[kde-guidelines] Possible guidelines for buttons with menus

[Heiko Tietze]

Am Mittwoch, 7. August 2013, 10:48:08 schrieb Thomas Pfeiffer:
> I've been using split menu buttons in several applications for years
> without them feeling weird at all. The only thing that feels weird is
> delayed menus, but we all agree we want to get rid of those, right?
I always struggle with menu buttons (or rather with their underlying 
subfunctions). For instance, I click on Reply and actually want Reply to all 
or Forward. It makes sense for multiple undo/redo, color settings or to insert 
a table in Libreoffice. But those functions do not initiate the action but 
rather show kind of additional frame dialog. In contrast, the menu button is 
useless for new (document), IMHO.

I bet there are less than 10% users that access subfunctions directly at the 
menu button but rather do it in the alternative way. And that is the standard 
way: Use the main menu. First rule of all applications: Never omit the main 
menu. Vertical space is a gnomish argument (disregarding non-standard devices 
and plasma active).

However, I'm apparently the only one with objections against menu buttons. We 
all agree that delayed menus are a big mistake. And perhaps I'll be able to 
add some kind of warning to the menu/split button page. :-)

Finally, we should think about a user test. We show two options, in this case 
with menu button vs. alternative way, describe it in short and ask which one 
users prefer. But we should finish the (tentative) HIG first.