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Sender: "ACM SIGCHI WWW Human Factors (Open Discussion)" <[log in to unmask]>
X-To: Bipul Keshri <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:37:59 +0200
Reply-To: Mathijs Panhuijsen <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Mathijs Panhuijsen <[log in to unmask]>
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I was a bit confused by your response, until I realized there was a
misunderstanding.

The behavior you describe does apply to SUBmenu items, that is, items in
a pulldown menu that (in Windows) have an arrowhead pointing to the
right. 

It is true that if you hover over such items, the submenu opens
automatically.

I, however, was talking about the horizontal main menu bar (the one that
usually reads File, Edit etc in a desktop app).

That menu bar does *not* open its pulldown menus when you hover over the
items.

 

Maybe I should add that the application we are building is better
described as 'a desktop app running in a browser' than as 'a highly
interactive Web site'. 

By this I mean that it pops up dialogs, contains GUI controls commonly
found in desktop apps, etc.

This is a deliberate choice: it's a B2B application, not a publicly
accessible Web site.

 

Mathijs

 

________________________________

From: Bipul Keshri [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 21:34
To: Mathijs Panhuijsen
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hover or menu item: open menu or only highlight?

 

>> My question is: should the application open a menu as you hover over
>> each item in the menu bar

Yes it should.

>> I've checked Windows and Mac OS X, and both require a click before
the 
>> menu opens (Mac doesn't even seem to highlight the hovered-over
item).

I don't think so !! The flyout is always on hover. And highlight happens
in both cases ... I am surprised to hear what you are saying :) 

>> Standards
On hover, highlight the item. If there is a submenu, show it.
On click, the action happens.


-- 
Bipul Keshri
Information Architect
Mobile: +91 9999 106 202 




On 7/20/07, Mathijs Panhuijsen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hello all,



I'm part of a team that is building a Web application with a menu, much
like a desktop application menu (but with less items).

My question is: should the application open a menu as you hover over 
each item in the menu bar, or should it wait for the user to click the
item (and only highlight it when the user hovers over it)?



I've checked Windows and Mac OS X, and both require a click before the 
menu opens (Mac doesn't even seem to highlight the hovered-over item).
But on the Web, I've often seen 'spontaneously opening' menus.

I can imagine that seeing these menus open as you move your mouse can be

distracting, but having to click the menu item every time is also not
ideal.



Any thoughts on this? Research results, standards etc?



Thanks for your input,



Mathijs Panhuijsen 

Technical Writer

SDL Tridion










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