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Saturday 22 May 2004 7:36:39 am
Hi, as you know ez3 is a very "abstract" system. And there are some phrases within the cms which causes understanding problems for non-programmers (the "normal user"). I've made many trainings and know the main understanding problems at least for the german-speaking people. So, some suggestions to make the cms more user-friendly:
a) "content object":
If you say "content object", a normal user don't know what is meant by that.
My suggestions:
Use "item" instead of "object" (you do that already in some cases)
Don't use "content object" and "object" but:
-) "item (like an article, image, folder etc.)" or
-) use the class-name instead where it is possible
-) "related objects" => "related items"
-) "default placement for objects" => "default location for new items"
-) "new objects will not be placed in the content tree" => "new items have no default location and won't be shown within the content tree"
-) "new objects will be placed in %nodename" => "new %classname will be placed in %nodename"
-) "create or browse objects" => "create a new item or choose an existing item from the tree"
-) "object count" => "number of items"
-) strip off "content object" where is no need for that phrase like:
"the content object %1 awaits approval ..." => "%1 have to be approved by you"
-) "Edit the object" => "Edit" / "Edit %object_name" / "Edit %class_name"
-) "Replace object" => "Choose another item" (some users thought that the content of the choosen object will be replaced and not the relation link)
-) "Remove object" (in design/standard/content/datatype) => "remove relation to choosen item" ("remove object" is very confusing because the user thinks he is going to delete that item)
-) "The object is owned by %owner" => "%object_name is owend by %owner"
-) "Default object view" => "Default view" (there is no need for "object")
b) "Node":
For a programmer, the meaning is clear. But you have to explain it to a normal user.
My suggestion is: A "node" is a "location" within the content-tree.
Furthermore use the name of the node instead of "node" where it's possible.
Example:
"Are you sure you want to remove %1 from node %2?" =>
"Are you sure you want to remove %1 from %2" (there is no need to use "node" in that case. "Removed nodes can be retrieved later. You will find them in the trash." => That needs further explanations.
Example:
"Deleted items can be restored. They will be moved into the trash." (Don't use "node" in that case because a normal user will never understand the difference between a "node" and an "object".)
c) "children / parents"
At my trainings I earned a lot of laughter if I sayed: "Ladies and gentlemen, now we are gonna to delete our annoying children!" :-)
The parents weren't amused ;-) So, my thoughts about that - difficult - issue: You can't use "child/children" or "parent/parents" - it's too confusing. My suggestion: Give a longer description about what's going on, example "trash-page" / "deleting process":
Say something like this on the confirm page of the deletion process:
"If you delete %name_of_the_object, all content of %name_of_the_object will be deleted too.
Further details: %number_of_nodes items are placed beneath %name_of_the_objects. %number_of_items_which_has_no_other_location items will be deleted permanently." So you can avoid using the term "child/children" ...
"Parent": Try also to prevent using "parent".
My suggestions:
"choose parent node" => What is meant by this?
Choosing a location for the current item.
So "choose a location" will do the job.
"select parent node for new node" =>
"select a location for %node_name" "select parent node" => "select a location for %node_name"
"you must assign all nodes to new parent nodes" =>
"you have to assign all importet items to new locations"
"choose a node for default selection" =>
"choose a location from where items should be selected"
d) "object relation" and "object relation list" (datatype):
That is confusing because you are using "wrong words".
It's an "object assignment" and a "list of object assignments".
But that's to technically for the user interface.
So, my suggestion:
Prevent the usage of "assign/relation" and say it with other words.
e.g. "Choose an existing item" e) "placement": replace that with "location". (Or - if you like "placement" more, replace "location" with "placement".) -> the same for "node" (so if you use "location" for "node" you have to change "location" to "placement" in that case too) f) "Node ID" / "Object ID": display that technically items with font size 1.
g) "Publish" / "Post"
That's very confusing. Sometimes it means "save" and sometimes it means "send for publishing".
Okay, I don't want to rename eZ Publish to eZ Save ( ;-) ) but there are some cases where "save" is the better word.
Example: If a user creates a new account, he want to "save" his data and not "publish" it (he may thinks that he is providing his data to public) Also use "publish" instead of "post" at a forum message. (If it's the same action, use the same word) h) "Cancel" / "Discard": These words have the same meaning, so use only one of them. (I think "Cancel" is the better word - same action / same word)
i) "Remove" / "Delete"
Small words / big impact:
At some cases "remove" means "delete" and vice versa. Our users are really confused.
So, my suggestion:
Only use "delete" if an item (content object / node) will be deleted (moved into the trash).
Only use "remove" if you "remove" a relation / assignment / bookmark (etc.)
Kind regards,
Emil.
Best wishes,
Georg.
--
http://www.schicksal.com Horoskop website which uses eZ Publish since 2004
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