Hi,

in KScreen (screen management KCM) we have a button for action we call "Identify monitors" - when you click it we show a rectangle on each screen saying the name and the resolution of the screen, so that you know which one is which.

In KDE 4 we were using the kdocumentinfo icon for the button, which was wrong (both because it didn't work on different themes and because the analogy was completely wrong, but it was the best match we could find at the time) and it stopped working in Plasma 5 because it was probably provided by kde-workspace and does no longer exist n Plasma 5.

Sooooo, I want to ask you for an icon that would be a good analogy for the "Identify monitors" action. Probably the best idea I was able to come up with is a small monitor with number (or letter "i" for information/identify) inside. It's hard for me to say if this is a good analogy, because as a developer I already know what the button does, but for users it might be harder to understand. *shrug*

Screenshot from KDE 4 version - note the "I" icon in bottom right corner of the upper part (please don't shoot me, the KCM in Plasma 5 looks better!)

There's a monitor icon for Ksnapshot and for Vokoscreen in the Breeze theme (same shape, different background), would a modified icon work for you?. And what size is the icon that the KCM uses? (the icons above are at 48px).

progdan,

this might be an odd suggestion but when you attach a USB stick to your computer, the Device Notifier pops up out of the System Tray with the name of the USB device that you've just inserted and a square icon to its right to show that it's not yet mounted (its a black square with a white unplugged cable in it). I've checked Plasma 5 and that icon has been updated, looks really good and fits in perfectly with the rest of the look. Whenever i click on that it means 'right, lets see what's on this USB stick then'.

I know that you don't mount a monitor - you want to query the connected monitors so that the details are displayed. If i saw that icon on the monitor config screen i'd assume it meant 'right lets see the details of all the connected monitors then'. What about re-using that icon as the 'Identify monitors' icon, it will have a tool tip as well after all?

Oooops, sorry for taking so long to reply.

@Uri_Herrera:
Tried with vokoscreen and ksnapshot icons - the vokoscreen icon actually looks quite good there (it's like "aim the screens" ) - see the screenshot below. Maybe no modifications to the icon are needed at all. For the size I now use units.iconSizes.large - I don't think the button has to be large, this actually seems to work quite well. I'm just not sure how it will work with other icon themes (Oxygen) for instance, where the icon is different.

@ken300:
Checked the icon - it looks nice, but I'm not sure if it fits well - seeing an unplugged USB in screen management software was...weird


Screenshot with vokoscreen icon:

The icon looks nice but has no affordance. While the "i" can be understood easily as an info button, nobody would click on just a design gimmick. So please add a (clickable) label "Identify monitors" below or left of the icon. Additionally, it makes the function accessible without mouse.

Maybe if I just replaced the flat ToolButton by a proper Button, it would make it more clear it's clickable and not just some random icon?

I also managed to make the icon a bit larger by switching from QtQuick.Controls to PlasmaComponents.

I think the button makes it much more clear that this is something you can click, as I'm going to confess I never knew you could click the blue 'i' icon!

I'm not sure about the icon however. Couldn't we have a small 'i' in the middle of the monitor picture?

Button, monitor, information, clickety clickety.

Hello,

I just wanted to point out that we can't use a coloured icon for this purpose. We'll have to create a new monochrome icon or use an existing one. Unless I missed something, then just ignore me

https://techbase.kde.org/Projects/Usability/HIG/IconDesign

Sogatori wrote:Hello,

I just wanted to point out that we can't use a coloured icon for this purpose. We'll have to create a new monochrome icon or use an existing one. Unless I missed something, then just ignore me

https://techbase.kde.org/Projects/Usability/HIG/IconDesign

Ah yes you're right! this is an action, not an application. That's why Uri said "modified icon", not "that icon". As the Icon theme HIG says about icons in the applications folder: "This folder is for the software icons, their logos made into an icon. Icons in this folder should never be used for other purposes. Never."

Sogatori wrote:Hello,

I just wanted to point out that we can't use a coloured icon for this purpose. We'll have to create a new monochrome icon or use an existing one. Unless I missed something, then just ignore me

https://techbase.kde.org/Projects/Usability/HIG/IconDesign

Good. A monochrome version would be better - I'd be really confused about what Japanese settings my display had acquired.

And when you use the view-refresh icon from actions/toolbar/

or maybe tools-wizard

progdan wrote:Maybe if I just replaced the flat ToolButton by a proper Button, it would make it more clear it's clickable and not just some random icon?

That's better, a little bit. But why don't you add text? Isn't there a control in Qt that consists of an icon and a label?

Heiko Tietze wrote:

progdan wrote:Maybe if I just replaced the flat ToolButton by a proper Button, it would make it more clear it's clickable and not just some random icon?

That's better, a little bit. But why don't you add text? Isn't there a control in Qt that consists of an icon and a label?

Currently, the Button HIG does not explicitly say "All buttons need a text label". If we want that, we should add it to the HIG.

colomar wrote:Currently, the Button HIG does not explicitly say "All buttons need a text label". If we want that, we should add it to the HIG.

Yes, labels are required by default for toolbutton only. I'd say only toggle buttons can (and should) omit it. But HIG discussion is a little bit out of topic here.