# Menus

Menus present the whole range of an application's commands to the user, and often a subset of its preferences. When designing a new application, place common menu items in the same locations as they appear in other applications, as this makes it much easier for the user to learn.

In most applications, only primary windows should have a menubar. Utility windows and dialogs should be simple enough that their functions can be provided by controls such as buttons placed within the window.

Occasionally, however, a utility window or dialog is so complex that there would be too many such controls. In this case, you may use a menubar provided that:

- the menus follow the same standard layout as described in

- the window does not include a dialog button area or any buttons that dismiss it, such as OK, Close or Cancel. Place these commands on the File menu or equivalent instead.

## Guidelines

- Label menu items with verbs for commands and adjectives for settings, according to the rules in .

- Make a menu item insensitive when its command is unavailable. For example, the Edit Copy item, which issues the command to copy selected data to the clipboard, should not be active when there is no data selected.

- Provide an access key for every menu item. You may use the same access key on different menus in your application, but avoid duplicating access keys on the same menu. Note that unlike other controls, once a menu is displayed, its access keys may be used by just typing the letter; it is not necessary to press the Alt key at the same time.

- Design your menu structure to avoid more than one level of submenus. Deep menu hierarchies are harder to memorize and physically difficult to navigate.

- Do not have menus with less than three items on them (except the standard Help menu, which has only two items by default). If you have a submenu with fewer than three items on it, move them into their parent menu. If you have a top-level menu with fewer than three items on it, find another suitable menu to add them to, or find suitable items from other menus to add to it.

## The Menubar

### A typical menubar

A typical application menubar, showing File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Go, Bookmarks, Tools, Windows and Help menus

The menubar provides a number of drop-down menus. Only the menu titles are displayed, until the user clicks on one of them.

The menubar is normally visible at all times and is always accessible from the keyboard, so make all the commands available in your application available on the menubar.

### Full screen mode

When your application is running in full screen mode, hide the menubar by default. However, make its menus and items accessible from the keyboard as usual. Pressing ESC should cause the application to leave full screen mode. A Leave Fullscreen button should be placed in the upper right hand corner of the window. The button should disappear after the mouse is unused for 5 seconds, and should appear again when the moused is moved. Alternately, in applications where the mouse is used frequently in full screen mode, all but a two pixel row of the button may be slid off the top of the screen. The button should slide back on the screen when the mouse moves near it.

### Guidelines

- Provide a menubar in each primary application window, containing at least a File and a Help menu.

- Organize menu titles in the standard order— see

- Do not disable menu titles. Allow the user to explore the menu, even though there might be no available items on it at that time.

- Menu titles on a menubar are single words with their first letter capitalized. Do not use spaces in menu titles, as this makes them easily-mistaken for two separate menu titles. Do not use compound words (such as WindowOptions) or hyphens (such as Window-Options) to circumvent this guideline.

- Do not provide a mechanism for hiding the menubar, as this may be activated accidentally. Some users will not be able to figure out how to get the menu bar back in this case.

## Types of Menu

### Drop-down Menus

#### A typical drop-down menu

Screenshot of a typical drop-down menu

A drop-down menu appears when the user clicks on its title in a menubar, or focuses the title and presses Return.

#### Guidelines

- Only place items on a menu that relate to that menu's title.

- Organize menu items in the standard order— see . For application-specific items where there is no standard order, arrange in numerical or other logical order (for example, 50%, 100%, 200%), task order (for example, Compile followed by Debug) or by expected frequency of use.

- Limit top-level menus to a maximum of about 15 items. If you have any more items than this, consider moving a functionally-related subset of the items into a submenu or a new top-level menu.

- Do not add or remove individual menu items while the application is running, make them insensitive instead. Entire menus may be added or removed from the menubar at runtime, however, for example in component-based applications.

- Immediately update menu items that are edited directly or indirectly by the user, such as those on the Open Recent submenu and the Bookmarks menu.

