Re: Mac - more specific - what would YOU DO

Subject: Re: Mac - more specific - what would YOU DO
From: Deborah Hemstreet <dvora -at- tech-challenged -dot- com>
To: Jenny Greenleaf <jgreenleaf -at- mac -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:00:33 -0400

Hi Jenny,

Many thanks! I've been playing with all kinds of ways to deal with this... the Devs don't like changing names of stuff like this since "the user's are used to this terminology for 10 years..." But I've been doing stuff close to what you did... only you made it even a bit more simplified.

I'll try and keep that as my focus. My mind just starts turning in circles when I see, or you can do this or this or this...

Thanks again!

Deborah

On 07/06/2010 5:41 PM, Jenny Greenleaf wrote:

To create a new set of highlight styles:

1. From the Highlight palette menu, choose New Highlight File. (Can the developers change the name of this menu choice?)

2. Type a name for your set of styles and click OK.

The new set of highlight styles is accessible from the XYZ palette, the Display>Highlight menu, or the shortcut menu.

Tip. You can also create a new set from the Define Highlight Styles dialog box.

I'd just pick one and stick with it. As a longtime Mac user, I prefer to see only one method of doing things. Keyboard shortcuts can go in a table elsewhere.

That was one of the great debates of the PC vs Mac wars. The PC people advocated for lots of options and user choice. The Mac people advocated for good design and simplicity. We wanted our developers to be smart so we didn't have to be. I still feel that way---interfaces should be as clean as possible.

Hope this helps!

Here's some text from the Apple Pages help system. Note the "other ways" in Step 3 and Step 5. There are also several ways to open the Styles drawer, which the author did not include. I think that's just a judgement call. As long as the user can accomplish the task with the instructions, it doesn't matter that all of the ways aren't documented in the main procedure.

To change the look of a table of contents entry:

1.
In the table of contents, select the entry type that you want to
format, such as a first-level heading.
All entries of the same type are automatically selected. They
cannot be individually selected.
2.
To open the Styles drawer, click the Styles Drawer button in the
format bar.
Notice that the Styles drawer now displays a list of table of
contents styles. The TOC style that corresponds to the selected
entry is also selected.
3.
To change the font attributes of the TOC heading, use the format
bar controls.
Other ways to change font attributes are the Fonts window, the
Text inspector, and the Colors window.
4.
To create leader lines from an entry to its associated page
number, select the TOC entry, click the tab in the Tab Stops
column in the Tabs pane of the Text inspector, and then choose a
line style from the Leader pop-up menu.
5.
To change the style in the Styles drawer to match the entry,
click the arrow to the right of the style name and choose
“Redefine Style from Selection.”
To create a new TOC style instead, click the arrow to the right
of the style name and choose “Create New TOC Style from
Selection,” and then type a name for the new style. You can also
add a new style by clicking the Add (+) button at the
bottom-left corner of the Styles drawer. In either case, type a
name for the new style, and then select “Apply this new style on
creation” if you want it to be applied immediately to the
selected text.
6.
To rename the style in the Styles drawer, click the arrow next
to the style name and choose Rename Style. Type a new name for
the style.




On Jul 6, 2010, at 2:25 PM, Deborah Hemstreet wrote:

Hi Everyone,

Going back to the reason for my question, here is an example of the legacy content:

*"To create a new file, select New Highlight File from the pop-up menu in either the Highlight palette or the Define Highlight Styles dialog box. Enter a name for the new file and press OK. A new blank file is created in the correct folder.*"

So now here is what I've found out... unless you want to backup the file outside of the software, the user never sees a "new blank file in the correct folder." What they see is a new name for a set of styles stored in a list and displayed in a palette OR via the Display menu (Display>Highlight>select style) OR via a shortcut menu (a new concept that their users didn't have on MAC a few years ago).

So I'm handling THAT issue in a separate topic.

The Define Highlight Styles dialog box is opened via the Highlight palette (or two other commands).

So WHICH would YOU document (if not all of them)....

My head is spinning. The truth is, its dead simple if I can work ONLY from the Palette, or ONLY from the shortcut menu or ONLY from the Menu options (though this latter is more complex and I can't imagine why anyone would want to use that route).

Suggestions?

Deborah
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References:
RE: RE: RE: RE: Mac vs PC users: From: Gene Kim-Eng
Re: RE: RE: RE: Mac vs PC users: From: Chris Morton
Mac - more specific - what would YOU DO: From: Deborah Hemstreet

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