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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: misuse/abuse of popup windows - a real-life example
From:       Anne-Marie Mahfouf <annemarie.mahfouf () free ! fr>
Date:       2004-08-31 19:10:22
Message-ID: 200408311510.23028.annemarie.mahfouf () free ! fr
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Hi,

> bad examples of popup windows:
> 	displaying information which is better organized on the document which
> created the popup. displaying information which would result in popup
> windows on a constant basis, such as a popup for a bad guess througout a
> game.

Ok, I have an example of that. The KMessageBox (that's the developer name for 
the widget) that pops up each time you guess an already guessed letter in 
KHangMan.
For example, you enter 'a', either it's in the word or in the Misses section. 
So the 'a' goes somewhere, something happens in the game.
You enter 'a' a second time and you have the intrusive popup that will 
disappear after hitting Enter or clicking OK. This popup tells you you 
already tried that letter.
I agree that it is intrusive.
The question is: how do we alert the user that the letter has already been 
tried? Maybe highlight the already guessed letter a special way and leave it 
for a few seconds? The statusbar is a bit crowded to add another label. 
Another possibility is to do nothing (is it necessary to tell the user that 
the letter has already been guessed?)
I am very interested in suggestions here to get rid of that popup :) 
I do hope this discussion will carry on based on that real-life example and 
then maybe we can try to write down more generally when these messageboxes 
are used and how to avoid them.

Anne-Marie
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