[kde-guidelines] Conventions in the HIG

[Thomas Pfeiffer]

On 05.06.2013 17:05, Aurélien Gâteau wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Now that we are getting more and more stuff documented in the HIG, I think it
> makes sense to adopt some standards: the sooner we do this the less we have to
> fix.

Good idea!

> = Terminology =
> == "widget" vs "control" ==
>
> I expect all Qt developers to be familiar with the word "widget" to refer to
> what other OSes or toolkits call a "control". I would suggest using "widget"
> everywhere.

Does the term "Widget" in the QML + Components world as well? If it 
does, than we can use widget. If it's only common in the QWidget world, 
this may be problematic for people who start with creating QML UIs for 
Desktop applications.

> == "checkbox" vs "check box" ==
>
> (Yes, I am nitpicking)
> Our new material is using "check box", while existing content is using
> "checkbox". "Check box" sounds more english to me, but I am not a native
> speaker (and it does not help that the GNOME HIG uses "check box" whereas
> Apple HIG uses "checkbox").
>
> I am happy to do the work of fixing this once we settle on a common word.

Hm, I don't really care which one we standardize on, as long as we do 
standardize ;)

> == Others ==
>
> Any other terms we should standardize on?
>
> = Screenshots =
>
> Our current screenshots story is a mess. Some are mockups, some are done with
> Designer using the Oxygen style, yet others are using Designer with the
> Plastique style.
>
> I personally think the HIG would look more polished with screenshots made
> using Designer and the Oxygen style. It also will help developers to compare
> their UI with our references. Furthermore, using Designer makes it easier to
> adjust screenshots later. I understand Designer can be painful to use, I am
> happy to help creating any Designer files if need be.

+1. A consistent look helps a lot here.
Another reason for storing the ui files used for the screenshots in a 
central repository: If the default style used by KDE changes in the 
future, we can simply make the screenshots again with the new one to 
keep up to date. That would still be quite some work, but it should be 
doable

> If you think Designer is really not adapted, then let's standardize on another
> tool, though.

I've started a discussion about mockup tools for KDE on the usability 
list a few months ago. The outcome was that we should use Pencil if 
there are Oxygen-based stencils available.
This would make it easier for non-Devs to create mockups, but until 
someone creates those stencils, I think we should stick with Qt 
Designer. I found it a bit tricky to work with the last time, because 
I'm used to being able to freely place anything with the mouse, which is 
not possible in Qt Designer. However, maybe I can learn it or if I find 
it to be too complicated for me, I will just always ask you to do the ui 
files :P