Poll: Icons vs Text in toolbar

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Which do you use in your toolbar?

Text and Icon
6
50%
Icon only
4
33%
Text only
2
17%
 
Total votes: 12

JBL
Posts: 170
Joined: 2003-04-25 14:33:59

Poll: Icons vs Text in toolbar

Post by JBL »

Some of my coworkers were discussing the usefulness of icons vs text yesterday. I was wondering what people thought
joao
Posts: 55
Joined: 2003-04-25 04:42:14

Post by joao »

Actually, I don't use the toobar at all and rely instead on keyboard commands and the tool drawer.

In programs where I use the toolbar, it depends on the program. As a general rule, the more text-based the program, the less I want icons, and if I use the toolbar, it's text only. With more visually-based programs, I tend to use icons amd text - but always small icons. (I don't have a 20" monitor!)

I think it's great that OS X and developers give users the choice, since it would appear there's not a great deal of consistency of preferences among users.
niklas
Posts: 18
Joined: 2004-05-03 05:31:20
Location: Sweden

Post by niklas »

joao wrote:Actually, I don't use the toobar at all and rely instead on keyboard commands and the tool drawer.
Ditto. even though I do think toolbars can be useful sometimes, I think they are a bit overused.
First, I totally fail to see the point of having things like "copy", "paste" and "print" on a toolbar, where the keyboard shortcuts are universal and easy to learn. Just a waste of space imo.
Moreover, if you klick toolbar icons there is no way to learn a better (faster) behavior, such as using a keyboard shortcut. If you select "Copy" from the menu, you'll see the shortcut right beside the command.

I think toolbars work best in apps where you normally have your hand on the mouse instead of on the keyboard, such as in Finder, web browsers and things like iTunes. In Nisus I have it turned off. So, there weren't really any alternative for me in the poll...
Todd
Posts: 42
Joined: 2004-02-18 12:24:45
Location: Roaming the Universe
Contact:

Post by Todd »

Double ditto over here.

In most applications the toolbar is helpful, but in NWX the tool drawer is a superior invention that renders the toolbar obsolete. The drawer does much more than the bar, and by staying to the side, it takes no viewing space away from the body of the text. (By contrast, the toolbar lops off nearly an inch from my writing space, which is no small sum on my 15" Powerbook). As a result, the toolbar has remained hidden and unused since the day I bought NWX.

Now if only the status bar could be hidden, too... (hint, hint)
cchapin
Posts: 424
Joined: 2004-02-25 18:28:40
Location: Nagoya, Japan

Post by cchapin »

'Fraid I agree with the previous opinions. I keep the toolbar hidden in Nisus Writer Express.

--Craig
irev
Posts: 22
Joined: 2003-03-06 15:16:43

Post by irev »

Some people are very comfortable with fully loaded tool bars open while they work. For me they are a distraction and eat up valuable screen real estate. Having the ability to set up key board commands for just about every concievable function in NWX satisfies my needs nicely.
gemboy27
Posts: 355
Joined: 2003-09-30 21:33:58

hmmm

Post by gemboy27 »

This is ironic, and made me think. I use the icon and text view, but I don't use the buttons at all. I don't like if I feel comfortable with the view or what, it seems un-natural to not have buttons at the top..
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education/Mark Twain (1835-1910)
charles
Posts: 481
Joined: 2002-11-26 11:40:35
Location: San Diego, CA
Contact:

Post by charles »

The only real useful things I have in my toolbars are the view pop-up menu, the table inserter tool and the highlighter. The table inserter tool alone is worth it for me. We will be adding more useful items like that in the future of course.

-Charles
Charles Jolley
Nisus Software, Inc.
JBL
Posts: 170
Joined: 2003-04-25 14:33:59

Post by JBL »

I actually use the view pop-up menu, and the toggle for the tool drawer. I keep things in text only so they don't waste a lot of space.
MacSailor
Posts: 290
Joined: 2003-04-03 08:38:41
Location: Linköping, Sweden

Post by MacSailor »

I’ve got the popup-menu, the redo- & undo arrows, the tablebuilder tool, the highlighter and the show/hide tool in my toolbar.
Peter Edwardsson
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