RE: New start up splash screen annoyance...

[Drew Adams]

> >>     ! "            For this window of the frame:
> >>     ! mouse-1: select (drag to resize), mouse-2: maximize,
> >>       mouse-3: vanish")
> >>
> >> "delete" would be better than "vanish".
> >>
> >> Aside from that, do people like it?
> >
> > Not I. There is rarely any need for a tooltip to use more than one
> > line. And this case certainly doesn't require it.
>
> Compare the one-line and the two-line version.  The latter version is
> quite narrower, and the _length_, not the height of the tooltip is
> more disturbing here, in my opinion.

Does "here" refer to the "latter", which presumably refers to the two-line
version? Are you saying that you prefer the one-line version?

We should try to keep tooltips short. If a lot really needs to be said, for
some reason, then that is an indication of a UI design problem. Let's not
try to make a tooltip do more than it is designed for; it is not a
replacement for doc.

If this particular line is too long, then we can shorten it.

 mouse: 1=select/resize, 2=max, 3=remove

 mouse: 1=select/resize, 2=max size, 3=remove (window)

 ...

There are lots of possibilities, depending on what you feel is unclear and
what information you are trying to convey.

> > Why would a tooltip, which is already contextual, need to explain
> > what its context is, what it pertains to?
>
> The context is the mode line, and it pertains to the window above the
> mode line.

This is not doc; it is a tooltip. Users will try it and find out, if unsure.
There are no hazardous materials involved here. You can try this at home,
kids.

> > Why would it need to say "For this window of the frame"? If it is
> > not clear enough without that context explanation, then there is
> > something wrong with the UI beyond just the tooltip text.
>
> The mode line is not the same as the window.  "This window of the
> frame" makes clear that we are not talking about the window system's
> definition of a window, but about something that is nested within
> frames.

Really not necessary.

"This window of the frame": "of the frame" is 100% useless, as is "this".

If we stop making an effort to keep tooltips short, thinking that we need to
add padding such as this, then our tooltips will soon become Victorian
novels.

A mode-line is tied to its window and buffer. Though a mode-line can contain
text that is unrelated to the window/buffer, most of its text is usually
related.

> By the way: this tooltip (however many lines it takes) should
> absolutely not get displayed when there is only one window in the
> frame: it will only confuse the user since all announced operations
> are noops and there is no difference between window and frame.

We do agree about that.