Andreas Nilsson wrote:

...

Here it is: http://ramnet.se/~nisse/diverse/temp/inkscape_new_prefs_mockup3.png

I have one suggestion for this:

For most dialogs (XML editor & stuff) a "Close" button is appropriate, but for the Preferences dialog, there should be a "OK/Cancel"-pair of buttons. For creating the general widget, the constructor should have a parameter for selecting the kind of buttons to show. (Sure there is such a parameter already for some kind of GTK dialog window?)

• Felix

Could please you give me an example why OK/Cancel is better than Close. The HIG (yes, here I go again) suggests that direct manipulation should be used as often as possible, and ok/cancel only when you are at risk of making your system unstable (network settings, screen resolution etc). I understand that a user might be afraid to screw up his settings and that is why I added a "reset to defaults" in the mockup. Another good thing about instant apply is that (if the dialog box don't eat up to much of the users screen area) one could test out the settings right away without having to close the prefs dialog and then save a little time and effort if the user wish to tweak them a bit more.

I have also done a quick mini-mini study to see how other programs handeled their settings dialogs. Gaim - close Firefox - cancel/ok thunderbird - cancel/ok gimp - cancel/ok beep media player - close elephanty - close evolution - close abiword - revert/close gthumb - close most Gnome settings - close

This is only some apps that I happened to have installed, but it seems like close is used the most. - Andreas Nilsson