GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 93071
Needs revision of the ellipsis recommendation
Last modified: 2020-12-04 18:20:16 UTC
Following this (http://mail.gnome.org/archives/usability/2002-September/msg00008.html) thread on usability@gnome.org (which ends unconclusively i.e. no real answer/decision from any of the maintainers of the HIG) I am asking you to revise the current recommendation to something resembling the Apple Human Interface Guidelines take on this matter (http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/macosx/Essentials/AquaHIGuidelines/AHIGMenus/Using_Ellip_and_Buttons.html) Namely recommend ellipses for items bringing up settings dialogs. (Options, Preferences, Set <something>) Some clear examples as the ones found in the Apple HIG would also help I guess. For instance the current state of the Search menu in gedit ("Find","Find Again","Replace",<separator>,"Goto line") /all without ellipsis/ although presumably HIG compliant and "certified" by a usability aware person clearly show some misunderstanding of even the current recommendataion. imho the proper form of this menu wrt ellipses should be ("Find...","Find Again","Replace...",<separator>,"Goto line...")
That developer.apple.com URL doesn't work. Do you have a new one? I think you are saying that all menu items that result in a dialog box being opened should end in "...". E.g. gedit might have "Find ...". This is normal on the Mac, but I don't know what advantage it has.
the Mac link has moved to here http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/macosx/Essentials/AquaHIGuidelines/AHIGMenus/_Using_Elli_and_Buttons.html lets refrain from "on menutiem that pops ANY kind of dialog" but surely I think we should follow a guideline that puts ellipses on every menutiem of the Options, Preferences... type. Just like the apple guide says The advantages I tried to explain in the thread on the mailing list, a menuitem with ellipsis "feel safe" i.e. its presumed no immeadiate (and embarrasing) action would be performed without the user knowing quite exactly what he is doing. Another "advantage" for the Options, Preferences type of menus having ellipses would be that (by my estimate) it would make it consistent with virtualy every desktop app in existance. I personally haven't seen a single app on any platform that I've used where "Preferences..." or "Options..." does not have an ellipsis.
I don't think that the Apple page defines it very clearly, not it's not too bad. I don't think people will do this unless they know exactly when to do it. I don't see how this makes the user feel safer - if the user must give additional input then he has a chance to cancel anyway. I don't think it's used very consistently on Windows, though I do remember it clearly from Mac System 7. This will probably be a new idea to people, so we need to ask the developers if they like it. Maybe we should ask after 2.2.
> I don't see how this makes the user feel safer - if the user must give > additional input then he has a chance to cancel anyway. I dont follow you here. My argument was about the user "feeling unsafe" with a menuitem _without_ ellipsis and "feeling safe" with a menuitem with one. > This will probably be a new idea to people I contest that the way its _currently_ advised in the HIG would be new and awkward to the people getting familiar with the platform.
> My argument was about the user "feeling > unsafe" with a menuitem _without_ ellipsis and "feeling safe" with a > menuitem with one. Good point. But why would people feel unsafe when seleting "Preferences" or "Options" menu item? I do kind of like the "..." idea from my Mac days but we probably need to justify it with real examples.
Granted the argument about the elipses on preferences/options/etc.. is more about the consistency than the "uncertainty" issue. Most people will probably find and immediately use the said menuitem even if it looks odd at first without ellipsis.
So, I'll probably close this bug unless someone can give a real-world example that's a problem.