[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Kicker tooltip placement
From:       "Gordon Tyler" <gordon () doxxx ! net>
Date:       2002-05-21 18:34:19
[Download RAW message or body]

I've also noticed some odd behaviour with the tooltips for Kicker buttons. I
have my Kicker setup a bit different from the default layout. I have a child
panel (I think that's the right term) on the right of the screen and I've
moved all the buttons from the left of the taskbar to this new child panel
so that I only have the taskbar, pager, logout/lock and clock on the bottom
panel.

Now I have often gotten Kicker into a situation where a tooltip is displayed
for a button in the child panel that I did not intentionally hover over
(i.e. I was just browsing the web using Konqueror) and it was quite
difficilt to make the tooltip go away (mutliple clicks and waving of mouse
before it went away).

Michael's point about the tooltip obscuring what it describes is good. One
option is have the tooltip always appear below the mouse cursor so that
whatever the mouse is directly pointing at is not obscured. A second option
would be to have the tooltips appear outside Kicker entirely, i.e. stuck to
the edge of the panel next to the button.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Simon Edwards" <simon@simonzone.com>
To: <kde-usability@mail.kde.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2002 12:47 PM
Subject: Re: Kicker tooltip placement


On Tuesday 21 May 2002 12:40, Michael W. Collette wrote:
> First off, the tooltips should appear immediately upon having the mouse
> over an icon.  A user, even an experienced one, shouldn't have to wait to
> have an icon identified.  Additionally, that very same tooltip should
> immediately vanish upon the mouse leaving an icon.  That much isn't
> happening very well now.

There is a *very* good reason why there is a delay between the mouse
stopping
and the tooltip appearing. If there is no delay, then tooltips will flicker
on and off during normal button operation, which sucks big time. IIRC,
tooltips are desendant from Mac balloon helps years ago. Balloon help used
appear immediately too and no one really liked it. There is/was a switch on
screen to turn it on/off I believe. MS took the idea and added a delay and
left it always turned on. And the rest is well history...

> The real problem here is where the tooltip is showing up.  Right on top of
> the very thing a user is trying to see.

true, the tips should never obscure the thing.

> A cartoon like bubble with some
> very basic info about the icon pointing down to it.

I don't think a bubble adds anything useful.

Is it just me or is the time delay for normal tooltips in KDE (on a toolbar
for example) different than the one for the Panel?

--
Simon Edwards             | Guarddog Firewall
simon@simonzone.com       | http://www.simonzone.com/software/
Nijmegen, The Netherlands | "ZooTV? You made the right choice."

_______________________________________________
kde-usability mailing list
kde-usability@mail.kde.org
http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability

_______________________________________________
kde-usability mailing list
kde-usability@mail.kde.org
http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]