[kde-guidelines] Styleguide: Menu bar

[Thomas Pfeiffer]

On 23.09.2013 12:33, Heiko Tietze wrote:
>>> Every application should include a main menu. Users should not be able to
>>> hide this menu bar.
>>
>> A menu in a menu button instead of a menu bar is not hidden, is it? I still
>> do not see a convincing argument for the necessity of a classical menu bar.
>> For me it's only necessary that the menu items are always accessible
>> without having to press a keyboard shortcut first.
>> Firefox and Chromium have had menu buttons instead of menu bars by default
>> for a while now, and it seems like not many users have complained about
>> them, so why can we not use them?
>
> We should not define a guideline based on single (non-KDE) programs that use a
> different interaction which user do not complain about. (I do always if I get
> asked *g*).
> I strongly believe that KDE has to stay 'classic' (I don't talk about Plasma
> Active). We should not run experiments like Gnome's (over-) simplification or
> Apple's/Microsoft's flattism. As long users interact with keyboard/mouse,
> respectively use desktop PC, as long we should use well established controls.
> The menu bar is the first place to go for an overview of provided function, it
> defines the difference between primary and secondary windows, and it frames the
> application along with the statusbar.
> Last (and least) argument: We describe the current state. Almost all KDE
> programs use a menu bar.

We'd have to convince at least Frank Rieninghaus to change Dolphin and 
Andrea Diamantini to change Rekonq, then. They are only two 
applications, but two _very_ prominent ones which would be violating 
that guideline, and I fear that people might be more likely to follow 
the example of two very popular applications than our guidelines. at 
least that's how it's often been in the past: If a  popular application 
does something differently, others are likely to follow suit sooner or 
later.