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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: Improvements to menubar
From:       "Steven D'Aprano" <dippy () mikka ! net ! au>
Date:       2000-04-29 20:54:01
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Rik Hemsley wrote:
> 
> #if Steven D'Aprano
[snip]
> > 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.

Ah, thanks for letting me know. That is good news.

> > 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.

I know, which is why I didn't make any suggestions for an alternative.
Without dropping the K logo (which ain't going to happen), or at least
modifying it greatly, I don't know whether this is possible.

Of course, some enterprising programmer could come up with a hack to
replace the icon with (say) a spinning multi-coloured disco ball <g>,
but that's hardly likely to become the official KDE logo! :-) 

> > 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.

True. The K on the panel is about 4 times the area and *much* more
obvious. But a slightly repositioned K on the menubar will aid
visibility. Its a tiny change (I assume its a tiny change :-) with
potentially not-so-tiny effects.



-- 
Steven D'Aprano

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