### Submenus

#### A drop-down menu with a submenu

Screenshot of a drop-down menu with a submenu

A submenu appears when the user clicks its title, which is indicated by a small arrow symbol beside its label. You can save space on long menus by grouping related commands onto a single submenu.

#### Guidelines

- Use submenus sparingly, as they are physically difficult to navigate and make it harder to find and reach the items they contain.

- Do not create submenus with fewer than three items, unless the items are added dynamically (for example the File New Tab submenu in gnome-terminal).

- Do not nest submenus within submenus. More than two levels of hierarchy are difficult to memorize and navigate.

### Popup Menus

#### A popup menu for a mail folder

Screenshot of a popup menu for a mail folder, listing the actions that can be performed on that folder

Popup menus provide shortcuts to those menu items that are applicable only to the currently selected object. As such, they are sometimes known as "context menus" or "shortcut menus". A popup menu is shown when the user right-clicks on an object, or selects the object and presses Shift F10.

Be aware that popup menus are used primarily by intermediate and advanced users. Even some users who have used graphical desktops for many years do not know about popup menus until somebody shows them.

#### Guidelines

- Provide a popup menu for every object, selectable part, and text input target such as entry fields.

- Provide an access key for each item. However, to enhance their spatial efficiency and readability, do not show keyboard shortcuts in popup menus.

- Since the user may not be aware of their presence, do not provide functions that are only accessible from popup menus unless you are confident that your target users will know how to use popup menus.

- Order items on a popup menu as follows:

  - the double-click action for object, when it exists

  - other commands and settings in expected frequency-of-use order

  - transfer commands such as `Cut`, `Copy`, and `Paste`

  - Input Methods, where applicable. Input Methods is provided by GTK+ for supporting alternatives to the keyboard for input (such as used for Japanese, Chinese, and some accessibility technologies).

- Popup menus need to be as simple as possible to maximize their efficiency. Do not place more than about ten items on a popup menu, and do avoid submenus.

## Designing a Menu

### Grouping Menu Items

#### Items grouped on a menu with separators

Screenshot of a menu divided into five logical groups with menu separators

Menu separators are the horizontal dividing lines that visually separate groups of related items on a drop-down menu, submenu, or popup menu. For example, the separators in divide the menu into five functionally-related groups. Good use of separators helps to "chunk" the information on a menu and make it easier to scan and memorize.

#### Guidelines

- The best size for a group is around 2-5 items. Single-item groups are best placed at the top or bottom of a menu, otherwise try to group them with other single items of the same type on the same menu.

- Order items within a group logically, numerically, in task order or by expected frequency of use, as appropriate.

- Only place one type of menu item in each group— command, mutable, check box or radio button. For example, do not place commands (such as View Reload) and settings (such as. View Toolbar) in the same group.

### Types of menu item

#### Command Items

##### A group of command items on a menu

Screenshot of a group on a menu containing only command items: Save, Save As, and Revert

Command items are menu items that initiate a command or perform an action, such as Save, Print or Quit. They may act on the currently active document in a document based application, or on the application itself.

##### Guidelines

- Provide a keyboard shortcut for standard or frequently used command items. See for more information on choosing shortcut keys.

- Do not remove command items from the menu when they are unavailable, make them insensitive instead. This allows the user to infer what functionality the application provides even if it is not currently available, and keeping the menu structure static makes it easier to memorize.

- Label the menu item with a trailing ellipsis ("...") only if the command requires further input from the user before it can be performed. Do not add an ellipsis to items that only present a confirmation dialog (such as Delete), or that do not require further input (such as Properties, Preferences or About).

#### Mutable Command Items

A mutable command item changes its label when selected. For example, View Reload in a browser may change to Stop to allow the user to interrupt the operation if it is taking a long time.

Note that mutable menu items can be problematic because the user never sees the menu item changing, so it is not obvious that a different function has become available.

##### Guidelines

- If your mutable menu items are command items, and you have sufficient space on your menu, consider providing two adjacent menu items for the commands instead. Then make the items sensitive or insensitive as the situation demands. This also makes it easier for the user to tell when different shortcuts are available for each of the commands, for example Ctrl R for Reload, and Esc for Stop.

