I, too, think that menu-frank looks way too "in my face". The frank is
supposed to be a subtle reminder of what this is; we added a little
functionality to it just to enable right-mouse-less operation, I'm pretty
sure.
I think you have to remember that there are LOTS of unobvious things about
every interface. I've recently started using a Mac, and it frustrates me no
end that the designers somehow assume I know everything about the interface
-- or that it is somehow "intuitive." It is not.
In Jmol we have all sorts of control/alt key/mouse combinations, for
example, that are equally unobvious. Generally to take care of this you need
a full toolbar or menu. Before we go changing the look of Jmol, though, I
suggest thinking more about what else we could do to make the interface more
obvious without detracting too much from it. Maybe everything doesn't need
to be in the pop-up menu only. Perhaps, for example, when you hover near the
baseline of the applet a toolbar pops up that has a suite of options
(including help!).
Bob
On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 7:10 AM, Jeff Hansen <jhan...@depauw.edu> wrote:
> David,
>
> I think you are right that your proposed solution is too obtrusive.
> Having something that indicates the pop-up menu when you mouse over
> the word Jmol is definitely unobtrusive. However, for the
> inexperienced user (who I think this is for) I don't see that being
> helpful What are the chances someone is going to just happen to mouse
> over that part of the applet so the pop-up menu becomes evident? I
> think a small circle with a triangle pointing up just to the right of
> Jmol would not get in the way and would signal to most users that
> there is a pop-up menu down there. Some mouse-over prompt as Bob
> suggested would be good in addition to that.
>
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
> ***********************************************
> Jeff Hansen
> Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
> DePauw University
> 602 S. College Ave.
> Greencastle, IN 46135
> jhan...@depauw.edu
> ***********************************************
>
>
> On Oct 20, 2009, at 5:23 AM, David Leader wrote:
>
> > I've mounted a mockup pic of the current Jmol frank and what I
> > proposed some years ago at:
> >
> > http://www.q7design.demon.co.uk/temp/JmolMockup.html.
> >
> > On reflection, although the drop down nature is made clear, my
> > proposal has a couple of defects:
> >
> > 1. It is more obtrusive than the current frank.
> > 2. The style reflects a single platform (here Mac OS X) and it might
> > be difficult to make it cross-platform.
> >
> > Perhaps some modern effect where the plain Jmol changes to a drop-
> > down menu on mouse-over, as has been suggested, might be a better
> > compromise, with developer switches for those who wanted to suppress
> > the frank completely etc.
> >
> > David
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________________________
> >
> > Dr. David P. Leader, Faculty of Biomedical & Life Sciences,
> > University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
> > Phone: +44 (0)141 330 5905
> > http://doolittle.ibls.gla.ac.uk/leader
> >
> > The University of Glasgow, charity number SC004401
> > _______________________________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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--
Robert M. Hanson
Professor of Chemistry
St. Olaf College
1520 St. Olaf Ave.
Northfield, MN 55057
http://www.stolaf.edu/people/hansonr
phone: 507-786-3107
If nature does not answer first what we want,
it is better to take what answer we get.
-- Josiah Willard Gibbs, Lecture XXX, Monday, February 5, 1900
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