I agree that the flaps should not pop-out-on-mouseover by default, since
first-time users probably won't be in full-screen mode.  (Even in
full-screen mode, I tend to prefer clicking on the flaps.)  I would still
probably include the menu flap, which can be informative for beginners.

Opening flaps on dragover (but not mouseover) seems reasonable to
me... this will be much less likely to cause accidental flap-opening than
stray mouseovers.  (I could go either way on this point.)

- Doug Way
  dway at mat.net


On Fri, 26 May 2000, Scott Wallace wrote:

> I've noticed that Stephen Pope's "friendly-for-first-time-user" image 
> uses the default morphic flaps, but sets all of them so that they do 
> not pop open on mouseover.
> 
> I'm thinking that perhaps that's a better default generally.  I only 
> find the pop-out-on-mouseover flap behavior to be friendly when I'm 
> operating full-screen, which comparatively few people do.
> 
> For most flaps -- especially those that serve as "parts bins" (e.g. 
> Supplies and Tools flaps), but also for flaps one hopes to use as 
> "parking places" or to hold, say, a trash-can -- it (perhaps) makes 
> sense to have them continue to open/close on *dragover* even if we 
> remove the responsiveness to mouseover, in order to reduce the number 
> of clicks required to complete the most commonly-needed functions, 
> though there are rather evenly-balanced arguments on both sides here.
> 
> And, whatever else we do, probably the "Menu" flap -- if we retain it 
> at all -- should only open up when proactively clicked on or dragged. 
> Otherwise this can be startling (perhaps overwhelming is the better 
> word) and it quickly gets annoying if it pops out a few times when 
> you weren't planning for it to do so.
> 
> Or perhaps the Menu flap should not exist at all on the 
> "first-time-user" screen?
> 
> I'm interested in hearing any opinions on these matters.
> 
> Of course, the various properties of any flap can be readily changed 
> from the tab's halo menu, so that for the user who has started to 
> feel comfortable in Squeak, configuring the flaps to be exactly the 
> way one wants them is within easy reach.  But what point of departure 
> should we give our first-time user?
> 
>    -- Scott
> 
>