RE: GUI Terminology

["Combs, Richard" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com>]

Bruce Megan (ST-CO/ENG2.2) wrote: 
 
> Hello All,
> Does anyone know the correct terminology for a drop down menu
(initially
> blank) that you could enter text in that generates options for future
> use?
> I thought it was called a editable drop down menu. Am I correct?
> Any and all comments welcomed.
> Thanks in advance

Why do you need to use the term? Are you writing documentation for user
interface developers? If so, the development environment has a name for
each and every widget that's available, and it's appropriate for you to
refer to them by those names. 

But if you're writing end user documentation, there is generally no need
to "educate" those users as to the technical terms for various elements
of the user interface. 

Users don't need to know (and almost certainly don't care) whether the
thing labeled "Foobar" is a combo box, list box, drop-down list, or
whatever. Just identify it clearly and tell them what to do. "To add a
new Foo, click Foobar and type the Foo ID in the box." 

IMHO, YMMV, etc. 

Richard


Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
------






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