[Sugar-devel] [IAEP] Working math graphs/plots

[Gary C Martin]

On 17 Dec 2008, at 23:56, Gary C Martin wrote:

> 3) The 'Reinier' way, put a help item in a hover palette/menu that  
> reveals help 'in some way'.
>
> PROs
> - context sensitive (and developers only have to add help for  
> complex features)
> - uses existing Sugar UI features
>
> CONs
> - Edward can't find it ;-b (not so easy to discover due to delayed  
> reveal)
> - the 'in some way' needs some work. In calculates specific case,  
> inserting a help command into the calculator input is not great as  
> it mangles the formula you were half way through and needed help on.  
> The resulting help text answer display is also pretty truncated just  
> now.
>
> I'm still liking  option 3 the most. It requires no special sugar  
> inventions, just some HIG from Eben so that activities have a  
> standard style to aim for. Once a few activities use it, you'll know  
> where to look if you need help elsewhere.
>
> The 'in some way' could be resolved for a generic activity use case  
> by:
>
> 3.2 Replace the help item with the actual help text, right there in  
> the palette.
>
> PROs
> - help is just right there, no clicking, no pop-ups!
>
> CONs
> - non-standard use of menu/palette items (relative to other  
> platforms, non functional menu text is frowned upon in most HIGs)
> - limited quantity of help text (needs to be short and sweet or will  
> look silly)
> - will be confusing if a palette needs other real working items. Can  
> inactive help text be styled? Italics perhaps?

For comparison with the previous menu screen shot, here's a shot of a  
tweaked version of Calculate, where the full help text is placed  
directly in the menu:

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FWIW: I've just spotted there is precedence for this style of help in  
the Sugar UI, it's used by Log to describe its "Log Collector: Send XO  
information" toolbar feature (allegedly sends logs to a server, does  
anyone actually use this? sounds like a useful feature).

--Gary

> Any other help suggestions out there? Shall we all go open trac  
> tickets for Even and the HIG ;-)
>
> Regards,
> --Gary