http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=1006543

Hmmm ... it is just me, or did the Search button in the Perlmonks header bar grow? It looks twice as large as I think I remember seeing it. If it changed, I don't know when, but it really caught my eye a few minutes ago.

Update: I checked Tidings, but didn't see a recent change.

...roboticus

When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.

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Re: Search button in 'Perlmonks' header bar
by jdporter (Paladin) on Dec 01, 2012 at 04:16 UTC

    The only difference that should have been noticeable is that the button now has a 2-pixel-width border around it, like normal html buttons. If you see something different from that, please do let us know, and provide screen shots if possible, as well as platform details.

    I reckon we are the only monastery ever to have a dungeon stuffed with 16,000 zombies.
[reply]

      jdporter:

      I just thought the button had grown. I didn't recall it not having a border. But it feels like not only is the button "bigger", but the font looks bigger, too. (I'm guessing that's a perceptual illusion, though. I expect that the Search font was just about the size of the text box to the left, so when the border appeared, it all looked bigger.) I suspect that had the button size been about the same height as the text entry box, I might not've noticed the change. It all looks good, though, no complaint--just curiosity.

      Just for reference, I'm using the 'Blue' theme, I'm on a Linux box (Ubuntu) running Firefox. (Probably irrelevant since there's nothing wrong.)

      ...roboticus

      When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.

[reply]

        Interesting! When people didn't see it / think of it as a button, the larger text seemed "normal"; now that it's obviously a button, the larger text seems unusually large. I wouldn't say it doesn't matter; perceptions matter.

[reply]
Re: Search button in 'Perlmonks' header bar
by 2teez (Vicar) on Dec 01, 2012 at 01:42 UTC

    roboticus,

    Not just you ... The Search button actually "grew"!
    It caught my attention a number of times now. And I think I kind of like it though.

    If you tell me, I'll forget.
    If you show me, I'll remember.
    if you involve me, I'll understand.
    --- Author unknown to me
[reply]

      T T:

      I'm glad I wasn't imagining it. I kind of like it too. It's just unusual-looking. (Though I hope it prompts some questioners to do a moment or two of searching before posting. Like that'll happen!)

      ...roboticus

      When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.

[reply]
        Though I hope it prompts some questioners to do a moment or two of searching before posting.

        That's close to the point. In making the title bar all homogenized, the button stopped looking like a button, so people were more likely to not recognize that there was a little form there where they could enter something and push the "Search" button. I believe it has been contributing to people trying to search by pushing the "Talk" button (which looks exactly like a form button).

        So I mentioned that we should put the border back on the button and jdporter was nice enough to do most of the work to make that happen (he probably should have updated Tidings, too). No, we didn't change anything about the size of the button, but then, the edges of the button were completely non-visible before, so if you perceived it as a button just because you knew it submitted a form for you, then the size of this perceived button was purely up to your imagination to determine. So I guess we know that you imagine buttons as small? ;)

        I'm tempted to make the other titlebar item look like what it is as well. If we stop overriding the color of the "PerlMonks" text and preventing it from being underlined, then it will look like a link (which is what it is -- and I know several long-time visitors had never realized that).

        But not knowing that it is a link has a much less significant impact on site usability than not knowing "Search" was a button, so we might not change that.

        Maybe we'll do something all "Web 2.0"y and make the underline only appear when your mouse is hovering over it. Should the color change then as well? I personally think having a visual clue meant to tell you that you can click on something but that is only visible after you've finished most of the work of clicking (positioning the mouse pointer) is a rather stupid idea. But I suspect it is trendy, maybe even stylish. And such wouldn't be a bad compromise for giving people more chance to eventually realize that it is a link without making the titlebar "all ugly". (:

        (Actually, having the color change when you hover seems an especially bad idea -- especially since one of the "it is a link" text colors is probably very close to or even identical to the titlebar's background color for many of our themes.)

        - tye        

[reply]
Re: Search button in 'Perlmonks' header bar
by Anonymous Monk on Dec 01, 2012 at 09:04 UTC
[reply]

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