[Scribus] insert lorem ipsum: back to context menu?

[Peter Nermander]

> Trouble with usability is that its success will depend on user habits.

There is a HUGE difference between usability for a beginner and usability for an
experienced user.

This has top be kept in mind.

A beginner does not know what commands and features there are and will look
around in menus to find them (at least that's they way I learn new programs).
Items only visible under certain circumstances will not easily be found and
the user will not learn them unless pointed straight to them.

A beginner will probably not find things in the context menu as easy as in the
regular menus (but this means the regular menus must not change to much
depending on the current selection).

If menus need to change depending on the current selection I'd say that
replacing one menu with another, or change the name of the menu as the content
changes, must be the best way. It is VERY frustrating if some menu items appear
only when a certain type of object is selectable. If they are greyed out I know
they are there, but if they just disappear I'll maybe never find them.


An experienced user knows all the commands and features and want easy and
quick ways to access them.

For a "graphical" program like Scribus (where you use the mouse to move things
around, select them etc) context menu and shortcuts is most likely the way to
go (less extra mouse movement). Shortcuts for things you do often (one hand on
mouse, the other on keyboard), context menu for less common tasks (where you
always forget the keyboard shortcut:-).

For a word processor/text editor, where you mainly use the keyboard, regular
menus are more suitable (because you can leave the mouse cursor near the menus).

The keyboard shortcuts in Scribus are configurable, what about a custom menu and
a custom submenu in the context menu? To enable total customization of menus
(like MS Word) might lead to problems since it will be hard to tell someone
where they will find the function they are looking for (becuse they might have
moved it to another menu or even removed it from the menus).

That way the context menu can be kept fairly "clean", but the experienced user
can fill it with what they want.


And of course menu items should always show the keyboard shortcuts associated
with them, so you easily learn the shortcuts for the commands you use often.

/Peter