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Mojo
UI Specification
Main Menus Framework
Last Modification: 
Author German W. Bauer
Initial Creation Date:  09 march 1999		 Status: Implemetable Framework Specification
Links: 

Design Overview
Design Cheat sheet
Design Details 

Specific Application Menus:

  • Navigator main menu specification (under construction)
  • Messenger main menu specification
 Feature Team
 
 

 

Summary/Overview

This document describe the cross-platform (and where possible cross-application) main menu structure, as well as hiliting the policy for dynamically extending the menus with net-based functionality and features(even after Mojo has been launched).

Goals

Keep the menu structure consistent across apps, platforms - even after functionality may get dynamically added after the launch of Mojo. Keeping a basic menu structure intact and making sure it does not break when new apps/services get added later increases learnability and discoverability for end users.

Target Audience

The target user for this feature are Mojo users as described in the Mojo PRD

User Tasks

 
Fundamental Tasks Intermediate Tasks Advanced Tasks
Common to all data view panes
  • Access Mojo functionality with mouse'
  • 'Cue card' for available Mojo functionality 
 		 Mouseless access to most Mojo functionality via mnemonics (Win, Linux)

Use Keyboard accelerators as shortcut to most commonly used functionality

Configuring menus and possibly accelerators(not in Mojo)

Design Cheat sheet

Principles of consistency across Mojo apps

 

Overall Menu Layout/Contents across Mojo apps

File | dealing with documents and the overall environment

New, opening, closing and saving documents
Import/Export if needed
Global primary app-specifc functions (e.g. Empty Trash)
Printing
Exiting Mojo Environment

Edit | editing content and prefs

Undo/Redo
Clipboard operations and special forms of data fill in
Selections
App-specific editing functions
Preferences

View | things that affect the presentation of content and chrome

Toggling Toolbars
App-specific viewing functions
Applying custom style sheets to content
Applying themes and content packs to chrome
Document Info/Properties and Source
International Viewing Functionality

Search | (optional for smaller apps) searching items in documents, user data and on the web

Finding( optionally replacing) in Document
Finding in user data
Finding on the web

App Specific Menus | (optional)

as needed (should be no more than 2 extra menus)

Tasks | switching between apps and accessing tool type functionality

Switch to other core application (as installed)
Switch to Tools
Switch between open windows

Help | user assistance

Receive user assistance (either built in or pointing to resources on web)
For detailed specification see help menu spec by Netscape Info Design Team

 

Design Details

Note: for definite word on keyboard accelerators and mnemonics see http://www.mozilla.org/projects/ui/accessibility/

 

Menu Details


File Menu

File Structure Extensibility
New/Open...(submenu)
will show the default new item first, before a submenu giving a access to other core new items. These items are to be presented consistently across apps like this:
 
New   >
The top part of that submenu may include secondary level New items that are specific top that app. Local top and global bottom part of to be separated. 

Closing/Save...
Same as most apps on OSs,Close will close the current window

App Specific...
This is an area where apps can extend the search menu if needed. This section may not available on some applications

Export/Import...
This area is reserved for import/export tools such as with other devices (Palm etc.), may not appear on all windows.

Offline...(submenu)
If we have this functionality in Mojo this will allow toggle offline state as well as sync items

Printing...
Standard OS stuff...

Quitting
Quit will exit Communicator as a whole.
Location:
Top portion of New sub-menu

Kinds of items to be put there:
Secondary new items that relate to the current application

Location:
Between the Save and import/export items

Kinds of items to be put there:
Items that directly relate to global functions in that context, such as "Empty Trash" when viewing folders in Messenger.

Edit Menu

Edit Structure Extensibility
Undo/Redo Transactions
Generally will show the default new item first, before a submenu giving a access to other core new items

Clipboard Transfer...
Same as most apps on OSs

Selection...
Select All... always available - refers to selecting all of the content, apps may add app specific selections here

App Specific...
This is an area where apps can extend the edit menu if needed. This section may not available on some applications

Preferences...
Common access point to the prefs dialog
Location:
Items can be added to the Selection section as well as below the selection and above the prefs selection

Kinds of items to be put there:
Items that directly affect the selected content or deal with the clipboard. Spell checking may also go there for the Editor.

