[Zope-PTK] Re: PTK interface thoughts

Paul Everitt paul@digicool.com
Tue, 18 Jan 2000 16:34:49 -0500


Amos Latteier wrote:
> Portal User Interface
> 
>   Vision
> 
>     The PTK UI should be simple and clear. It should not overwhelm
>     the user. It should be available to the user at all times.

Also, the target audience is content managers, not developers.

[snip]

>       The toolbox consists of a number of 'Actions' which are HTML
>       links to perform management tasks. 'Actions' are grouped into
>       'Categories'. 'Categories' are usually identified by icons or
>       names and group actions into functional groups. For the first
>       revision of the PTK there will only be three categories which
>       represent 1. user related actions (e.g. login/logout, prefs),
>       2. current-object related actions (e.g. manage page), 3.
>       global or misc actions (e.g. undo, recent documents)

Please note that we are open to other names for 'Toolbar', 'Category',
and 'Action'.  Also note that these correlate to conventional UI
elements such as 'Menu Bar', 'Menu', and 'Menu Item'.

>       The toolbox communicates with Zope via a simple API. It is
>       expected that multiple toolbox implementations will be
>       available and some will make heavy use of Javascript and other
>       fancy stuff.

Or (he says to Martijn) Mozilla! :^)

>       The proposed API is this:

Note that we want to provide a facility where PTK-aware products can put
their management actions.

>     Desktop
> 
>       The desktop is the main area of the page. The body of the page
>       located on the desktop. When performing management functions
>       forms are presented on the desktop.

When viewing a page, the content of the page is displayed in this area. 
The rest of the page goes to standard portal look-and-feel and branding,
plus PTK management areas.

--Paul