Re: [Pan-users] Modal "Next" and "Back" buttons?

[Jeff Berman]

--- Charles Kerr <address@hidden> wrote:
 
> The Go menu would look like this ([x] are
> checkboxes):
> 
>         Read More (space)
>         Read Less (backspace)
>     -------------------------------
>         Next Unread Group (G)
>         Next Group (shift-G)
>     -------------------------------
>         Next (N)
>         Prev (V)
>         Next Thread (t)
>         Prev Thread (?)
>     [x] Only Cached (c)
>     [x] Only Unread (u)
>     [x] Only Watched (w)
>     [x] Only Replies to Me (m)
>     -------------------------------
>         Parent Article (ctrl-u)

Wow, that's a really good idea.  Just to brainstorm,
what about this?

         Read More (space)
         Read Back (backspace)
     -------------------------------
         Next Unread Group (G)
         Next Group (shift-G)
     -------------------------------
         Next (N)
         Prev (V)
         Next Thread (t)
         Prev Thread (?)

          Filters:
     [x] Cached (c)
     [x] Unread (u)
     [x] Watched (w)
     [x] Replies to Me (m)
     -------------------------------
         Parent Article (ctrl-u)

I don't know if that's ever done in Linux menus.  A
few Mac menus do exist that take up a menu line with
non-selectable text as a heading (in this case, the
"Filters:" line).  I'm sure it violates some human
interface rules, though.

I changed "Read Less" to "Read Back" like pan
currently offers.  While not as symmetrical, it seems
more clear.  And like Ed Goforth said, it's probably
paramount to clearly indicate without hovering a mouse
which filters are in effect.

Charles, your idea applies to the Go menu.  Did you
have anything in mind for the toolbar buttons?  We
currently have "Read More", "Next Unread Article", and
"Next Unread Thread".  Would it make sense to convert
each button into something similar to the magnifying
glass button?  If you click and hold on "Read More",
it would pop up a little pane with the Cached, Unread,
Watched, and Replies to Me checkboxes.  If instead you
simply click on "Read More", it then would perform the
action based on however those checkboxes were set.  I
suppose the other two buttons could behave similarly. 
This click-and-hold method is similar to how some
applications (e.g. Adobe Photoshop) work.

Just some thoughts, not sure how good they are...

Thanks,

Jeff

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