View Menu

View Structure Extensibility
Toolbars > (submenu)...
This sections lets users toggle the visibility of the toolbars 

Sidebar 
Viewing/hiding the Sidebar

App Specific...
This is an area where apps can extend the view menu if needed. This section may not available on some applications

Text Size... (optional)
This will directly affect the default text size for all content areas

Page...
Items related to the page source and information related to the page (can we include some security info when this dialog is brought up?) 

Translate > (submenu)
This feature will be driven from Netcenter but will enable users to view web page translated into different language

Character Set...
Similar to 4.5, but:
Rather than making this a huge, unmanageable window we recommend a picklist dialog

Location:
Between toolbars and Page info items

Kinds of items to be put there:
This will include things that affect how the content of the page is viewed, for example if we add the capability to display content using a other style sheets, these will be exposed in this section.

Search Menu

Search Structure Extensibility
Find...
This invokes the find dialog directly related to finding on the currently viewed page

App Specific... Search...
This is an area where apps can extend the search menu if needed. This section may not available on some applications

Globally accessible Search...
The items below the app specific search options will always be accessible from the search menu, giving users one consistent entry points to their Boston often used search needs

Smart Search...(placeholder term) Note: not in for Mojo
A universal search dialog box. see search specification and search PRD
Location:
In the second section below Find... and the Smart Search... section

Kinds of items to be put there:

App Specific area

This will be dependent on the app, for example Messenger will be basing its search on the currently active folder, may offer to search one or more levels above in the hierarchy of folders

Other Search services

A set of globally accessible and dynamically updateable search services as determined by PM and Netcenter

App Specific Menu Extensions

App Specific
 Structure Extensibility
 
App Specific...
This is an area where apps can include their own top level menus
 
Location:
App-specific top level menus have to be inserted after the "Go" menu, but before the "Tasks" and "Help" menu

Kinds of menus to put there:
Similar to 4.5 these are for example the "Message" top level menu for Messenger, or the "Insert" and "Format" menus for Ender/Composer.

Tasks Menu

Tasks Structure Extensibility
Core Applications...
This could include the 4 or 6 applications we name core level, and this section will not be changed for consistency reasons. If an application component is not installed, we can show the user how to install the application. Alternatively, third party app integration can be used here (e.g. Eudora can be substituted for Messenger if the user desires)

Other applications/service categories (submenus)...
This is an area where users can quickly gain access to non-core applications such as net-based services. Similar to the taskbar the items accessible here will be grouped into meaningful categories as needed. This section is updateable and extensible

Privacy and Security...
This will provide general access to all things related to Privacy Security and may link to the "CartMan" interface as developed by the server Eng/UE folks.

Tools (submenu) (extensible)...
A set of special and usually highly technical tools that affect the overall Mojo behavior. Examples include a "Plugin Info" dialog, as well as server tools, Java and JavaScript consoles and debuggers etc.

Go To Window >
This lets users quickly toggle between open windows.

Location:
Below the core application section as well as inside the Tools section

Kinds of items to be put there:
See the taskbar specification for groups of items that may appear here.

Also we need to include registration, member services and possibly NetWatch here.

Help Menu

Note: For definite specification on help menu see help menu specs from the Info Design/Documentation Group
Help (Input: Info design team) Structure Extensibility
Contents >...
Index, possibly aggregated from both Netcenter and local sources through RDF

How-to >...
A tutorial that answers commonly asked questions

Help Channel...
This will point users to a Netcenter based help channel with a 'club like atmosphere' (original quote Netcenter folks), a Netscapers Anonymous so to speak, were there will be central and up-to-date help facility and users can exchange tips and tricks for using Netscape products

Other Misc. Items...
This will include things like Updates, TechSupp and release notes for the specific C5 release

About...
This is the standard page displaying the Communicator 'identity' page indicating the version and potentially other info about this release of C5
We should be really careful to keep the help menu as short as possible, in order to not decrease its effectiveness as evidenced in 4.5.(see help menu proposal for reasoning here)