[kde-guidelines] Placement and alignment of explanations in forms

[Heiko Tietze]

Basically the problem wouldn't occur with top aligned captions. I still 
believe it is the better layout.
Anyway, I like Microsoft's differentiation between control labels and static 
text [1]. So we don't have an issue with control labels (regardless their 
positon) but need to discuss static text. It should be very clear that a piece 
of text is not part of the interactive control, either by adding visual cues 
like a frame around the text (which would be a new feature), or (better "and") 
by means of the text's layout. For instance:

* Always have multiple lines for static text. Single lines are subject to 
control labels.
* Consider to provide the explanation per tool-tip.

The latter could be a solution for the steam example. About position I'd 
follow MS example (#Supplemental explanations):

* Place the static text carefully in respect to the relation with the 
controls.
** Place explanations that belong to a particular item below the control with 
indention. 
** Explanantions that concern the whole dialog are placed at the top without 
indention

[1] http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa974176.aspx

Am Sonntag, 28. Juli 2013, 16:21:24 schrieb Thomas Pfeiffer:
> Howdy,
> today when I reviewed a new form in KTp (see
> http://git.reviewboard.kde.org/media/uploaded/files/2013/07/28/steam1.png )
> I noticed that the placement and alignment of the explanation for the Steam
> Guard Code seemed "wrong" to me. It felt like it should be
> a) Aligned with the widget, not the label (or maybe it's aligned with the
> left edge of the form, can't tell that from the screenshot)
> b) Placed below the widget it explains
> I felt like the placement of supplemental text in a form was already covered
> in an HIG, but could not find any, so I think we should add it to the form
> layout HIG.
> Do you think the suggested placement and alignment makes sense, or is above
> the widget and aligned to the label better?
> Placing the text below the widget it explains has the advantage that users
> already know the context when they read the additional information, but the
> disadvantage that they might be confused in the period between seeing the
> widget/label and reading the supplemental text.
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