Toolbars:Appearance

From KDE-HIG_Wiki

<todo> add contents Only commonly used functions in toolbar; default should be horizontal below menu; if sidebar, then possibly as a sort of toolbox; etc </todo>

All items on the toolbar must be available in the menu.

Guidelines

• Be sure all items in the toolbar are also available in the menu
• Place only the most important and most frequently used functions on the toolbars
• Order and group toolbar items in the same manner they appear in the menu
• Visually seperate item groups using separators (see Grouping Items in Menu)
• Do not provide more than four (4) items in an item group
• Use the appropriate type of control for the item action (see Toolbar Controls)
• Provide short and descriptive tooltips for all items on the toolbar
• Provide an option to change the toolbar appearance to show buttons as text, icons, and both
• <todo> Include more guidelines for toolbars </todo>

Rationale

The toolbar provides shortcuts to functions which are frequently used in an application.

Two things must be considered when creating a toolbar: First, toolbars must be consistent both within the application and among other KDE applications. Users often orientate themselves by remembering (relative) positions of icons instead of the icons themselves. If single items or groups of items are randomly placed all over the toolbar, users will have problems to find the functions.

Second, it is important to keep the number of toolbar items reasonable. Too many objects make it more difficult to identify single objects. It is hard to define an exact limit; more complex applications must have more functions available on the toolbar. In each case, support the user in identifying objects by providing only the most important functions. Grouping related items and visually separate them from others.

Implementation

The KAction class offers an easy way to ensure consistency between the menubar and the toolbar.