- Do not use mutable menu items to toggle a two-state setting (for example, Show Toolbar and Hide Toolbar). Present such items as a single check box item instead.

#### Checkbox Items

##### A group of check box items on a menu

Screenshot of group on a View menu containing four check box items: Main Toolbar, Side Pane, Location Bar and Status Bar

A check box menu item shows the current state of a two-state setting, and allows the user to toggle it by selecting the menu item.

##### Guidelines

- Use a check box menu item only when it is obvious from the label what the set and unset states mean. This usually means that the two states are logical or natural opposites, such as "on" and "off". If this is not the case, use two radio button items instead.

- Never change the label of a check box menu item in response to the user selecting the item.

#### Radio Button Items

##### A group of radiobutton items on a menu

Screenshot of group on a menu containing three radiobutton items: view as icons, view as list and view details

Radio button menu items show which of two or more mutually-exclusive settings are currently selected, and allow the user to choose a different setting by selecting its menu item.

- If you need to offer a choice of two mutually-exclusive settings to the user, use a group of two radio button items instead of a single check box menu item if the settings are not clearly opposites. For example, represent View as Icons and View as List as two radio button items.

- Never change the label of a radio button menu item in response to the user selecting or deselecting the item.

## Standard Menus

Most applications have many functions in common, such as Cut, Copy, Paste and Quit. To aid learning and memorability, these menu items, and the menus on which they appear, must appear with the same labels and in the same order in every application. The same commands must also behave the same way in different applications, to avoid surprising the user.

This section details the most common menus, menu items and their behaviors. You will not need all of these menus or menu items in every application you write, but do preserve the order of the menu titles and of the menu items that you do use.

### Guidelines

- Place application-specific menus after the Format menu and before the Go menu

- Place application-specific menu items towards the middle of a standard menu, unless they logically fit with one of the standard groups already on the menu.

### A menubar showing all the standard menu titles in their correct order

- File
- Edit
- View
- Insert
- Format
- Go
- Bookmarks
- Windows
- Help

### File

The File menu contains commands that operate on the current document. It is the left-most item in the menubar because of its importance and frequency of use, and because it is a relevant menu in many applications. Historically, because most applications already had this menu, and because the distinction between closing documents and closing windows became blurred over time, the File menu has also become the standard location for Quit.

The items on the File menu are generally ordered by locality, closest first. That is, items to save or load from file, followed by printing, followed by sending to a remote user. Try to maintain this ordering if you have to add new items to the menu.

If your application does not operate on documents, name this item for the type of object it displays. For example, many games should have a Game instead of a File menu. However, place the Quit menu item last on this menu nonetheless.

#### A generic File menu

    File
    New                  Ctrl+N
    Open...              Ctrl+O

    ---
    Save                 Ctrl+S
    Save As...     Shift+Ctrl+S
    Save a Copy...
    Revert
    ---
    Page Setup
    Print Preview  Shift+Ctrl+P
    Print...             Ctrl+P
    Send To...              Ctrl+M
    ---
    Properties
    ---
    1. Recent Document
    2. Recent Document
    3. Recent Document
    4. Recent Document
    ---
    Close               Ctrl+W
    Quit                 Ctrl+Q

#### Creation and Opening Operations

##### Creation and Opening operation menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---

New

Ctrl N

Creates a new document. Open a new primary window, with the title Document name, containing a blank document. How this window is displayed, e.g. as a tab or a separate window, is up to the window manager.

If your application can create a number of different types of document, you can make the New item a submenu, containing a menu item for each type. Label these items New document type, make the first entry in the submenu the most commonly used document type, and give it the Ctrl N shortcut.

Note: A blank document will not necessarily be completely blank. For example, a document created from a template may already contain some data.

Open... | Ctrl O | Opens an existing document in a new window. Present the user with a standard Open File dialog from which they can choose an existing file. If the chosen file is already open in the application, raise that window instead of opening a new one.

