Closed Bug 347399 Opened 19 years ago Closed 19 years ago

browser toolbar icons should not have hover effect on Mac OS X

Categories

(Firefox :: Shell Integration, defect)

Product:
Firefox
Component:
Shell Integration
Version:
2.0 Branch
Platform:
PowerPC
macOS
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
major

Tracking

()

Status:
RESOLVED WONTFIX
Milestone:
Firefox 2

People

(Reporter: jaas, Assigned: beltzner)

References

Details

(Whiteboard: [Fx2 theme change])

Browser toolbar icons should not have a hover effect on Mac OS X. It is very abnormal for Mac OS X - native-looking applications do not do that.
Flags: blocking-firefox2?
Version: Trunk → 2.0 Branch
Blocks: 345466
Blocks: NewTheme
No longer blocks: 345466
Depends on what apps you are used to. For example, Mail, Office, Appleworks all change when hovered. As Safari or Camino do not, perhaps it is a good idea to get rid of the hover effect.
Note related bug 347467.
The toolbar type we mimic is the one used by apps like Preview, Xcode, Camino (which is a native toolbar widget), Disk Utility and others. The toolbars in Mail.app, Office, Appleworks and Safari are totally different. The style we are mimicking never has hover effects on buttons.
This also applies to the toolbars used as pane selectors, as in Firefox:Preferences and Tools:Add-ons. The toolbars we use there mimic the system's native preference panel pane selectors, which never show hover effects. These bars are present in the Preferences for iTunes, Mail, and Safari, and in System Preferences (pre-Tiger). You'll also find them in third-party apps including Adium and Colloquy.
Re comment 1, it's worth noting that in Mail, MacOffice, and AppleWorks, the button icons themselves don't change when hovered, only the surrounds do. MacOffice and AppleWorks use older toolbars external to the window that look out of date on the Mac. Mail uses the newer "pill-button" toolbar. The current Firefox main window toolbar is more similar in appearance to the standard native toolbars as seen in Camino, Pages, and Adium.
The toolbars in Camino and Pages offer drop-down menu buttons. Pages' aren't dual-function, Camino's are but Camino doesn't distinguish between two areas of the button as Firefox does, but we should strive to match these in appearance.
Plussing to discuss. I've noticed a very wide set of behaviours on Mac, and while native look and feel matters, the HIG exists to enhance usability, which is our primary focus. Usability will trump bad UI conventions, but I think this is pretty clearly wide open, especially since even Apple is essentially ignoring the HIG in many recent apps.
Assignee: nobody → mglenn
Flags: blocking-firefox2? → blocking-firefox2+
Whiteboard: [Fx2 theme change]
Assignee: mglenn → jgoldman
Target Milestone: --- → Firefox 2
Aside from Apple HIG, to me, the hover effect on the toolbar icons adds nothing to usability, and perhaps looks a little too busy and gaudy. That's subjective, I know, but I suppose that's unavoidable when discussing themes. In contrast, on the bookmarks toolbar, the effect is quite important, since there's otherwise nothing to indicate that there's something to click, just a row of text. Speaking of which, if I could just digress with a question (sorry for going partially offf-topic)... with the new theme, is there any chance of revisiting adding favicons to the bookmarks buttons? I've activated them on my own builds, and I think they look pretty nice. I just wanted to check whether they'd be considered if I opened a new bug for them, or if I'd be wasting my time.
Reassigning to mconnor based on him telling me to do so :)
Assignee: jgoldman → mconnor
Sorry for spam, but I created the other bug (for toolbar button icons) anyway: bug 348719.
(In reply to comment #7) > Plussing to discuss. I find the hover effect odd, and I don't think it particularly improves usability for people accustomed to Mac apps. If the buttons look like buttons, which they should in any case, that's enough. If we do decide to go with a hover effect, I'd argue for a subtle saturation change (that is, making all the un-hovered buttons a little more saturated than they are now, so they're less "fuzzy" and the hover effect is less dramatic). I find the additional "button-y" outline on the back and forward buttons highly distracting and not well matched to the other toolbar buttons.
open design issue -> beltzner
Assignee: mconnor → beltzner
At this point, we feel like this is the right path forward, and we're going to ship like this for final. We may revisit this during the next round of theme evolution for Fx3.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 19 years ago
Flags: blocking-firefox2+ → blocking-firefox2-
Resolution: --- → WONTFIX
What is the reasoning behind the WONTFIX? How does the hover effect add to this theme? I haven't seen a "a very wide set of behaviours on Mac" (mconnor, comment #7) - I very rarely see toolbars with icons that have a hover effect.
(In reply to comment #14) > What is the reasoning behind the WONTFIX? How does the hover effect add to this > theme? I haven't seen a "a very wide set of behaviours on Mac" (mconnor, > comment #7) - I very rarely see toolbars with icons that have a hover effect. > IMO, the best thing you should do is wait for Beta 2 feedback, and if things change, and enough people complain, the devs could change their mind, and try to play with this. But for right now, your best option is to wait.
I'm fine with waiting, I'm just looking for some sort of explanation for this.
See the following comment for feedback re: the hover: http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=20070&message=6&state=reply
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