[Please, Cc: me since I'm not subscribed to the list] Hi all.
I'm working on the recently used resources management in Gtk/Gnome (both by maintaining the current libegg/recent-files code and by writing its replacement). The current viewer for the recently used files enables the creation of a sub-menu and of inlined menu items, by attaching them to an already set menu. Downside: the resulting object is not a widget - even if it does provide a widget - and its API is... well... complex to say the least. Since I'm in the process of re-writing this widget with the new recent files manager, I've also done my homework (:-)) and scanned through the HIG and through the usability list archives, in order to see if there's a preferred way to show the recently used resources. It seems that inlined is the preferred visualization method - even though I disagree with it, both from the developer's[1] and from user's[2] POV. By asking various users on the "reference platforms" (namely: win32 and os-x), I saw that the os-x users tend to resort to the recently used files more than the win32 users, because the recently used files list is longer; the win32 users, especially on the Office suite, tend to use the side pane, containing some of the common actions and the recently used files list, then to use it more than the menu version of it - I guess because the icons are just more discorable. On the gtk-devel list, when I proposed the creation of a new set of widgets, the common reaction was "leave a menu widget in"[3] (I'm creating a widget that would make feasible the implementation of a office-xp-like side pane containing the recently used files, anyway). So, I guess we need a menu. My gut feeling, me having asked the users, and me having used the os-x "Open Recent" sub-menu, all say that the sub-menu approach should be at least reconsidered. What do the usability team thinks? Kind regards, Emmanuele. +++ [1] you need both the menu *and* the starting entry point for injecting the recently used resources, opposed to having just a menu item to attach the submenu; you need a non-widget class to create a widget. [2] an inlined menu must be kept short (4 items max.), or: "I open three documents at a time, and I want to access the documents I opened yesterday"; the File menu must wait the building of the recent files list to be displayed, or: "why the menu is so sluggish?". [3] http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2005-June/msg00002.html -- Emmanuele Bassi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Web site: http://log.emmanuelebassi.net _______________________________________________ Usability mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/usability
