[Libreoffice-bugs] [Bug 31022] EasyHacks: "About dialog" wording and layout are suboptimal

[bugzilla-daemon at freedesktop.org]

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=31022

--- Comment #3 from Andrew <rugby471 at gmail.com> 2010-10-31 00:30:47 PDT ---
Created an attachment (id=39917)
 --> (https://bugs.freedesktop.org/attachment.cgi?id=39917)
Design for New LibreOffice About Dialog

Looking at about dialogs from other applications, I came up with a list of
pieces of information that the LibreOffice About Dialog needs.

* Logo
  - For identity
* Version Information
  - This is more for developers but still important
* Summary of Application
  - The about dialog is *about* the program and so we should say what it is and
what it does
* Homepage
  - Important is the user wants to find out more *about* the application
* Credits
  - It is important to recognise those devs who have contributed
* Copyright Statement
  - Whilst I am not as keen on this one, I recognise its importance


Using these pieces of information I created a design for a new about dialog.
Starting from the top, we have the fading out triangle pattern that appears in
most LibreOffice artwork, this is important from a branding and identity
perspective as well as making it prettier :) I agree with Sebastian's point
that the pattern should start top left and finish bottom right, which I have
done. Next we have the logo; the only change made here is that it has been made
larger to enforce the identity (which is relatively new) and make the text
below not look as imposing. 

Next we have the version number, I removed the word 'LibreOffice' form the
version string as it is repeated and I made the colour of the text a lighter
grey as it is not as important to the user (as stated above), therefore it
doesn't need to be as imposing; the version string should be aligned with the
text of the logo. If the build number, or the libreoffice-build number, is made
to be important (as Tor hinted at), this could be included by simply appending
"(VERSIONNUMBER)" to the end of this string.

Next we have a short sentence that summarises LibreOffice (the reason for
inclusion stated above). I made this string by taking various phrases from the
website, and this can be changed for something more poetic :), this is
justified so that the text boundary is aligned with the start and end of the
logo above it. 

The copyright string sits below, which I shortened from a complex colleciton of
legal jargon. This can be changed to something more appropriate, as I am not a
lawyer, however I feel we need to keep it short and sweet - the LICENSE file is
the place for the kind of language included in the current dialog. this text is
a lighter grey, like the verison string, becuase it is not as important to the
user. the text boundary and alignment is the same as the text above.

Next we have LibreOffice's homepage. The text size for this is increased, as
well as its distance from the surrounding elements, so that it stands out - a
user is quite likely to want to go to the homepage when opening this dialog.
The actual link to the homepage should be 'linkified' so that when clicked it
opens the homepage in the user's web browser - signified by the different
colour of the URL.

Next we have the credits button. The reason I have turned the Credits link into
a button is that whilst visibility of the homepage URL is important, users may
want to type it in later, typically a credits page is one that is only viewed
once and a user does not need to see. When clicked this should either go to the
credits page online, or start the credits slider (currently shown by
Ctrl-S-D-T, this should be changed).

Finally I have replaced the OK button with a Close button. We are not saying OK
to anything, we haven't even been asked a question. I also agree with
Sebastian's points about the dialog needing to be automatically big enough and
dynamically resize - this should just happen.

Attached is this new design (far right), as well as (from left to right) the
Firefox about dialog, the gedit about dialog, and the current LibreOffice
dialog.


Any comments? If we can agree on a design I can start making it, though I don't
have any C++ experience so I may need a little help (and time!) :)

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