From kde-core-devel Tue Jun 17 09:23:09 2008 From: "Krzysztof Lichota" Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:23:09 +0000 To: kde-core-devel Subject: Re: Change label to checkboxes in menus Message-Id: X-MARC-Message: https://marc.info/?l=kde-core-devel&m=121369470707364 2008/6/13 Ellen Reitmayr : > Hi everybody, > > you are absolutely right, A and B is ok, but C is not. A is preferred > generally preferred. > > If the verb includes a clear opposite, ("Show"/"Hide", > "Activate"/"Deactivate"), B may also be used. > > In the example below ("Open each folder in the same window"), the verb does > not include a clear opposite (plus the effect will not be immediately > visible). Here, you should always have the same label (A), like in a config > dialog. > > ** That's the essence, but if you want to see why, read on ;-) ** > > The rationale is that it must be definitely clear what the current setting > is and what will happen when you click the item. > > Those items both indicate that the toolbar is off: > Show toolbar > [ ] Show toolbar > > Those items both indicate that the toolbar is on: > Hide toolbar > [x] Show toolbar From the point of view of translators, I would like to add that if you use (A), i.e. "[x] Show toolbar" it should have different translation context than (B), i.e. "Show toolbar" as in some languages it translates differently. For example in Polish (A) would be "Pokazuj pasek narzędzi" and (B) would be "Pokaż pasek narzędzi". If there is no context, it wouldn't be even possible to differentiate between one place where (A) is used and other place where (B) is used. And in general I think (B) would be easier to translate in all languages and is clearer than (A), so IMO it should be preferred. -- Krzysztof Lichota