aeontimeline

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Inconsistent dialog buttons

djl1
Tue, 07 Aug 2018 00:58:41 GMT

The buttons to confirm or abandon a dialog are variable - Timeline settings - Cancel and OK - Display settings - Apply and Save (no cancel but you can X out) - Add Event dialog - Add Event button (no cancel) - Add Entity dialog - OK (no cancel) - Entities dialog - Delete Entity - (no other button as it saves instantly, which is OK !) - Customize Toolbar - Done

aeonjess
Wed, 08 Aug 2018 01:44:47 GMT

Hi, Thanks for this, we will try to review and standardise these in the future. Jess

fde101
Mon, 28 Dec 2020 11:52:17 GMT

I would add to this: at least on the Mac, all command button labels are supposed to be verbs. "OK" is not a verb and should not be used.

aeonjess
Wed, 06 Jan 2021 05:36:51 GMT

Hi, We do try to be clear in the meaning of our interface buttons, however would be happy to review certain instances where they might be causing confusion. Apple's own libraries and their human interface guidelines do include the use of OK buttons however, so we see no reason to change this. As we are also an application running on both Mac and Windows we need to balance both Apple and Microsoft conventions so that there is consistency across platforms, without having minor unnecessary differences across platforms that may cause confusion in support and documentation. Jess

fde101
Thu, 07 Jan 2021 13:33:35 GMT

Apple's HIG on Push Buttons explicitly spell out "Use verbs in push button titles.": https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/buttons/push-buttons/ Again, "OK" is not a verb. Apple does make an allowance under "Alert Buttons" for one very specific condition, that of the alert being purely informational (see the section "Ensure that the default button title reflects the action the button performs."): https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/windows-and-views/alerts/ Looking at the list from the original post, there is not one case listed for a "purely informational" "alert" - also, "Done" is not a verb either, so granted that Apple even messes this up sometimes as their own "Customize Toolbar" panel actually violates their own guidelines (it should probably be "Close"). Looking at the current version of Aeon Timeline, at least the following are very much wrong according to the HIG: Add Entity dialog still has "OK" button - this is not an informational alert and the use of OK is incorrect; suggest button be changed to "Add" or "Add Entity" for consistency with the "Add Event" dialog which does this correctly. Timeline Settings dialog still has "OK" and "Cancel" buttons - this is not an informational alert and the use of OK is incorrect; suggest button be changed to "Apply", "Apply Settings" or similar. Display Settings - while "Apply" and "Save" are technically both verbs, the distinction in this case is unclear and users may be confused when looking at those as to what the buttons do differently from each other; suggest tweaking those to improve the clarity of their function. I concur that with the Entities dialog applying changes immediately the only button being "Delete Entity" is appropriate; however, this is a modal dialog presented in a manner like the other dialogs but behaves quite differently. As with "Add Entity" and the like, it is locked in place within the document window and can't be moved, and you can't do anything behind it. Suggest that this either be converted into a separate floating window or into a panel of some sort along the side of the window (maybe merge it into the inspector for example) or that its behavior be changed to more closely match the other dialogs that it resembles.

aeonjess
Tue, 12 Jan 2021 00:49:07 GMT

Hi, Thanks for your feedback on all the different windows. Jess