Bug report #9604

Attribute table: the icons for "Unselect all" and "Delete selected features" are too similar

Added by Filipe Dias about 10 years ago. Updated over 9 years ago.

Status:Closed
Priority:Normal
Assignee:-
Category:GUI
Affected QGIS version:master Regression?:No
Operating System: Easy fix?:No
Pull Request or Patch supplied:No Resolution:
Crashes QGIS or corrupts data:No Copied to github as #:18182

Description

Every time I open the attributes table I end up mixing these two buttons, because the icons are tool similar. It would be nice to change one of them.

delete_and_unselect.png (2.08 KB) Anita Graser, 2014-02-23 12:25 PM

edit_toolbar.png (7.81 KB) Anita Graser, 2014-02-23 12:31 PM

delete_and_unselect1.png (2.77 KB) Robert Szczepanek, 2014-02-24 12:21 PM

edit_toolbar1.png (8.13 KB) Robert Szczepanek, 2014-02-24 12:21 PM

DeleteSelectiongMookup-01.png (2.49 KB) Alexandre Neto, 2014-02-25 02:04 AM

DeleteSelectedFeature.jpg (22.7 KB) Alexandre Neto, 2014-02-25 02:04 AM

QGIS_select_and_unselect_icons.png (16.8 KB) Tobias Schneider, 2014-02-28 04:04 AM

QGIS_UI_redesign_suggested_groupings.png (1.23 MB) Tobias Schneider, 2014-02-28 01:13 PM

delete_and_unselect2.png (2.69 KB) Anita Graser, 2014-03-01 04:57 PM

unselect.png (1.26 KB) Robert Szczepanek, 2014-07-10 03:16 PM

selected-delete.png (966 Bytes) Robert Szczepanek, 2014-07-10 03:16 PM

some_selections_buttons_arcgis10.png (59.9 KB) Jan Lippmann, 2014-07-11 12:55 AM

polygon-selected-delete.png (1.32 KB) Robert Szczepanek, 2014-07-11 11:55 AM

delete.svg (1.44 KB) Nathan Woodrow, 2014-11-15 05:05 PM

remove.svg (425 Bytes) Nathan Woodrow, 2014-11-15 05:05 PM

remove.png (1.78 KB) Anita Graser, 2014-11-16 01:53 AM

trash.png (2.27 KB) Anita Graser, 2014-11-16 01:53 AM

delete.png (1.97 KB) Anita Graser, 2014-11-16 01:53 AM

Related issues

Duplicated by QGIS Application - Feature request #11555: attribute table toolbar - delete selected rows icon and r... Closed 2014-11-04

Associated revisions

Revision 222978ee
Added by Nathan Woodrow over 9 years ago

Fix #9604 - New icon for delete selected features

History

#1 Updated by Matthias Kuhn about 10 years ago

How about changing the color red on the unselect icon to something else (yellow?), so the color red is reserved for potentially dangerous operations such as deleting?

#2 Updated by Filipe Dias about 10 years ago

I agree

#3 Updated by Anita Graser about 10 years ago

For reference: the leftmost icon is "delete selected features" while the rightmost icon is "unselect all". There's barely any difference:

#4 Updated by Anita Graser about 10 years ago

The delete selected icon is also used in the editing toolbar. In my opinion, the delete selected icon is inconsistent here. I think it should display the same green polygon as featured in the other toolbar icons instead of the yellow rectangle.

#5 Updated by Robert Szczepanek about 10 years ago

We probably should simplify and more rely on the context. For delete (any object, selection) I would use just red X.
Unselect is more difficult. This operation applies always to selected, so we can skip 'yellow selection' and just put the action part. First I wanted to make it gray, but then we end up with usability issue - is this icon active? Yellow is related to selection, so it should work.

And in edit toolbar we put just 'delete' (meaning - delete selected). It will not depended on vector type (polygon/line/point).

Please don't look at the quality of images.

#6 Updated by Etienne Tourigny about 10 years ago

+1 for both

#7 Updated by Alexandre Neto about 10 years ago

I would propose changes to both icons as well to improve the differences but try keep the logic to other icons.

For unselection, using a dotted rectangle around selection would emphasize the fact that we are talking about selections.

Using a yellow polygon, would reflect the fact that only selected features are deleted, and will differenciate from delete part.

#8 Updated by Tobias Schneider about 10 years ago

I attached a picture of a suggestion.

I don't think rubber-band selection needs the mouse cursor in the icon. Most programs don't have that in my opinion.

#9 Updated by Tobias Schneider about 10 years ago

<--moved to new ticket-->

#10 Updated by Anita Graser about 10 years ago

Thanks for your input @Tobias! Since you are raising a new issue in your second post, it would be good to open a new ticket. Otherwise this thread will probably get too confusing if we start to discuss multiple issues at once. So please open a new ticket to discuss grouping.

#11 Updated by Anita Graser about 10 years ago

Using Alexandre Neto's suggestion for delete selected adds both consistency in the editing toolbar and a visible difference in the attribute table GUI:

Robert, would that be ok for you? Could you create the icon?

#12 Updated by Filipe Dias about 10 years ago

Hi Anita,
I suggest changing the color of "delete selected features" from yellow to blue or green (or another tone of yellow). I understand it is important to have a consistent set of icons but it would be easier to distinguish them with a quick glance.

#13 Updated by Anita Graser about 10 years ago

I'm also fine with a green polygon in "delete selected features".

