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hig/text_and_labels: no ellipses on menubuttons

Christoph Wolk requested to merge cwo/develop-kde-org:hig_menubutton into master

The HIG currently do not explicitly address menubuttons. These often have action-based labels like "Add" or "Sort by", so if these are seen as buttons, the guidance on adding ellipses should apply; but if they are considered as menu categories, no ellipses are necessary (like the "Edit" or "View" menu categories, which are actions that pop up a menu, but should not have labels). Most applications currently take the second perspective and do not have the ellipsis, but some have them. This should be made consistent through explicit guidance.

This change amends the HIG to explicitly recommend the use of downward- pointing arrows, already commonly used to indicate menubuttons, instead of ellipses.

Inconsistency in actual use: kcm_keys vs. kcm_autostart; no ellipses vs. ellipses

menubutton

This change was discussed yesterday in the VDG matrix room. A brief summary of the arguments for posterity:

  • the function of a menu button is to open a menu; this does not require further input so no ellipsis necessary
  • whether a button opens a menu or dialog is an implementation detail and should not matter to users
  • general rules for buttons should apply
  • menu buttons typically already contain downward-pointing arrows (and menubuttons with labels probably should always contain them), which clearly indicate that a menu will open, so the ellipsis is superfluous
  • labeled toolbar menubuttons in KDE apps typically have downward-pointing arrows and no ellipses

In the end, the consensus was to recommend the use of downward-pointing arrows, and to not have ellipses for such buttons.

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