Bug 151002 - Confusing radio button placement in Text flow tab of Table Properties dialog
Summary: Confusing radio button placement in Text flow tab of Table Properties dialog
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Writer (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
7.2.7.2 release
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords: difficultyBeginner, easyHack, skillDesign, topicUI
: 161218 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks: Writer-Table-Properties-Dialog
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2022-09-16 15:18 UTC by Tuomas Hietala
Modified: 2024-05-23 14:20 UTC (History)
5 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
Screenshot of the Table Properties dialog (48.35 KB, image/png)
2022-09-16 21:46 UTC, Rafael Lima
Details

Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.
Description Tuomas Hietala 2022-09-16 15:18:17 UTC
Description:
In Writer, on the Text Flow tab in Table Properties dialog, the radio buttons are positioned confusingly. The radio buttons "Page" and "Before" are positioned closely together, making it look like they form a group. The same goes for "Column" and "After". This is known as the "law of proximity": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology#Law_of_proximity

In actuality, "Page break" and "Column break" form one group while "Before" and "After" form another. Therefore the positioning of the radio buttons should be adjusted so that the visual grouping is aligned with the logical groups.


Steps to Reproduce:
1. Insert a table to a document in Writer
2. Right-click and select "Table properties..."
3. Go to Text Flow tab.

Actual Results:
The radio buttons are placed so that the visual and logical grouping are in conflict.

Expected Results:
The radio buttons are placed so that the logical grouping is supported visually.


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: No



Additional Info:
n/a
Comment 1 Rafael Lima 2022-09-16 21:46:11 UTC
Created attachment 182512 [details]
Screenshot of the Table Properties dialog

I tend to agree with the need to redesign the position of these radio buttons.

Let's hear from the UX team.
Comment 2 Heiko Tietze 2022-09-19 08:52:27 UTC
Switching Column and Before, for example, wont help much. A label does, for example 

    Type: (o) Page   ( ) Column 
Position: (o) Before ( ) After

Another option is to use dropdown controls like

[x] Break 
    at [Page] by placing [Before]
    With Page Style [    ]
    Starting with [ ] Page Number [ 1 ]
Comment 3 Tuomas Hietala 2022-09-20 14:12:53 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #2)
> Switching Column and Before, for example, wont help much. A label does, for
> example 
> 
>     Type: (o) Page   ( ) Column 
> Position: (o) Before ( ) After

I agree labels would be useful, but I suggest a layout for them like this would be even better:

Type:        Position:
(o) Page     (o) Before
( ) Column   ( ) After

Easy to read, takes advantage of the law of proximity.
Comment 4 Tuomas Hietala 2022-09-20 14:18:25 UTC
(In reply to Tuomas Hietala from comment #3)
> Type:        Position:
> (o) Page     (o) Before
> ( ) Column   ( ) After

Actually, that spacing should be bigger for l10n and clarity. More like this:

Type:                Position:
(o) Page             (o) Before
( ) Column           ( ) After
Comment 5 Roman Kuznetsov 2022-09-20 19:01:33 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #2)

> Another option is to use dropdown controls like
> 
> [x] Break 
>     at [Page] by placing [Before]
>     With Page Style [    ]
>     Starting with [ ] Page Number [ 1 ]

I thought about the same, so +1 to that solution

Set to NEW as valid enhancement (it isn't a bug in general)
Comment 6 Heiko Tietze 2022-09-22 13:16:13 UTC
So we agree on the label and suggest different solutions for the placement. May the doer decide.

Code pointer: sw/uiconfig/swriter/ui/tabletextflowpage.ui
Comment 7 Heiko Tietze 2024-05-23 07:37:05 UTC
*** Bug 161218 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 8 William Friedman 2024-05-23 14:20:00 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #2)
> Switching Column and Before, for example, wont help much. A label does, for
> example 
> 
>     Type: (o) Page   ( ) Column 
> Position: (o) Before ( ) After
> 
> Another option is to use dropdown controls like
> 
> [x] Break 
>     at [Page] by placing [Before]
>     With Page Style [    ]
>     Starting with [ ] Page Number [ 1 ]

+1 to using dropdown controls, and making it fully consistent with the identical options as Format | Paragraph | Text Flow.