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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: Improvements to menubar
From:       Rik Hemsley <rik () kde ! org>
Date:       2000-04-29 19:00:28
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#if Steven D'Aprano
> The first is that, as it stands, the KDE menubar isn't quite obvious
> enough at the top of the screen. On MacOS, the menubar is always a
> nice bright white, and even so, beginners who are used to Windows
> don't always notice it. Under KDE, we can't use colour to cue the user
> because the colour of the menubar is set according to the current
> theme. But we can make it more obvious by making it slightly bigger.
> Not too much more - just three or four pixels taller.

That depends on the size of the text.

> Secondly, I'd suggest that the font used by menus needs to be bolder.
> It would be nice if the menu font was under user control, rather than
> just to use the catch-all category "General font" under the Display
> Settings.

Good point. It is configurable in KDE 2, though.

> Thirdly, it would be nice if the K icon was more colourful. As it
> stands now, its very plain and boring, more suitable to a black and
> white display than to colour. This would also help make the menubar
> more obvious to beginners. Any artists out there got a suggestion for
> a colourful K?

Difficult to do in the space available.

> My next point will seem a little strange at first sight, because
> according to Fitts Law the K menu has effectively infinite area. But I
> believe the K icon needs to be moved in slightly away from the edge of
> the screen, so that the active area is larger (larger than infinity?
> :-). By this I mean the *visible* active area (the bit with the box
> around it) is a little larger. Of course, this active area will still
> extend to the very edge of the screen so as to take advantage of Fitts
> Law.

I think making the 'K' larger isn't really an issue. It should be
as large as the menubar (as in your pic) - and most users go for
the 'K' on the panel.

> Lastly, the K menu doesn't behave like the rest of the menus in the
> menubar. When the user mouses down over the K, a menu drops down. But
> if the user drags the mouse away, onto the other menu titles, the K
> menu remains. And visa versa: when the user mouses down over another
> menu title, moving the mouse over a different title displays the
> appropriate menu. But not the K. It stubbornly refuses to drop down
> unless the user clicks on it, and once dropped down, it refuses to let
> other menus drop down. 

Yep. Tell the kicker people about this one :)

Rik

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