[Libreoffice-ux-advise] [Bug 87239] Inconsistent look and operation of drop-down buttons

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.documentfoundation.org]

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=87239

--- Comment #6 from Maxim Monastirsky <momonasmon at gmail.com> ---
(In reply to Mike Kaganski from comment #0)
> Pressing arrow next to "Bullets On/Off" (or "Numbering On/Off") gives
> drop-down without header/double lines, not draggable, no borders. Items have
> flat appearance with thin black border on hover.
That widget tries to emulate a menu to some extent, e.g. it has a menu
background, and the "More" item at the bottom has a menu-like highlighting when
hovered. But that emulation isn't good enough (e.g. no margins), and the "black
border on hover" indeed doesn't fit that well. I guess we should fix the
theming there to be more menu-like.

(In reply to Yousuf Philips (jay) from comment #5)
> (In reply to Mike Kaganski from comment #0)
> > Pressing arrow next to "Font Color"/"Highlighting" toolbar button brings the
> > drop-down panel that has a caption, that can be used for dragging. When
> > dragged, it becomes a floating window. The drop-down (not draggged) stays on
> > screen while the main application window is resized/moved.
> 
> Caption should be removed (tooltip and icon already tell you what will popup
> from the spit buttons) and dragging should be disabled as there is no means
> to dock it like the sidebar or toolbars, making its floating functionality
> very limited.
I disagree. The floating functionality might be limited, yet it proved to be
useful for some users, e.g. Bug 32676, Bug 106762, Bug 114935. And obviously
the functionality can be improved if we want. Also dragging the color picker
was possible since forever in LO and OOo, and I'm against breaking it.

The title might be duplicating the icon/tooltip, but:

1. Icons are rarely a good indication (IMHO). Even for a good fitting icon, I
doubt that one that never used the software before, will know for sure what the
button does w/o looking at the tooltip, or actually trying to use the button.
Icons can help you find the button you need, *after* you remember what that
icon means.

2. The tooltip isn't visible by default, and it shows with a delay after
hovering the button. It also won't show after the popup is already opened.

3. The text title is in fact the title bar of the popup window, and is what
makes it possible to drag it. It isn't different from a title bar of a floating
toolbar (e.g. have the same size and font), except that it have a different
background color, to blend nicely with the toolbar button when connected. And
that "title bar look" is what gives the users a clue that it can be in fact
dragged away. It should be possible to change that to a graphic grip, like we
have now for the shapes popup, but I doubt such a small dragging area will look
good for a big popup like the color picker currently is.

4. At least for the undo/redo popups, the title area is used to display the
count of actions to undo/redo. Having similar titles for other popups, even if
less useful, just adds consistency to the UI, not otherwise.

> > Pressing arrow next to "Insert Table" button gives a drop-down with caption;
> > it behaves like draggable, but on release it disappears. Trying to
> > resize/move main app window hides drop-down (as expected).
> 
> Caption should be removed (tooltip and icon already tell you what will
> popup) and dragging should be disabled as it provides no useful
> functionality.
Yes, dragging should be disabled (as it won't be useful to have this popup
floating, as it isn't an attribute like a color which might be useful to apply
to other objects in turn), but the title should stay.

> > Pressing arrow next to "Line Spacing" (recent versions) gives not draggable
> > drop-down with some border. Items look like 3D buttons on hover. Trying to
> > resize/move main app window hides drop-down (as expected).
> 
> 3D buttons when hovering isnt good as these should be standard toggle
> buttons or checkboxes (bug 113633).
I'll add a comment there.

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