#### Saved State Operations

##### Saved State Operation menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---

Save

Ctrl S

Saves the document with its current filename. If the document already has a filename associated with it, save the document immediately without any further interaction from the user. If there are any additional options involved in saving a file (eg. DOS or UNIX-style line endings in a text file), prompt for these first time the document is saved, but subsequently use the same values each time until the user changes them.

If the document has no current filename or is read-only, selecting this item should be the same as selecting Save As.

Save As... | Shift Ctrl S | Saves the document with a new filename. Present the user with the standard Save As dialog, and save the file with the chosen file name.

Save a Copy...

None

Prompts the user to enter a filename, with which a copy of the document is then saved. Do not alter either the view or the filename of the original document. All subsequent changes are still made to the original document until the user specifies otherwise, for example by choosing the Save As command.

Like the Save As dialog, the Save a Copy dialog may present different ways to save the data. For example, an image may be saved in a native format or as a PNG.

Revert | None | Reverts the document to the last saved state. Present the user with a warning that all changes will be lost, and offer the option of cancelling before reloading the file.
Save Version... | None | An alternative to the Save a Copy command. Only use this item in conjunction with the Restore Version. command.
Restore Version... | None | Prompts the user for a version of the current document to be restored. Present the user with with a warning that all changes will be lost, and offer the option of cancelling before restoring the version. Only use this item in conjunction with the Save Version command.
Versions... | None | An alternative to the Save Version and Restore Version commands. Use this when more utilities, such as a diff, are available.

#### Export Operations

##### Export Operation menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Page Setup | None | Allows the user to control print-related settings. Present the user with a dialog allowing the user to set such options as portrait or landscape format, margins, and so on.
Print Preview | Shift Ctrl P | Shows the user what the printed document will look like. Present a new window containing an accruate represenation of the appearance of the document as it would be printed. The libgnomeprintui library provides a standard Print Preview window that you should use if possible.
Print... | Ctrl P | Prints the current document. Present the user with a dialog allowing them to set options like the page range to be printed, the printer to be used, and so on. The dialog must contain a button labelled Print that starts printing and closes the dialog. The `libgnomeprintui` library provides a standard Print dialog that you should use if possible.

Send To...

Ctrl M

Provides the user a means to attach or send the current document as an email or email attachment, depending on its format.

You may provide more than one Send item depending on which options are available. If there are more than two such items, move them into a submenu. For example, if only Send by Email and Send by Fax are available, leave them on the top-level menu If there is a third option, such as Send by FTP, place all the options in a Send submenu.

#### File Properties

##### Properties menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Properties | Alt Return | Opens the document's Properties window. This may contain editable information, such as the document author's name, or read-only information, such as the number of words in the document, or a combination of both. The Alt Return shortcut should not be provided where Return is most frequently used to insert a new line.

#### Closing Operations

##### Closing Operation menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---

Close

Ctrl W

Closes the current document. If it has unsaved changes, present the user with a confirmation alert giving the option to save changes, discard them, or cancel the action without closing or saving the document.

If the window you are closing is the last open document in the application, the correct action depends on your application type:

- Single document interface: close the application

- Controlled single document interface: leave only the control window open

- Multiple document interface: close the current document and create a new blank document

Quit

Ctrl Q

Closes the application. If there are unsaved changes in any open documents, present the user with a confirmation alert for each affected document, giving the option to save the changes, discard them, or cancel. If there are no unsaved changes, close the application immediately without presenting any further messages or dialogs.

In particular, non-document based applications, for example a game or a calculator, should save their state and exit immediately. This state should be restored the next time the application is started.

### Edit

The Edit menu contains items relating to editing both the document (clipboard handling, search and replace, and inserting special objects) and the user's preferences. Preferences are edited here rather than on a Settings menu, because:

- most applications' preferences windows are accessed via a single menu item, and single-item menus offer poor usability

- most applications already contain a suitable Edit menu.

