132246 - Browser menus should have "Advanced" and "Simple" modes

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(SeaMonkey :: UI Design, enhancement)

Description

[James "Kovu" Russell]

Problem: How do we continue to add new features and menu items without making
the menus themselves obnoxious for new users?

Proposed Answer: I think that Netscape/Mozilla should take a cue from ICQ and
have an option for an "Advanced" menu/interface mode. The "Simple" mode would be
the default and would be streamlined for new users who don't know what some of
the more advanced features are useful for and don't want their interface
cluttered up with these confusing "Advanced" features. The first menu items I'd
axe for "Simple" mode would be View-->Use Stylesheet.

JR

Comment 1

[James "Kovu" Russell]

I wanted to note that when I was a newbie back in 1998, I first used Netscape
4.5 and was completely boggled by all of the menu choices. I switched to IE
since it was the default until I found Mozilla, and then started following the
M$ trial, and started using Win98. Eventually I went back to Netscape for
personal reasons, but I can still remember just ogling all the menu choices as a
new user and cringing.

Comment 2

[Tuukka Tolvanen (sp3000)]

->uid, really a dup of bug 40858 which doesn't seem to have been actually considered

Comment 3

[timeless]

uid is being phased out.

Comment 4

[Peter Trudelle]

I think we should consider something a bit more flexible.  In addition to a
minimal Simple default, and a full-featured Advanced option, it would be good to
allow a custom setting.  The basic idea is that users could enter a menu editing
mode, wherein they could see all of the commands available in the advanced set,
and choose to make any of them available in one or more custom sets.  In this
way, users could create their own working set of commands tailored to their
particular needs.  There was some research on this technique presented at the
last SIGCHI, showing significant productivity gains for non-advanced users. 
Such a feature could also help to settle contention about how features are
exposed in the UI.

Comment 5

[Serge Gautherie (:sgautherie)]

Filter "spam" on "guifeatures-nobody-20080610".

Comment 6

[James "Kovu" Russell]

Killing. Old.