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 .This e-mail is intended exclusively for the addressee(s),and may not be passed on to, or made available for use by any person other than the addressee(s).Tridion rules out any and every liability resulting from any electronic transmission. -------------------------------------------------------------- Tip of the Day: Postings must be in plain text CHI-WEB: www.sigchi.org/web POSTINGS: mailto: [log in to unmask] MODERATORS: mailto:[log in to unmask] SUBSCRIPTION CHANGES & FAQ: www.sigchi.org/web/faq.html <http://www.sigchi.org/web/faq.html> -------------------------------------------------------------- .This e-mail is intended exclusively for the addressee(s),and may not be passed on to, or made available for use by any person other than the addressee(s).Tridion rules out any and every liability resulting from any electronic transmission. -------------------------------------------------------------- Tip of the Day: Suspend your subscription if using auto replies CHI-WEB: www.sigchi.org/web POSTINGS: mailto:[log in to unmask] MODERATORS: mailto:[log in to unmask] SUBSCRIPTION CHANGES & FAQ: www.sigchi.org/web/faq.html --------------------------------------------------------------