Question mark does not belong in TaskDialog!

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   13.4.1: "Added Question icon support for TaskDialog" 

I have pinpointed this before. Question marks do not belong in TaskDialogs. Microsoft have explicitly discouraged the misuse of the question mark, and they also removed it when they introduced the TaskDialog API.

I know some users want this stuff, but I still think we should not encourage bad UI. Not to mention that software written with your library may become non-compliant with "Vista/W7 Logo".

Recommended reading:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa511277.aspx

* Use the question mark icon only for Help entry points. For more information, see the Help entry point guidelines.
* Don't use the question mark icon to ask questions. Again, use the question mark icon only for Help entry points. There is no need to ask questions using the question mark icon anyway, it's sufficient to present a main instruction as a question.
* Don't routinely replace question mark icons with warning icons. Replace a question mark icon with a warning icon only if the question has significant consequences. Otherwise, use no icon.

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znakeeye Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 26 July 2006 Status: Offline Points: 1672	Post Options Post Reply Quote znakeeye Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Question mark does not belong in TaskDialog! Posted: 24 September 2010 at 4:55am
	13.4.1: "Added Question icon support for TaskDialog" I have pinpointed this before. Question marks do not belong in TaskDialogs. Microsoft have explicitly discouraged the misuse of the question mark, and they also removed it when they introduced the TaskDialog API. I know some users want this stuff, but I still think we should not encourage bad UI. Not to mention that software written with your library may become non-compliant with "Vista/W7 Logo". Recommended reading: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa511277.aspx * Use the question mark icon only for Help entry points. For more information, see the Help entry point guidelines. * Don't use the question mark icon to ask questions. Again, use the question mark icon only for Help entry points. There is no need to ask questions using the question mark icon anyway, it's sufficient to present a main instruction as a question. * Don't routinely replace question mark icons with warning icons. Replace a question mark icon with a warning icon only if the question has significant consequences. Otherwise, use no icon.
	PokerMemento - http://www.pokermemento.com/

ABuenger Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 02 February 2006 Status: Offline Points: 1075	Post Options Post Reply Quote ABuenger Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 September 2010 at 5:40am
	Some users wanted it and they got it. It's not my app, so why worry?
	Codejock support

Marco1 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 16 January 2004 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 251	Post Options Post Reply Quote Marco1 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 September 2010 at 5:52am
	I understand that MS want to have clear guidelines for application usage. In fact we did some research concerning the usage of our product and it seems that dialogs/boxes with big questions marks are better recognized as a question than a box with a warning sign. The normal "stupid" user doesn't know anything (and even doesn't care) about special question mark reservation. For me a developer it's okay to have the choice even if this is not within the visual compliance of MS. Just a personal thought.