GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 115979
GOK should appear in Applications menu
Last modified: 2004-12-22 21:47:04 UTC
GOK needs to install an appropriate .desktop file so it appears on the GNOME Applications menu. Consensus seemed to be that Applications->Accessibility->On-Screen Keyboard would be an appropriate menu item for it. (The actual application name, GOK in this case, isn't supposed to be shown in the menus for core GNOME components, according to the HIG).
Music to my ears. I've been waiting a long time for this request :-)
should do this before UI freeze July 7.
taking a crack at this one...
Created attachment 17805 [details] gok.desktop.in
I attached my attempt at a gok.desktop.in Could someone see if I am on the right track here? If there is currently no applications;accessiblity submenu will one be created?
David - the accessibility submenu doesn't get created, in this case GOK ends up in the 'Other' submenu of 'Applications'. I am not sure who we need to talk to in order to create the 'Accessibility' submenu. I attach a patch which tweaks your desktop.in file a bit, and also installs a GOK icon. I will also attach my GOK icon just for experimentation, I think it works OK in the Applications menu but of course feel free to replace it.
Created attachment 17862 [details] [review] revised gok.desktop.in and Makefile.am patch
Created attachment 17863 [details] gok.png image for above (icon for menu)
Note that the icon is sort of 'app specific' since it includes the letters 'G', 'O', and 'K'. Perhaps it should be 'O', 'S', 'K' instead ? Also the icon, when reduced to the size of a menu item, is pretty flat. Not sure how to represent this visual metaphor in such a small icon however.
Created attachment 17865 [details] bolder version of icon which survives scaling down a bit better.
fixed, "mostly" - there's no "Accessibility" submenu yet, so GOK ends up in "Other". Calum, can you advise on the menu restructuring?
Apparently we need a change to gnome-vfs to get the Accessibility menu, filed as bug #116379.
Hmm, couple of potential issues with the icon: - it's an odd size (most are 48x48) - it has text in it, which the HIG advises against Personally I think it would work quite well as an abstract image without the text-- realistically, it's nearly always going to be seen in the menu or the Alt-Tab popup where it has text beside it anyway. I'm attaching a couple of variations that use the closest colours from the GNOME palette, and add the usual GNOME drop-shadow. (I think I like the horizontal arrangement better as they look more like buttons that way.) Doing a high contrast version without the text would admittedly be a challenge though... :o)
Created attachment 17936 [details] Horizontal icon with no text
Created attachment 17937 [details] Vertical icon with no text
D'oh, attached ones that were still the wrong size after all that, here's the 48x48 versions...
Created attachment 17938 [details] Horizontal icon, no text
Created attachment 17939 [details] Vertical icon, no text
Calum: I like the icons, but think they _do_ need to include text (for the same reason gucharmap's icon includes a glyph). It doesn't matter what language the text is in, etc. as long as there are recognizable glyphs on the buttons. Without text I think the icon is meaningless or at best cryptic. Perhaps we need only two buttons rather than three, for visibility? I also think the icon makes more visual sense if it's not square (it can be 48x48 technically but with a significant number of transparent pixels top and bottom).
agreed, the horizontal version (when made nearly square, as you have done) does look more like buttons. Still, can we at least suggest glyphs on the buttons?
You could also do something even more abstract like this one, since app icons are (according to the HIG) supposed to have "table" perspective... I think we probably could argue for text in this case if we wanted to, since the HIG only really frowns on words, and "GOK" (or "OSK") isn't a real word in any language I know of. Expect complaints though :) (Although if people who really need this are going to have it turned on all the time, they're probably never going to see the icon anywhere anyway, having turned it on at login or from the AT setup dialog, so I confess to being not overly convinced...)
Created attachment 17941 [details] Table-perspective version...
weird but fun ;-)
Created attachment 17943 [details] This might be a sneaky way to get the text in...
How about klingon glyphs on the buttons? I wonder what the glyphs are for gagh? Sounds like "gok"... Calum, your icons look really polished - what do you use?
I just use GIMP, or Photoshop if I'm desperate :)
BTW, I think the category in the .desktop file needs to be "Application", not "Applications"...
Ah, not to worry, I see you've got it right in cvs :)