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List: kde-quality
Subject: KFloppy context help patch, not sure where to send
From: carlos.woelz () kdemail ! net (Carlos Leonhard Woelz)
Date: 2005-06-07 23:18:44
Message-ID: 200506081815.06051.carlos.woelz () kdemail ! net
[Download RAW message or body]
Hi Nick:
Here is some feedback, (even if your patch is already commited ;) )
I think the whatsthis should answer the question:
"What the heck does this thingie here to, and why should I care?"
or "I am stuck, tell me what to do!"
To answer this question something in the structure:
[thingie interaction] [interaction result]. [why care].
Example:
[Check this box] [to open pandora's box]. [This will open hell's gate.]
I noticed that the KFloppy dialog is not in that structure, and that you
respected the way the other widgets in the dialog are documented, but I would
prefer something a bit more uniform. Uniformity is good, the user has to
think less. Please note that this is a personal opinion, not a style guide.
Some random tips:
- Adding whatsthis should not be about "dialog whatsthis completeness": a
whatsthis that tells the same as the widget's label adds almost nothing.
- Don't be afraid adding of something that is too obvious: if the user is
asking for context help, is because he/she does not know. Ask yourself: what
could be confusing the user enough for him to ask for help?
- Do not let things implicit in the sentence: write complete sentences, the
few words you are saving are not worth it.
- For non native English speakers like me: be simple, the least you mess with
the sentence, the best. That said, i am used to seeing the KDE proofreaders
correcting my whatsthis....
- To know the standard name of the widgets, the KDE Visual Guide is your
friend:
http://docs.kde.org/development/en/kdebase/visualdict/
So let's make it practical and use some examples:
+ QString deviceWhatsThis = i18n("<qt>Select the floppy drive.</qt>");
My suggestion:
"Select or enter the floppy drive which will be used to format the floppy on
this combo box."
+ QString densityWhatsThis = i18n("<qt>This allows you to select the "
+ "floppy disks size and density.</qt>");
My suggestion:
"Select the floppy disk size and density on this drop down box. You can
usually find this information written on the floppy disk media."
+ QWhatsThis::add( label3,
+ i18n( "Linux", "KFloppy supports three file formats under Linux:
MS-DOS, Ext2, and Minix" ) );
My suggestion:
"Choose the file system to be used on the floppy disk on this drop down box.
The MS-DOS format can be used with other operational systems such as MacOS or
Windows."
+ i18n("<qt>Shows progress of the format.</qt>"));
My suggestion (just for uniformity sake):
"View the progress of the format on this progress bar.", or since there is too
much "progress": "View the progress of the format here."
I could make the same comments for the whatsthis in you did not write in the
same dialog. Do you want to work further on this dialog, make the whatsthis
better for the other widgets as well? We could continue this outside the
list.
Cheers,
Carlos Woelz
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