I have been thinking about renaming "Matched Windows" as "Window Rules"..

items 2 and 3 no longer apply.

I'm not sure about "frame style". I think the word "frame" is used in
its normal usage (c.f. picture frame, etc), so I'm not sure that
"frame style" is so much worse than the alternatives..

I like "window rules" a lot; that panel really can do quite a bit more
than just make application-specific customizations.

You make a good point about the use of "frame"...on second thought,
"decoration" is probably a bad choice.  Possible alternatives include
"border" or "edge", but "border" is already in use and "edge" is too
close to "border" and does not describe something with constituent
parts, like a real-world "window frame" has.

Given that "frame" is probably the best option, there are still what
seem to me to be many inconsistencies in frame-related vocabulary...

5.) [ ] Decorate dialog windows similarly to application windows

As a new user, I might wonder: "What is the difference between window
frames and window decorations?"  In the Shortcuts panel, I see that
the constituent parts are referred to as "title" "border" and various
"buttons".

It is a leap of discovery to realize that the title bar, its buttons,
and the window border are all "decorations" and that together, these
make up the "frame."  It is also non-obvious that it is *possible* for
two windows to have a different set of these even if they have the
same "frame" "style".  It should be possible to present the
preferences in such a way that these facts are obvious on the first
reading.

6.) The Appearance tab of the Appearance window calls Crux a "frame
style" but the other tab is labelled "Crux theme".  So it is a style
or a theme?  Based on my experience, "theme" is preferred.  Whatever
term is used here, it should also be used for the title of the menu
currently titled "Frame style" which you get if you right-click on a
frame.  (Almost all users do not and should not know about the
technical distinction between a theme and a style.)

7.) I see a list on the Appearance tab labelled "Frame type fallbacks"
that has things like "transient" "shaped" etc. in it.  But when I
right-click on a window frame, I see a menu similarly titled "Frame
type" that has things like "Title-only" "Border-only" etc. on it.

8.) What is the difference between a "dialog" window and a "transient"
window?  I assume there actually isn't any?  If not, I think more
people would be familiar with the former term.

One or the other is mentioned in the following places:
 Appearance panel, Appearance tab: "transient" in "frame type
  fallbacks" list; "[ ] Decorate dialog windows..."
 Focus behavior panel, Focus tab: "[ ] Dialog windows inherit..."
 Matched Window panel, Edit dialog, Other tab: "Transients above..."
 Minimizing and Maximizing panel, Minimizing tab:
  "Iconifying a window...", "Uniconifying a window..."
 Miscellaneous panel, Miscellaneous tab:
  "Group transient windows..."
  "Keep transient windows stacked above..."
 Placement panel: "Method of placing dialog windows..."
  "Don't automatically remember details of transient windows"
 Various names in the Shortcuts and Sound panel dialogs

9.) Incidentally, here in sawfish-1.0-ximian.4, I see inconsistent
capitalization in panel names: "Focus behavior" vs. "Matched Windows".

---

I propose the following conventions:
 - Setting a "Frame theme" is picking Crux, microGUI, etc.
   Changes would be needed to: Right-click menus, Matched Windows 
    panel (Appearance tab in Edit dialog), Appearance panel 
   (Appearance tab).
 - Setting a "Frame type" is choosing "normal" "title-only"
    "border-only", etc.
 - Temporary windows are "dialog" windows.  This is the terminology
used in the Gnome "Look and Feel" section of Control Center.

---

5a.)

[ ] Dialog windows have same frame type as applications

6a.) "Frame style" -> "Frame theme" in:
   Right-click-on-frame menu
   Matched Windows panel, Edit dialog, Appearance tab
   Appearance panel, Appearance tab

7a.) It is unclear to me that these settings should be exposed in the
GUI at all; I recommend relegating them to internals and removing this
modifyable list.  I mean, when is a fallback needed at all?  If a
theme does not supply a frame type for a given "window family"
(tranient, shaped, etc.)?  It seems to me that this is a matter for
the theme and window manager authors to get right.  It is useful for
the end-user to be able to choose the arrangement of buttons in the
title bar, to be able to force dialog boxes to be decorated
completely, and to be able to choose a different aesthetic.  It is not
useful for end-users to second-guess the system by futzing with these
fallbacks, as far as I can tell.  Keeping extraneous dialogs makes it
harder to find things in the preference system in general, especially
if it's unclear at first glance what a given thing does.

Removing this list would, I think, leave only the references to "frame
type having to do with "normal" "title-only", etc., so this would also
solve that problem.

7b.) If is it deemed absolutely essential to expose these settings,
significant changes would be needed; I won't go through the bother of
making detailed suggestions, because I think such editing would be
rather tortured, given the overly technical nature of the exposed
settings.

8a.) Substitute "dialog" everywhere "transient" appears.

---

9.) Incidentally, here in sawfish-1.0-ximian.4, I see inconsistent
capitalization in panel names: "Focus behavior" vs. "Matched Windows".

Closed as OBSOLETE. Items 4 = 6 are fixed in 1.7, 5 is a collection of dups of other items, 7 is obsolete, 8 is in the manual, 9 is merely aesthetic.