Re: New browser controls and an API for using them

Hello everyone,

Some raw thoughts about `back' and `undo' controls. From the user perspective.

The users know `back' and `forward' are used to navigate on the
history stack, a history of URIs (most of them bookmarkable).

`undo' is related to editing.

But we learned on the web to use `back' as `undo', because interaction
was spread among multiple pages.

Now, to have both `back' and `undo' will be confusing; how to restore
the previous state, before a document.save(), `back' or `undo'?

The users know to get back from an error or unwanted state (was page
in the old web), I think they will hit `back' if someone messes up the
DOM tree in front of his eyes.
And `undo' will be felt as undoing what I entered in this edit box,
and not undoing a complex interaction.

Cheers,
Laurian Gridinoc, www.grapefruit.ro


On 12/8/05, Sylvain Hellegouarch <sh@defuze.org> wrote:
>
> Hello everyone,
>
> I've tried to give some of my views in a blog entry yesterday. If anyone is
> interested :)
>
> http://www.defuze.org/oss/blog/entry/2005/12/07/the-chicken-and-egg-problem
>
> Bye,
> - Sylvain
>
> Selon kenny heaton <kennyheaton@gmail.com>:
>
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > This idea came up in another discussion
> > http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webapi/2005Nov/0045.html
> > and I thought I would start it's own thread.
> >
> > For use with web applications, should there be new controls added to
> > web browsers tool bars, and a scripting API that allows web developers
> > to tie into them?
> >
> > The advantages of this would be that common buttons and controls that
> > are normally expected in application, such as undo/cut/copy/paste,
> > could exist in web application as well. A developer could define these
> > in the application itself (as apposed to in the browser), but giving
> > them a home in the browser means they will be consistent and will be
> > where the user expects them to be. They can also have there own
> > browser defined key board short cuts adding to usability and
> > accessibility.
> >
> > If this is a good idea it raises a lot of other questions: Should
> > there be a pre-defined set of controls, or should trusted web
> > developers be able to define there own? How should security be
> > handled? Should this be done with a API as a part of the window
> > object? Possibly an event model where there are onundo, oncut, onpaste
> > events the developer can catch? Or should this be part of the
> > "Specification of a declarative format for applications and user
> > interfaces" that the Web Application Formats Working Group is
> > chartered with?
> >
> > Any thoughts or ideas on this?
> >
> > Kenny
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
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>

Received on Tuesday, 13 December 2005 08:19:18 UTC