#### A generic Edit menu

    Edit
    Undo                 Ctrl+Z
    Redo           Shift+Ctrl+Z
    -
    Cut                  Ctrl+X
    Copy                 Ctrl+C
    Paste                Ctrl+V
    Paste Special...                Shift+Ctrl+V
    Delete               Del
    Select All           Ctrl+A
    Duplicate           Ctrl+U
    Deselect All   Shift+Ctrl+A
    -
    Find...              Ctrl+F
    Find Next            Ctrl+G
    Find Previous  Shift+Ctrl+G
    Replace...              Ctrl+R
    -
    Insert...
    -
    Preferences

#### Modification History

Document-based applications should maintain a history of modifications to a document and the state of the document between each action. The Undo and Redo commands move backwards and forwards through this history.

##### Modification History menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Undo action | Ctrl Z | Undoes the effect of the previous action in the undo history list. Revert the document to its state before the previous action was performed. If your application supports undo, and the user undoes all changes since it was last saved, treat the document as unmodified. Note: provide a separate Undo and Redo menu item even if your application only supports one level of undo.
Redo action | Shift Ctrl Z | Performs the next action in the undo history list, after the user has moved backwards through the list with the Undo command. Move the user one step forwards again, restoring the document to the state it was in after that action was originally performed. Note: provide a separate Undo and Redo menu item even if your application only supports one level of undo.

#### Manipulating Selected Data

##### Selected Data Manipulation menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Cut | Ctrl X | Removes the selected content and places it onto the clipboard. Visually, remove the content from the document in the same manner as Delete.
Copy | Ctrl C | Copies the selected content onto the clipboard.
Paste | Ctrl V | Inserts the contents of the clipboard into the document. If there is no current selection, use the caret as the insertion point. If there is a current selection, replace it with the clipboard contents.

Paste Special...

Shift Ctrl V

Inserts a non-default representation of the clipboard contents into the document. Open a dialog presenting a list of the available formats from which the user can select. For example, if the clipboard contains a PNG file copied from a file manager, the image may be embedded in the document, or a link to the file inserted so that changes to the image on disk are always reflected in the document.

Duplicate

Ctrl U

Creates a duplicate copy of the selected object. Do not prompt for a name for the duplicate object, but give it a sensible default (for example, `Copy of ShoppingList.abw`) and allow the user to change it later. Place the duplicate copy as near the original as possible without overlapping it, even if this means breaking the current sort order within the container, so the user sees it immediately.

Delete | Delete | Removes the selected content without placing it on the clipboard.
Select All | Ctrl A | Selects all content in the current document.

Deselect All

Shift Ctrl A

Deselects all content in the current document. Only provide this item in situations when no other method of undoing selection is possible or apparent to the user. For example, in complex graphics applications where selection and deselection is not usually possible simply by using the cursor keys.

Note: Do not provide Deselect All in text entry fields, as Shift Ctrl hex digit is used to enter unicode characters so its shortcut will not work.

#### Searching and Replacing

##### Search and Replace menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Find... | Ctrl F | Opens a window or dialog allowing the user to search for specific content in the current document. Highlight each match in-place. If the command allows the user to search for content in places other than the current document, for example other open documents, other documents on disk, or a remote network location, label this item Search instead of Find.
Find Next | Ctrl G | Selects the next instance of the last Find term in the current document.
Find Previous | Shift Ctrl G | Selects the previous instance of the last Find term in the current document.
Replace... | Ctrl H | Opens a window or dialog allowing the user to search for specific content in the current document, and replace each occurrence with new content.

#### Inserting Special Objects

Where applicable, provide items on the Edit menu that insert special objects such as images, links, GUI controls or the current date and time.

If you have up to three types of object that can be inserted, add them as individual items to this menu, for example Insert Image, or Insert External Link. If you have between three and six types, place them on an Edit Insert submenu. If you have more than six, add a separate Insert menu to the menubar.

