Questions tagged [menu]

A menu is a list of commands presented to an operator by a computer system

A computer using a graphical user interface presents menus with a combination of text and symbols to represent choices. By clicking on one of the symbols or text, the operator is selecting the instruction that the symbol represents. A context menu is a menu in which the choices presented to the operator are automatically modified according to the current context in which the operator is working.

Reference: Wikipedia article on 'Menu', retrieved 2011-04-25

Menus most commonly are implemented as part of a , but also text-based CLI's (command line interfaces) are possible. Graphical menus are often operated and communicate state and context to the user, i.e. in a .

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Help menu - "?" or "Help"?

It is a very simple question, but it has been bothering me for quite some time: when creating an application, should the help menu (in the menu bar) be called "?" or "Help"? I can see a few advantages for "?": it leaves some room to associate the…
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Redundant behaviors in context menu

In the menu hierarchy tree of file managers such as Windows Explorer, why are redundant behaviors of "expand" "collapse" folders given in context menu when the user can anyways click the + or - icon beside the folder to expand or collapse it? See…
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Are there any studies that show the quickest mental processing for capitalization of header menu items for a website.

In header menus on websites, is it best practice to capitalize header items? Home | Members | About Us | Contact Us To Captitalize the first letter Home | Members | About us | Contact us Or to use lower case home | members | about us | contact…
digiguru
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What alternatives are there for "My x", like in "My Documents"

I'm working on a tool where people place work and other people choose to do that work. The menu now has the following items: Choose work (which lists all possible things you could do) Place work (which gives you a form to add a new task) More This…
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What is a good replacement for the menu bar in a Windows app?

The old Windows menu bar (File, Edit, View, etc. ) is tried and true, but seems to be disappearing from popular usage. I have a new desktop/client application that I am developing and I would like to upgrade to some current, and effective, UI…
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Best way to show screens to user on application

I'm developing a Winforms application which has been running for years with an explorer view (TreeView left, screen right). I means that: All the screens have an hierarchy organization All the nodes on TreeView have one and only one screen…
FerranB
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Which is better - a summarized menu or a detailed menu?

I am redesigning a navigation menu for a web-based application. The current menu is a list of tasks, grouped by service. The list is growing steadily as we are adding new functionalities and now the users have to scroll down to see all of it. We…
Tania Gobeil
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If you know a submenu is going to open to the left, which way should the arrow point?

I have a menu dropdown with submenus. I know based on screen sizes that about 70% of the time the submenu will show up to the left of the main menu (as the edge of the screen prevents it opening to the right). The other 30% of the time, it's on the…
Alex
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Highlight most used menu items

Usually I actively use only 10-20% of menu items, especially in different kinds of catalogs, so I wonder if there in any practice that highlights the menu items that are most chosen by a certain user. For example slightly change a background or…
Nutel
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What direction should I extend my menu?

I am just making a website and don't know which direction I should extend my menu for best user experience and most intuitive feel. The buttons to open the menu are in the top, right corner. I have to decide wether to extend the menu to the left or…
Noah Krasser
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Putting the same item multiple times in a hierarchical menu

When designing interfaces I will often go with a user intention oriented approach where the same action can be found in different places. Let me give two artificial examples: Grocery store site When opening a grocery store site there are many things…
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Menus within menus

I've stumbled upon a page on my uni's internal sites that has something where I'm not sure if its a usability issue or not. Here is a sketch of the page lay out. I better not show the actual thing. So, what you've basically got for most of the…
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One page website menu too long

My one page website has too long menu (many items). I want to remove one of the items - named as "services" and stay only with "about" item instead. Is it OK to remove this item from menu? Sorry, if the question is worthless.
user121391
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What's a good shorthand for "save and exit" in a text based software

I've made a script/software of sorts that is used to analyse test results of our patients. Currently, to save your results, you have to enter 27, which was due to me having a brilliant idea at the time and decided it would be wise to have it so it's…
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Debounce time for mouseover menu?

I have a menu that slides out when you hover over a small area of the screen. This menu then slides back in when your mouse leaves the menu area. I have been running into what I feel are UX issues where if you accidentally mouse out of the menu it…
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