[Koha-devel] too much buttons (librarian interface) => how to solve.

[Owen Leonard]

> >eg if you are in ISBD view would you need a button for ISBD view? or 
> >only need the buttons for the other 2 views
> 
> there are 2 cons with this idea :
> - the buttons where not always at the same place, which is a pain for 
> the user
> - toins created a specific .inc for all places where those buttons have 
> to be shown, your idea makes this impossible.

Joshua and I discussed this issue at length for the redesign of the OPAC in
dev_week. We came up with a scheme that differentiates between
interactions. For example:

http://search.athenscounty.lib.oh.us/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?bib=179207

A change in 'view' is classified as one particular kind of interaction. For
those interactions we used tabs (in this example you don't see ISBD because
ISBD is disabled in our system).

The buttons on the page are reserved for more "active" actions--things you
can do with the item: reserve it, add it to your book bag, print it, etc.

I don't see any reason why a similar system of organization couldn't be
used for the intranet. I think Paul is right that it creates a problem when
a button is present in one view and not another. A tab system helps solve
that because the tab is always present but sometimes "active."

I object, however, to the notion that we /can't/ make changes to interfaces
based on the limitations we impose on ourselves through the use of .inc
files or whatever quirk of the technology. Our focus should be on making an
interface flexible enough to allow for the best usability possible.

  -- Owen