Re: [tdf-discuss] UI proposal

Le 2010-10-14 18:03, Mirek M. acrit:Hi everyone,
Since it seems like LibreOffice won't adopt the UI Oracle's preparing for
OOo, I'm starting a massive LibreOffice UI proposal series. Here's the
intro:http://clickortap.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/citrus-ui/Hello,I wonder what is the interest of Microsoft and others, including
    you, to replace menus with a ribbon-like interface. I think it
    brings the worst in terms of usability. Why?We have grown to use a certain menu organization. File, Edit,
    Format, Tools, Windows and Help are, in that order, fairly standard
    menu items in all applications, and even the basic list of menu
    items is even fairly standardized. The ribbon interface changes that
    to a certain extent and requires a relearning process.There are a few menu items that are easily displayed with icons,
    but most icons are either very hard to read or require a lot of real
    estate or both. Look at Microsoft Word or at WordPad on System 7 and
    look at icons used for page or paragraph margins, or for search and
    replace (very similar to the one for spelling). Because of that, Ms
    Office 2010 and WordPad adds text below many icons (more real
    estate) and a tool tip which is basically the former menu item.Because of real estate requirements, there are a limited number of
    buttons that may be displayed on a screen, whether it is with a
    traditional set of buttonsla Office 3.2 or with a ribbonla
    Microsoft Office 2007-2010. So there is a need for multiple menus
    that call different ribbons like Ms Office. or buttons that need
    still another action like custom margins.Using a typical menu item requires one move with the mouse: move
    it to the top to select the menu and slide it toward the menu item,
    then release. Sub menus require a little more dexterity.On the other hand, using a typical ribbon "menu" item requires a
    move and two clicks: a first click at the top to select the proper
    ribbon, then a click on the proper icon. And because of the limited
    real estate, it is more likely that one then falls onto yet another
    dialogue box.A traditional tool bar is always there; so its commands may be
    accessed very quickly. But it works only because of its limited
    number of icons.So what would be the best approach? Probably a mix of both systems.A traditional menu system for structured commands. In a word
    processor, I see comprehensive commands like Page setup, Paragraph
    setup, Font setup, Style setup (with a dialog box like that of
    Office 2003), Table setup, etc. Simple commands like "Align to the
    left" could either be in a submenu or even forgotten altogether
    because they already are accessible through the Paragraph Setup
    dialog box. Displaying them in a submenu makes learning and training
    easier : the command is seen, its shortcut is seen, etc.If a ribbon-like approach is used, there should be shortcuts not
    only for items, but also for each of the ribbons. For instance, I
    should be able to press alt-F for the File ribbon, alt-E to show the
    Edit ribbon, etc... and each of these shortcuts should become as
    standard as control-Z, X, C and V for the basic cut and paste
    possibilities.Of course, control-C for Cut and control-shift-L (or control-L) for
    Align-left should also exist for a direct access to menus.Icons are good when the graphic is obvious to all and when
    clicking on it has a direct result. One of the major pitfalls I
    currently see is that most are non-configurable (same problem with
    Microsoft Office and OpenOffice). So for me, the Left-Align and Bold
    icons work (but the keyboard shortcuts are so quicker), but the
    bullet icon doesn't work because it does not use my preferred
    settings: I would like it to apply my "Bullet 1" setting (usually a
    hanging indent of 1 pica with no further indent, but some documents
    have a different style definition). Ditto for the 5 or 6 different
    Page Setting icons that are defined in Ms Word 2007: none of them
    have the margins I need for my documents!How would a mixed system work?One way to do it would be to have the menus first, followed by
    ribbons. For instance, the new LibreOffice would have
    File-Edit-Display (maybe)-Insert-Format-Table-Tools-Window menus,
    then Basic (file and edit ribbon items)-Insert-Format (document,
    paragraph and text items)-Table ribbons. The menu could appear
    either on a single line or on two lines if/when the window is too
    narrow.Finally, should a ribbon sit on the right or at the top? Why not
    have it either way? The ribbon is a glorified toolbar and
    traditional toolbars have worked in either position, either docked
    or undocked. So why not have the "ribbon menus" call a toolbar
    anyway?By the way, since we talk of a new interface, one aspect I don't
    like of OpenOffice 3.x are the toolbars that appear and disappear
    according to paragraph styles. For instance, when bullets are chosen
    (or a bullet style), the bullet toolbar appears (by default at the
    top) and shifts all text down 1 cm. Go back to a standard paragraph
    and it shifts up again. Why not have a user interface made with one
    or two user-defined toolbars like we currently have on OpenOffice
    3.x and Ms Office 2003, plus one toolbar that would be always there,
    albeit with variable content (a.k.a. the "ribbon"). Users would
    decide where they want that big grey box and LibreOffice would fill
    in the proper icons.--Michel Gagnonmichel@mgagnon.netMontral (Qubec, Canada)mgagnon.net




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