The "Toggle Sidebar" UX in PDF Viewer is potentially confusing
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(Firefox :: PDF Viewer, enhancement)
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(Reporter: bxbrenden, Unassigned)
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pdf-nitpick.png
When I open a PDF in Firefox's PDF viewer, the default view has the sidebar open. Sometimes I want to read a PDF with a centered view, so I try to collapse the sidebar. When I try, I sometimes find that I've pressed the wrong button for doing this. Not just once, but twice.
One could blame the user for this, since there are tool tips to hover over and read. However, In my opinion the reason behind my incorrect choices is the confusing button options for sidebar-related content. There are 3 similar buttons that look like they have the potential to collapse the sidebar:
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The "Find Current Outline Item" button looks the most like it collapses the sidebar. The icon has a row of lines and dots representing the table of contents, and there is a left-pointing arrow, indicating some kind of action to the left. The sidebar is on the left, so this looks like it will collapse the sidebar to the left.
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The "Show Document Outline" button sort of looks like it may collapse the sidebar. It has a series of dots and lines representing the table of contents, so it looks related.
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The "Toggle Sidebar" button. This is the button that actually accomplishes what I want, i.e. collapsing the sidebar. But, the icon doesn't necessarily express that. The icon looks like an open book where the left-hand page has lines to represent the lines of text on a page. On first glance, this button looks like it places pages side-by-side in a PDF reader, giving a more "book-like" view. Additionally, the button is in a location separate from the other table-of-contents related items. This makes it appear less likely to affect the sidebar.
In the grand scheme of things, this is a very small nitpick. There are no real consequences to clicking the wrong buttons, except that the user won't immediately complete their task. Still, I consider myself a power user of Firefox, and if I have these small trip-ups, other users are likely to be experiencing this as well, especially if they don't rely on tool tips. A change to the "Toggle Sidebar" icon / location could improve the UX of the PDF reader.
I've attached a picture with a diagram for clarity's sake.
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