Changes between Version 16 and Version 17 of TracProject/UiGuidelines

Timestamp:

Dec 15, 2015, 10:14:40 AM (8 years ago)

Author:

figaro

Comment:

Initial cleanup

TracProject/UiGuidelines

@@ -1 @@
-= Trac User Interface Guidelines =
+= Trac User Interface Guidelines
 
-''No, these aren't real guidelines yet, but we hope they eventually emerge from this document.''
+== Navigation
 
-----
+''These aren't real guidelines yet, but they could eventually emerge from this document. This document is an analysis and a proposal initially written by ChristopherLenz, and is open to comments and suggestions from the community.''
 
-== Navigation ==
-
-''This document is an analysis and a proposal initially written by ChristopherLenz, and is open to comments and suggestions from the community.''
-
-=== Current Situation ===
+=== Current Situation
 
 ''Updated to 0.10 by cboos''
@@ -16 +12 @@
 
 Trac currently provides the following navigational elements:
- 1. '''Project link''': The project logo in the top left corner of every page
- 2. '''Quick search''': The search box in the top right corner of every page
- 3. '''Meta navigation''': The horizontal list of links just above the main navigation bar
- 4. '''Main navigation''': Primary means for switching between modules (Wiki, Timeline, Browser, etc)
- 5. '''Module navigation''': Often rendered as horizontal list of links directly beneath the main navigation bar.
- 6. '''Local navigation''': Navigational elements specific to the page currently being viewed. One example is the "Last change" in the Wiki module, another example are the "Previous/Next" links in the changeset module or ticket module.
- 7. '''Help links''': Links to help documents (Wiki pages, actually) relevant to the page currently being viewed
- 8. '''Alternate formats''': Links to alternate formats of the current page, such as the RSS feed for the timeline, or the comma-delimited text option for a report
- 9. '''Footer links''': Links to Edgewall and Trac
+ 1. '''Project link''': The project logo in the top left corner of every page.
+ 1. '''Quick search''': The search box in the top right corner of every page.
+ 1. '''Meta navigation''': The horizontal list of links just above the main navigation bar.
+ 1. '''Main navigation''': Primary means for switching between modules (Wiki, Timeline, Browser, etc).
+ 1. '''Module navigation''': Often rendered as horizontal list of links directly beneath the main navigation bar.
+ 1. '''Local navigation''': Navigational elements specific to the page currently being viewed. One example is the "Last change" in the Wiki module, another example are the "Previous/Next" links in the changeset module or ticket module.
+ 1. '''Help links''': Links to help documents (Wiki pages, actually) relevant to the page currently being viewed.
+ 1. '''Alternate formats''': Links to alternate formats of the current page, such as the RSS feed for the timeline, or the comma-delimited text option for a report.
+ 1. '''Footer links''': Links to Edgewall and Trac.
 
 Of this list, items 1, 2, 3, 4 and 9 can together be referred to as the ''Global Navigation''. The global navigation obviously should never change between different modules. Technically, it is generated by the templates [source:tags/trac-0.10/templates/header.cs header.cs] and [source:tags/trac-0.10/templates/footer.cs footer.cs], which are included at the top and bottom of every module template, respectively.
@@ -46 +42 @@
   There used to be ''action-type links'' in the report module. AFAICT, there's no such links anymore, everything that triggers an ''action'' in Trac is presented as a button in the interface.
 
-==== Conclusion ====
+==== Conclusion
 
 As noted in the introduction, the navigation story in Trac is inconsistent especially when it comes to differentiating between module navigation and local navigation. 
 
-=== Possible Solutions ===
+=== Possible Solutions
 
 It is obvious (I hope) that there is a need to fix the inconsistencies in the navigation. Apart from layout details (such as the different look of local navigation links in the browser than in the reports module), there are a basically two drastically different options:
 
  1. '''Draw a strong line between module-level and page-level navigation links'''. Develop a layout that helps the user understand the conceptual difference, so that she can learn to automatically look at the right place when searching for a specific link.
- 2. '''Merge module-level and page-level navigation''', as the conceptual difference may not be clear to the occassional user. More places to look at searching for navigational elements means more confusion/frustration with using Trac.
+ 1. '''Merge module-level and page-level navigation''', as the conceptual difference may not be clear to the occassional user. More places to look at searching for navigational elements means more confusion/frustration with using Trac.
 
 I'm tending towards the first approach, because the recent emergence of visually distinct local navigation elements probably did happen for a reason. In addition, I'd like to see us merging the action triggers with the local navigation, as well as moving all alternate format links into the corresponding navigation element.