50952 - No tooltips for column headers in mail display box ( also the pulldown menu at the right handcorner of the same box)

Status: VERIFIED WONTFIX

(SeaMonkey :: MailNews: Message Display, defect, P3)

Description

[balwinder]

1.Mail window is open with the user logged into his account.
2.For sorting the mail ,user just moves his mouse over the column headers of the
mail box display in the Mail window to get some suggestive popup display message
to proceed further like for Read column the tooltip can be "Sort by Read
Messages"
3.Expected result:Tooltip is displayed for the header and the user acts after
comprehending the message.
4.Actual result :No Tooltip implementation for  almost all the column headers.

Comment 1

[lchiang]

enhancement.

Comment 2

[laurel]

We have a tooltip for the thread column, but not others. I think with tooltips
for all the columns would be cumbersome -- you'd have tooltips popping up all
over the place as you mouse around.  We'd definitely want a way to turn them off.

We already have a bug about the sort indicator/arrow not always being present
showing the sort column.  I would think a sort indicator would be sufficient for
most users who have a bit of experience in other computer applications -- click
sort on columns is pretty commonplace.

Comment 3

[[e-mail] (gone - use [e-mail] instead)]

Attachment: Patch.

Comment 4

[[e-mail] (gone - use [e-mail] instead)]

Seth, Scott, if we want this, someone will just have to do the JS implementation
in a XUL file, I think.

Comment 5

[Matthew T (active 1999-2002)]

Neither tree columns nor menu items should have tooltips. If the name of the
column isn't obvious enough, change the name. Fix, don't add.

(Disclaimer: I use Mac OS, where tooltips in general are frowned upon.)

Comment 6

[scottputterman]

I agree. I don't think we need tooltips for the column headers.

Comment 7

[[e-mail] (gone - use [e-mail] instead)]

Currently, we have one for "Click to display message threads", and "Click to
select columns to display."  Do we still want these then?  I realize the
latter's icons is not intuitive, but I think the message thread icon might be.

Comment 8

[Matthew T (active 1999-2002)]

Clicking a column header normally results in zero loss of data, and minimal loss 
of state. And this is true for both the `Threaded' button and the column 
selector: the effect of clicking the former can be undone simply by clicking it 
again, and the effect of the latter is just to open a menu. So, since the widgets 
are extremely safe to experiment with, the tooltips are more annoying than 
useful, and they should go.

Comment 9

[[e-mail] (gone - use [e-mail] instead)]

Putterman, Jennifer, should I remove the tooltips that are already there, then?

Comment 10

[jglick]

Since tooltips are delayed, a user must purposely park their cursor over a 
particular column to see a tooltip. I don't see a problem with having them, 
especially for columns that aren't obvious, like the Threading and Column 
selection items. 

Comment 11

[[e-mail] (gone - use [e-mail] instead)]

Marking WON'TFIX.  Our current implementation balances the complexity of the
icons for the two opposite header columns.

Comment 12

[Ninoschka Baca]

Verified Wontfix.