495936 - Default Client dialog don't use a verb for the confirm button.

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 476426

(Thunderbird :: General, defect)

Description

[Andreas Nilsson (:andreasn)]

Attachment: screenshot showing the issue

According to the Interface guidelines for both Vista [1], OS X [2] and GNOME [3], it's preferred to use a verb instead of a standard button labeled OK. 
I would suggest "Make Default" for this button instead.


1. Windows Vista
Prefer specific labels over generic ones. Ideally users shouldn't have to read anything else to understand the label. Users are far more likely to read command button labels than static text. 
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa511453.aspx

2. Mac OS X
The label on a push button should be a verb or verb phrase that describes the action it performs—Save, Close, Print, Delete, Change Password, and so on. If a push button acts on a single setting, label the button as specifically as possible; “Choose Picture…,” for example, is more helpful than “Choose…” Because buttons initiate an immediate action, it shouldn’t be necessary to use “now” (Scan Now, for example) in the label.
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AppleHIGuidelines/XHIGControls/XHIGControls.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP30000359-SW80

3. GNOME
Label all buttons with imperative verbs, using header capitalization. For example, Save, Sort or Update Now. 
http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/controls-buttons.html.en

Comment 1

[Rain [:rain1] (inactive)]

> According to the Interface guidelines for both Vista [1], OS X [2] and GNOME
> [3], it's preferred to use a verb instead of a standard button labeled OK. 
> I would suggest "Make Default" for this button instead.

Just to let you know, this wouldn't make sense on Vista and OS X as there's an additional checkbox to enable or disable search integration.

Comment 2

[Bryan Clark (DevTools PM) [:clarkbw]]

Hmm, this one might be difficult to get right.  Something like "Set default" wouldn't be too out of line even with the search options there.

Comment 3

[Magnus Melin [:mkmelin]]

Though OK/Cancel do seem like a fairly good fit for this one as it's not just one group of controls.

Comment 4

[:aceman]

Changing the labels should be done with regard to what the buttons actually do. There are different expectations for that.
Please see the proposals in bug 476426.