Re: What do we call this button?

[Max Wyss <prodok -at- prodok -dot- ch>]

Sarah,

it get again to the old question about the users. Ellipsis is a term 
which may not be so common, except for people with certain background.

The suggestion from the developers is actually accurate, and also 
appears to me as the most understandable one. You might compare with 
the terminology guides published by the operating environment 
manufacturer.

In any case, it might be useful to have an introductory section where 
you do explain the basics of use of the program, and also the 
terminology you are using.

Hope, this can help.


Max Wyss
PRODOK Engineering
Low Paper workflows, Smart documents, PDF forms
CH-8906 Bonstetten, Switzerland

Fax:  +41 1 700 20 37
e-mail:  mailto:prodok -at- prodok -dot- ch
http://www.prodok.ch



[ Building Bridges for Information ]


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We have a minor controversy going here, and I hope some of you can give us
some input. I searched the archives but didn't find anything related.

The program we're documenting has numerous fields where you can directly
enter a value or you can select one from a list. To get to the list, you
click a button to the right of the field with an ellipsis (...) on it. This
brings up a separate dialog box with the list and an OK button.

We have been referring to this as the ellipsis (...) button (e.g. "Click the
ellipsis button and select the item from the list"). However, the developers
want to call it the list button. We have a colorful former colleague who
referred to this button as the "three dot button". I suppose we could write
around a name (e.g., "click the button to the right of the field"), but this
adds to the bulkiness of an already very long book.