[Qgis-developer] Better Menus for QGIS 1.0

[Mars Sjoden]

As a user,

Yippee!  Would love to see these changes!

+1


> Developers,
>
> As we approach QGIS 1.0, I would like to see a menu overhaul both to  
> make QGIS more accessible to new users and to bring QGIS into  
> compliance with Apple standards. I will prepare a revised menu  
> design and implement it if the general concept is acceptable. If any  
> Mac standard conflicts with other platform standards, I will  
> conditionalize these differences just for a Mac.
> 1. The menu system should be somewhat like a table of contents. When  
> I first use an unfamiliar application, I check the capabilities by  
> scanning through all the menus. If I don't find a menu item with a  
> phrase related to the task I hope to accomplish, I conclude that the  
> application doesn't do it. At present, some QGIS functionality is  
> accessible only though toolbars and context menus. A new user  
> shouldn't have to guess the meaning of icons or where to click to  
> get a context menu even though these make great shortcuts for  
> initiated users.
>
> The Mac also has a Hide/Show Toolbar window control. An application  
> should be fully functional when toolbars are hidden. Apple's Human  
> Interface Guidelines says "Make sure that every toolbar item you  
> create has an associated menu command."
>
> 2. Every QGIS window should have an associated menu bar, either the  
> main menu bar or its own menu bar. The application menu bar is  
> displayed across the top of the screen on a Mac; this space becomes  
> blank when there isn't an associated menu. At present, Print  
> Composer and Attribute Table windows have no menu bar.
>
> 3. There is no Window menu and windows get lost below other windows.  
> Although it's a bug, some already open QGIS windows don't move  
> forward when the command to open them is invoked again; a Window  
> menu would let you know what's open. There is also no Edit menu; the  
> highlight state of the Copy/Paste menu items should provide a clue  
> for where these functions are or aren't available.
>
> Apple's HIG says: The menu bar ... is always visible and  
> available ... Always contains ... a Window menu ... contain the  
> following menus, if they make sense in your application ... an Edit  
> menu"
>
>
> Moving beyond these Mac usability issues, I would also like to see  
> consistency between menus and toolbars. For example, the File menu  
> uses the order New, Open, Save while the File toolbar uses New,  
> Save, Open. I find this confusing. A similar oddity is that New  
> Layer is in the Layer toolbar but Add Layer is in the File toolbar.  
> Combining two menus into one toolbar might make sense but having two  
> almost corresponding menus and toolbars where a few items are in one  
> menu but the other toolbar is also confusing.
>
>
> Now that the feature set for QGIS 1.0 is fixed, I think we should  
> take the opportunity to review and organize all existing commands.  
> What do others think?
>
> Tom
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