#### User Preferences

##### User Preferences menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Preferences | None | Opens a preferences window allowing the user to change preferences for the whole application. Changes will apply to all running and subsequent instances of the application.

### View

The View menu contains only items that affect the user's view of the current document. Do not place any items on the View menu that affect the the content of the current document. (Exception: View Reload may change the current contents if, for example, the document is a webpage that has been recently updated on the server).

#### A generic View menu

    View
    Toolbar
    Statusbar
    ---
    Icons
    List
    Details
    ---
    Sort By...
    Filter...
    ---
    Zoom in       Ctrl++
    Zoom Out  Ctrl+-
    Normal Size   Ctrl+=
    Best Fit
    ---
    Refresh     Ctrl+R

#### Toolbar and Statusbar

##### Toolbar and Statusbar menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Toolbar | None | Shows or hides the application's toolbar. This is a check box menu item. Include this item in every application that has a single toolbar. See for information on how to deal with multiple toolbars.

#### Content Presentation

##### Content Presentation menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Icons | None | Shows the contents of the selected container as rows and columns of large icons, each with its name underneath. This is a radio button menu item.
List | None | Shows the contents of the selected container as a list of small icons, possibly in multiple columns, each with its name on its right-hand side. This is a radio button menu item.

Details

None

Shows the contents of the selected container as single column of small icons, each with its name on its right-hand side. Additional columns give extra information about the object each icon represents, for example the size and modification date of files in a file manager. This is a radio button menu item.

If your application has no need for both List and Details modes, use the List item for whichever of the two modes you support.

Sort By... | None | Sorts the contents of an container by user-specified criteria. Open a dialog allowing the user to choose from pre-defined sort keys (for example, Name, Size, or Modification Date in a file manager), or to specify their own if applicable.
Filter... | None | Hides objects that are not of interest to the user. Open a dialog allowing the user to choose from a list of types of object they want to display, or to enter their own criteria (for example, a regular expression matched against a particular property of the objects).
Zoom In | Ctrl+ | Zooms into the document. Make the center of the new view the same as the center of the previous view.
Zoom Out | Ctrl- | Zooms out of the document. Make the center of the new view the same as the center of the previous view.
Normal Size | Ctrl 0 | Resets the zoom level back to the default value, normally 100%. Make the center of the new view the same as the center of the previous view.
Best Fit | None | Makes the document fill the window. Show the document, or the current page of the document, at as high a zoom level as will fit in the window whilst allowing the whole document or page to be visible without scrolling.
Refresh | Ctrl R | Redraws the current view of the document from local storage. For example, in a web browser application, this would redraw the page from the browser page cache.
Reload | Ctrl R | Redraws the current view of the document, checking the data source for changes first. For example, checks the web server for updates to the page before redrawing it. If your application requires both Reload and Refresh, use Shift Ctrl R as the shortcut for Reload.

### Insert

The Insert menu lists the type of special objects that can be inserted into the document at the current caret position, for example images, links, page breaks or GUI objects. Only provide this menu if you have more than about six types of object that can be inserted, otherwise place individual items for each type on the Edit menu.

#### A generic Insert menu

    Page Break
    Date and Time...
    Symbol...
    ---
    Sheet...
    Rows...
    Columns...
    ---
    Image...
    Graph...
    ---
    From File...
    External Link...

The types of object will vary between applications, but the table below shows some common types that may be applicable.

