Explorer/Locator Guideline

Notice: In the meantime, the Explorer Tree Guideline has been created and accepted as guideline for ILIAS 5.0. Therefore, all explorer related topics have to be discussed and decided on that page while this page is now focused on the locator only!

1 Requirements

Alex, 11 Jan 2013: There are several screens in ILIAS where users navigate through a hierarchical structure. We need a guideline that explains, when and how to use an explorer tree, how to use (extend) the "global" locator bar and if and how "local" locator bars should be used. I add some screenshots that illustrate the current inconsistent use of these elements. Related is the discussion whether some user interface element should provide a separate link to the parent of the current node, see e.g. bug #10146 and #10541.

Screenshots ILIAS 4.3

2 Guideline

2.1 How to use or extend the "global" locator bar

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2.2 If and how "local" locator bars should be used

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3 Status

• Effective from release: { not approved yet | x.y }
• Approved by Jour Fixe at: { link to Jour Fixe agenda }
  
• Implementation status: { implemented completely | partly implemented | needs implementation }
• Funding for streamlining existing features: { name of organisation }
• Implementation of guideline: { all developers | name of responsible developer }

4 Components that are not compliant with the Guideline

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5 Discussion

JF 18 Feb 2013: We would like to make the main locator consistent for all objects. The locator should start with the root node and end with the current repository object. This means, the learning module locator should be changed accordingly (glossaries, too). For learning modules the table of contents should be sufficient for the user to see the current "local" position.

Matthias Kunkel, 03 March 2013: Sometimes the locator of an object starts with the object itself (like in ILIAS LM), sometimes not (like in Forum, Bookmark, ...). This should be streamlined, too. I recommend always to start with the object itself and let the tree come out of the object (as implemented for ILIAS LM). This is much better to understand than a tree that comes out of nowhere (like in the forum or in some other objects).