D13064: reimplemented drop-down menu arrow in toolbuttons in case of instant inline popup

[Andres Betts]

abetts added a comment.


  In D13064#267356 <https://phabricator.kde.org/D13064#267356>, @ngraham wrote:
  
  > 'Fraid I gotta disagree with you on this one, @abetts. I think it's important to signal that these buttons will bring up a menu because without that, there is no way to distinguish it from an ordinary action button. It's the same reason why comboboxes have arrows rather than looking like a pushbutton.
  >
  > But there's a deeper reason. With the downward-pointing arrow, users are signaled that the button doesn't initiate an action (which may be unknown, non-undoable, possibly dangerous, etc), but rather displays a menu of textual, easy-to-understand options. In essence, the arrow says, "this is safe, go ahead and click me even if you don't know what I might do". Without the arrow, fearful users might avoid clicking on the menu button because they don't know what it will do and nothing hints at them that the button brings up a benign menu rather than immediately executing a possibly unknown action.
  
  
  This is a good idea, yes. It is another clue for the user to be able to find content and understand how the UI works. My thoughts come from a more foundational level. At ground level, to signal or not signal that the menu does or doesn't open a new window or a dropdown menu is irrelevant because the user doesn't care for what happens with the button prior to clicking it. The user cares for clicking the button, beyond that, it is us who control what they see next. Therefore, my thought is that while it is good to have clues, it is also irrelevant at the end of the day. I am ok with either option, but if we go with having the down arrow, then we "must" find a way that it looks pleasing, seamless and not a forced connection between two icons. Especially when we use line art in Plasma. If these icons were filled, this arrow would do well.
  
  If we must use the arrow, can there be a visual merge that is more consistent? Like this:
  
  F5865549: order.png <https://phabricator.kde.org/F5865549>
  
  Notice how the arrow butts into the icon keeping the overall rectangular shape the same. When we do icon + arrow visually we are making the button longer and seems disconnected.

REPOSITORY
  R31 Breeze

REVISION DETAIL
  https://phabricator.kde.org/D13064

To: hpereiradacosta, ngraham, abetts
Cc: plasma-devel, ragreen, Pitel, ZrenBot, lesliezhai, ali-mohamed, jensreuterberg, abetts, sebas, apol, mart
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