#### Insert menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Page Break | None | Inserts a page break at the caret position. Show the page break visually, for example as a dotted line across the page, unless the user has specifically requested not to see them.
Date and Time... | None | Inserts the current date and/or time at the caret position. Open a dialog giving a choice of date and time formats. If applicable, also offer the choice to insert either as plain text, so the specified date and time will always appear in the document, or as a special field that will updated every time the document is opened, refreshed or printed.
Symbol... | None | Inserts a special symbol, such as a mathematical symbol or foreign character, at the caret position. Open a dialog showing all the available symbols as a table, from which the user can choose. The user must be able to add multiple symbols to the document at one time without having to close and re-open the dialog.
Sheet... | None | Adds a new sheet to the current workbook. Do not prompt for a name, but choose a sensible default (such as Sheet-2) and allow the user to change it later.
Rows... | None | Adds new rows to a table in which one or more rows or cells are currently selected. Open a dialog asking whether to insert rows above or below the current selection, and for any other required information. Copy the row format from the last or first row of the current selection respectively, unless the user specifies otherwise.
Columns... | None | Adds new columns to a table in which one or more columns or cells are currently selected. Open a dialog asking whether to insert columns to the left or right of the current selection, and for any other required information. Copy the column format from the right- or left-most column of the current selection respectively, unless the user specifies otherwise.
Image... | None | Inserts an image into the document from a file. Present a standard Open File dialog filtered on acceptable file types, from which the user can choose an image file to insert.
Graph... | None | Inserts a graph into the document. Open a dialog or assistant that allows the user to build (or open from a file) a graph of their choice, using the current selection as an indication of which values, axis labels and data labels to use.
From FIle... | None | Inserts an object from any acceptable file type, for example plain text, formatted text, or an image. Present a standard Open File dialog filtered on acceptable file types, from which the user can choose a file to insert.

External Link...

None

Inserts a link to an object stored in a different file, or on a remote system. The object is not embedded in or saved with the document, only a link to it. Open a dialog in which the user can type or choose the name of the object, for example a filename or a webpage URL. Show the link in the document in as informative way as possible. For example, show a link to an image as a thumbnail of that image, unless the user specifies otherwise.

### Format

A Format menu contains commands to change the visual appearance of the document. For example, changing the font, color, or line spacing of a text selection.

The difference between these commands and those on the View menu is that changes made with Format commands are persistent and saved as part of the document, for example as HTML or RTF tags.

#### A generic Format menu

    Style...
    ---
    Font...
    Paragraph...
    ---
    Bold	Ctrl+B
    Italic	Ctrl+I
    Underline	Ctrl+U
    ---
    Cells...
    List...
    ---
    Layer...
    Page...

Items found on the Format will be very application-specific, but some common items are listed in the table below.

#### Format menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Style... | None | Sets the style attributes of the selected text or objects either individually or to a named, predefined style. Open a dialog allowing the user to set attributes such as bold, italic, size and spacing individually, and to create their own named styles where applicable.
Font... | None | Sets the font properties of the selected text or objects. Open a dialog allowing the user to choose font, size, style, color, or whatever other attributes are applicable.
Paragraph... | None | Sets the properties of the selected paragraph. Open a dialog allowing the user to choose style, line spacing, tabulation, or whatever other attributes are applicable.
Bold | Ctrl B | Toggles the boldness of the current text selection on or off. If some of the selection is currently bold and some is not, this command should bolden the selected text.
Italic | Ctrl I | Toggles the italicisation of the current text selection on or off. If some of the selection is currently italicised and some is not, this command should italicise the selected text.
Underline | Ctrl U | Toggles underlining of the current text selection. If some of the selection is currently underlined and some is not, this command should underline the selected text.
Cells... | None | Sets the properties of the selected table cells. Open a dialog allowing the user to choose alignment, borders, shading, text style, number format, or whatever other attributes are applicable.
List... | None | Sets the properties of the selected list, or turns the selected paragraphs into a list if they are not already formatted as such. Open a dialog allowing the user to choose number or bullet style, spacing, tabulation, or whatever other attributes are applicable.
Layer... | None | Sets the properties of all or selected layers of a multi-layered document. Open a dialog allowing the user to choose name, size, visibility, opacity, z-ordering, or whatever other attributes are applicable.
Page... | None | Sets the properties of all or selected pages of the document. Open a dialog allowing the user to choose paper size, orientation, columns, margins, or whatever other attributes are applicable.

### Bookmarks

Provide a Bookmarks menu in any application that allows the user to browse files and folders, help documents, web pages or any other large information space.

