Thursday 26th October 2006
Up. Down.
In Thunderbird, sorting by date with the newest emails at the top means the little arrow on the column header points up. But in Outlook, sorting by date with the newest emails at the top means the little arrow points down.
This vexes me. I never know whether I want the arrow to point up, or down, since I can’t remember which application does which. I always want the newest at the top (apart from when I’m sorting by name or something else for a minute, but then I want it back to normal), but the arrow is completely useless as an indicator, since there’s not enough info to tell which way is which. Anyone have any better suggestions for visual feedback?
I would say Outlook has it right. Normally the largest thing goes at the thick end of the arrow, so the “largest” date goes at the top if the arrow points down. This then agrees with how Windows Explorer sorts files by date. Have the thunderbird developers got it wrong? Or maybe the developer who did that bit was based in Australia?
Comment by Gary — 26/10/2006 @ 9:46 pm
Ahhh, but is the icon representing ‘big things at the top’ or is it pointing upwards to show mail gets new as you go up. Some people claim the arrow interpretation is a bit more Unix-ey but a short survey of applications (Nautilus, amaroK, evolution) would appear to disagree as all behave in the same way as outlook
There are several bugs raised on this, (at least one since 2003) so it isn’t going to change
Personally I find both quite confusing but I can’t think of a better way to representing. I just hit the button until I get it right.
Comment by Steve — 26/10/2006 @ 11:03 pm
Gary, you are talking in scribbles. Is A or Z the “largest” letter?
Perhaps “descending” date order should point down through the midsts of time. But then again, your descendants come later, and ancestors come before, so that complicates things further…
Comment by Andy — 27/10/2006 @ 12:38 pm
‘1′ is a small number and it comes first, so ‘A’ must be a small letter as it comes first. Therefore ‘Z’ is a large letter. All makes perfect sense to me!
Who cares what the original “plan” for the arrow icon was… just find a way of remembering it and stick with that (but make a mental exception for programs that get it wrong).
Incidentally… which variable is biggest in the following statement - (A > B)? oooh look, it’s exactly the same logic.
Comment by Gary — 27/10/2006 @ 3:40 pm
I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the arrow (though tis a while since I last
outlook-ed). I look at the email dates. Controversial? :-p
Comment by Nia — 29/10/2006 @ 9:18 pm
Now I come to think about it, the thought process goes along the lines of, can I see what I want? no? oh, lets try sorting it. Is that right? no? press the button again. repeat until I work it out….
Some might call this the “goldfish” approach, but what is life like without new discoveries every day?
Comment by Eddie — 30/10/2006 @ 10:47 am
Nia, and to a certain extent Ed, you are both heretics! Looking at the important bits to see if they are right? Pah - the mini, non-anti-aliased, uninformative, barely discernible arrow is king!
Comment by Andy — 30/10/2006 @ 11:14 am
[…] So, for reasons that aren’t important, I was… hang on, if it’s not important, I can still explain it here, especially given the warm reception to the most boring thing I’ve posted in ages… […]
Pingback by Shine » Oh, the ironing :: GravityStorm — 7/11/2006 @ 12:09 am