Peripherals" for things like keyboard, mouse and monitor settings. This definitely needs more thought, but the current situation is just Really Bad imho.

JoachimNoreiko: Good idea, though it should probably wait until the Administration/Preferences distinction can be removed.

PeterClifton: What about some visual grouping based on an item's sub-categories. This mockup was made as a counter to someone suggesting that we should use a tree of sub-menus for Electronics applications. It might not make sense to activate it with such a low number of menu items as in the mockup, but that's just the apps I had installed.

preferences_menu_mockup.png menu_grouping_mockup.png

Note the subtly different colour (and smaller text size) for the group titles, combined with the indenting of contained apps.

It also worked out (in the preferences menu example) that each group ended up with icons with similar colour tones and visual appearance. That is probably no coincidence. Take for example, the "User and input" section - where all the settings "belong" directly to the person using the computer, their needs, and how they interact at the lowest level with the machine. Those icons (with the exception of SCIM - which is a bad icon anyway) all feature simple blue and grey tones. There are of course other examples in the menu which stick out like a sore thumb, and probably should have new icons, or be relegated out of the preferences menu.

Item/App

Proposed description

In CVS?

Description last edited by

gnome-at-properties

Configure the use of a screenreader, magnifier or on-screen keyboard

N

CalumBenson

gnome-background-properties

Change the colors or picture on the desktop background

N

CalumBenson

nautilus-file-management-properties

Change the behaviour and appearance of file manager windows

N

CalumBenson

gnome-font-properties

Change the default application and desktop fonts

N

CalumBenson

gnome-keyboard-properties

Change keyboard layout and settings

N

CalumBenson

gnome-accessibility-keyboard-properties

Change keyboard repeat, filtering and mousekeys settings to make typing easier

N

CalumBenson

gnome-keybinding-properties

Assign shortcut keys to commands

Y

CalumBenson

gnome-ui-properties

Change the default appearance of application menus and toolbars

N

CalumBenson

gnome-mouse-properties

Change mouse pointer, speed and movement settings

N

CalumBenson

gnome-network-preferences

Configure a proxy for internet access

N

CalumBenson

gnome-about-me

Change your personal information, password and login screen photo

N

CalumBenson

gnome-default-applications-properties

Change your default mail, web and editor applications

N

CalumBenson

vino-preferences

Allow other users to view your desktop from their computer

N

CalumBenson

gnome-display-properties

Change the size of your desktop

N

CalumBenson

xscreensaver-demo

Change your screensaver delay and theme

N

CalumBenson

gnome-session-properties

Change which applications are when you log in

N

CalumBenson

gnome-sound-properties

Associate sounds with desktop alerts and actions

N

CalumBenson

gnome-theme-manager

Change the color and appearance of desktop features

N

CalumBenson

gnome-window-properties

Change window selection and movement settings

N

CalumBenson


There's an inconsistency with the use of the word 'online'. For the dictionary app, 'online' means 'on the internet'. For the Help menu item, it means 'on your computer'. Most people now understand 'online' to mean the first definition. -- Joachim


Exit to Windows

I remember from somewhere that while shutting down the computer there was a choice as "exit to windows", now I use debianLenny-gnome and I miss that.


CategoryUsability

Attic/UsabilityProject/Whiteboard/Menus (last edited 2014-07-10 23:07:14 by AllanDay)