#14 Updated by Alexandre Neto about 10 years ago

In fact, using the green color is more in line with what's used in the digitizing toolbars (new feature, move feature, rotate feature and delete part). Don't know if those icons are not too similar to distinguish with a quick glance. The difference will lay almost only on the small icon in the right corner. And that might become a new problem.

#15 Updated by Robert Szczepanek almost 10 years ago

Proposal is here:
http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/changeset/11569

Main issue with those two icons was that they are too similar. So the less similar - the better. As deselect is used not only here, it should be somehow universal and simple (like for 16x16px icons in tables).

Delete selected is modified according Alexandre Neto suggestion.

#16 Updated by Filipe Dias almost 10 years ago

  • Affected QGIS version changed from 2.0.1 to 2.4.0

Looks good to me.

#17 Updated by Jan Lippmann almost 10 years ago

hello,

another idea would be, if one is oriented to arcgis. i've added a screenshot with some selectiontools.
i think its important to think about the color. in arcgis the default selectioncolor is: 0 255 255 (RGB). this color is very good for selections because the color is not used often for symbolization and the selection of very small features are very good visible in the map, compared to other colors. so this selection color could also be the color for every selectiontoolbuttons in qgis. additional the look and feel, if i switch between qgis and arcgis, is better.

what do you think?

jan

#18 Updated by Anita Graser almost 10 years ago

@Robert +1 from me. It's good to have two very different icons for these two actions. Also, since it's kept in yellow, the connection the selection concept should be quite straightforward. Thanks!

#19 Updated by Nathan Woodrow almost 10 years ago

Unselect is fine but in think it needs the cursor in there to link it to select. Still not a fan of the delete though

#20 Updated by Nyall Dawson almost 10 years ago

I agree with Nathan about the unselect icon. I also think the "delete" symbol in the delete icon should be much more prominent - at the moment it still looks more like a selection tool than a delete tool. Making the red delete box larger and using a polygon shape in the background (like Anita's mockup in #11) would probably fix this.

#21 Updated by Jan Lippmann almost 10 years ago

@anita,

what do you think about the color (RGB:0 255 255) for selectionbuttons?
influences are not desirable from arcgis?

#22 Updated by Tobias Schneider almost 10 years ago

I would prefer a recycling bin over a red x. Especially on mobile devices the recycling bin seems to be the design paradigm for deleting something.

#23 Updated by Nathan Woodrow almost 10 years ago

Jan Lippmann wrote:

@anita,

what do you think about the color (RGB:0 255 255) for selectionbuttons?
influences are not desirable from arcgis?

I prefer the yellow as we have now. That is already an established colour so no need to change that aspect. The select area when using the tool in the master now also matches the colour of the buttons too.

#24 Updated by Anita Graser almost 10 years ago

@Jan: The idea of the Arcgis icons is not bad but it would require changes to all the other select icons we are currently using. I'd like to keep work load low.

@Tobias: Do you know of a recycling bin icon which would work in the tiny space that we have available? I think "x" is quite well established for deletion.

@Nyall: +1 for having a polygon in the background of the Delete selected tool. <== @Robert would that be ok for you?

#25 Updated by Tobias Schneider almost 10 years ago

@Anita: With the current icons, the small inlet is really too small to fit a recycle-bin. I tried around a little bit but the readability is impossible.

Of course, if the interface looses a few icons, we could also make 30x30px (for a standard pixel density screen) icons which would be a boost to readability.

#26 Updated by Robert Szczepanek almost 10 years ago

Here is yellow version "delete selected polygon"

http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/changeset/11570

Time just after release is perfect for such survey and testing,
so let's try it ...

#27 Updated by Anita Graser over 9 years ago

  • Affected QGIS version changed from 2.4.0 to master

Please go ahead an replace the icon with Robert's new one #9604-26

#28 Updated by Nathan Woodrow over 9 years ago

IMO the red bin is still better then anything with a more complex symbol. The proposed on still feels like a unselect to me and isn't much of a change. A bin is a standard delete icon in a lot of applications and is most platforms.

#29 Updated by Anita Graser over 9 years ago

I see. So only a bin, no composite symbol ... Could work both in the attribute table and in the editing toolbar.

Do we already have a red bin icon anywhere which we could reuse here or do we need to make one?

Maybe similar to https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/175162/full_trash_icon#size=32

#30 Updated by Nathan Woodrow over 9 years ago

I have one I can attach. I will find it.

#31 Updated by Nathan Woodrow over 9 years ago

Here is two. They are both svgs so we can change the colour if needed.

#32 Updated by Anita Graser over 9 years ago

with remove.svg

with delete.svg

with the trash can from iconfinder

I have a slight preference for remove since it seems to be the simplest icon which works well for small buttons.

#33 Updated by Filipe Dias over 9 years ago

Me too, the "remove" icon is easier to tell apart

#34 Updated by Nathan Woodrow over 9 years ago

  • Status changed from Open to Closed

#35 Updated by Nathan Woodrow over 9 years ago

I have gone with a slightly different icon to the ones I posted although it's pretty much the same. The remove icon was really too much red and was a bit harsh around all the others on the row.

This is what is there now:

size 16

size 24

I think this one scales nicely and stands out better on the edit toolbar and the attribute table.

#36 Updated by Anita Graser over 9 years ago

Thanks Nathan!

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