#### Icons

Show icons for bookmark entries on the Bookmarks menu that indicate the type of the bookmark, even if the user has globally turned off icons for other menu items on the desktop.

#### A generic Bookmarks menu

    Bookmarks
    Add Bookmark   CtrlD
    Edit Bookmarks CtrlB

#### Bookmark menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Add Bookmark | Ctrl D | Adds a bookmark for the current document to the default bookmark list. Do not pop up a dialog asking for a title or location for the bookmark, instead choose sensible defaults (such as the document's title or filename as the bookmark name) and allow the user to change them later using the Edit Bookmarks feature.
Edit Bookmarks | Ctrl B | Allows the user to edit the application's bookmark list. Open a window in which the user can arrange bookmarks into a hierarchy, move, copy, and delete bookmarks, and change their properties.
Bookmark List | None | The user's current list of bookmarks for the application.

### Go

A Go menu provides commands for quickly navigating around a document or collection of documents, or an information space such as a directory structure or the web.

The contents of the menu will vary depending on the type of application. Different standard menus are presented here for browser-based and document-based applications , but your application may require a combination of both.

#### A generic Go menu for a browser application

    Go
    Back       Alt+Left
    Forward	Alt+Right
    Up		Alt+Up
    ---
    Home	Alt+Home
    Location...  Ctrl+L

#### Go menu items for a browser application

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Back | Alt Left | Navigates to the previous document in the browser's history list.
Forward | Alt Right | Navigates to the next document in the browser's history list.
Up | Alt Up | Navigates to the current document's (or folder's) parent document (or folder). For a document browser, such as an online help viewer, this usually means navigating to the enclosing sub-section, section, chapter or contents page.
Home | Alt Home | Navigates to a starting page defined by the user or the application.
Location... | Ctrl L | Navigates to a user-specified URI. Open a dialog into which the user can type a suitable URI, or select one from a list where applicable (for example, a file selection dialog for applications that can handle file:// URIs).

#### A generic Go menu for document-based applications

    Go
    Previous Page 	PgUp
    Next Page      		PgDn
    Go to Page...
    -
    First Page    		Ctrl+Home
    Last Page		Ctrl+End

#### Go menu items for a document-based application

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Previous Page | PageUp | Navigates to the previous page in the document.
Next Page | PageDown | Navigates to the next page in the document.
Go to Page... | None | Navigates to a user-specified page number. Open a dialog into which the user can type a page number. Text-based applications may also include a Go to Line... menu item, which allows the user to jump to a specified line number.
First Page | Ctrl Home | Navigates to the first page in the document.
Last Page | Ctrl End | Navigates to the last page in the document.

### Windows

The Windows menu contains commands that apply to all of the application's open windows. Only use a Windows menu in multiple document interface (MDI) applications.

#### MDI Applications

The use of MDI is discouraged, as they have a number of inherent usability problems.

You may also label this menu Documents, Buffers, or similar according to the type of document handled by your application.

The last items on this menu are a numbered list of the application's primary windows, for example 1shoppinglist.abw. Selecting one of these items raises the corresponding window.

#### A generic Windows menu

    Windows
    Save All
    Close All

#### Windows menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Save All | None | Saves all open documents. If any documents have no current filename, prompt for a filename for each one in turn using the standard Save dialog.
Close All | None | Closes all open documents. If there are any unsaved changes in any documents, post a confirmation alert for each one in turn.
1. first open window title 2. second open window title etc. | None | Raises the corresponding window to the top of the window stack.

### Help

The Help menu provides access to all online documentation for your application. This includes both the user guide, and the About window which includes a brief description of your application's functionality.

#### A generic Help menu

    Help

    Contents      F1
    About

#### Help menu items

Label | Shortcut | Description
--- | --- | ---
Contents | F1 | Opens the default help browser on the contents page for the application.
About | None | Opens the About dialog for the application. Use the standard dialog provided by the GNOME libraries, which contains the name and version number of the application, a short description of the application's functionality, author contact details, copyright message and a pointer to the licence under which the application is made available.