launchpad-dev team mailing list archive

[John Arbash Meinel <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

...

> > I do think it's nice that Launchpad visually identifies links that pop up
> > ajaxy windows and those that transport you somewhere else. I've certainly
> > gotten used to the green meme for that, and I think it's one of the
> > things
> > about Launchpad that works well.
>
> I agree that this is a useful metaphor. It's similar to desktop apps
> having an elipsis in menu items to signify a window will open. I think
> know you're about to do a page load is a useful bit of information in
> some cases, irrelevant in others.
>
> I want to think about how we can do this better. If it really is
> important that a user know whether they are about to do a page load then
> I don't think making the link green is a strong enough identifier. It
> wasn't until I joined the Launchpad team and read a bug about the colour
> of the green links that I discovered what a green link meant.
>
> It is possible that we could use buttons, or place an icon with the link
> instead of colouring the link. I'm sure there are more options.

I certainly also discovered the green link thing by accident. Even if it 
is documented somewhere on LP, who is actually going to read that doc. 
The fact that so many websites randomly color their links means that 
color isn't really a great indicator.

However:

1) It is nice that there is some consistent way to do so.
2) An icon seems a bit too heavyweight, given how prevalent they are
3) It probably isn't critical that you know green from blue links 
(except for a couple of bug cases, where following a blue link would 
lose the data you typed in because of previous ajax-y forms)

John
=:->