RNS:: Hi-Launcher forum thread

	The Menu does not fit on the landscape screen
	Radoslaw Nowak (RNS::) wrote: January 15th, 2010 If you're having this problem, then most probably your Menu could be improved greatly. The following improvements result in a Menu that does fit on all screen sizes: Create more submenus with less items instead of one long submenu. Why is it better? Scrolling one long Menu requires one tap. Opening a submenu - one tap as well. However, scrolling the Menu even further requires the total of two taps, while opening a different submenu still requires just one tap. What's more, the more logical categories (submenus) in your Menu, the more efficient it should be. There's been scientific research at one of the universities saying that 5 is the most practical number of items in an abstract group. Hi-Launcher's submenu is a kind of such group. If your submenu contains a list, use the "Reduce lists that do not fit on screen" options in the Display Options > Lists screen. This behavior is similar to the original Start Menu's when displayed in the landscape screen mode. Use the iconic (captionless) option to group items whose icons you're familiar with in one row. Bruce wrote: February 2nd, 2010 It would be nice if the app could just display additional columns (like regular Windows XP/etc.)... Also allow scrolling (also like regular Windows XP/etc.) I assume this has been asked already multiple times, so here's more thought for a "value-add" beyond a rerun... Another option would be allowing the user to "preview" the current menu structure (probably need to allow twice for devices supporting both portrait and landscape). Another option is to use the current settings and calculate whether the menu would fit. (Allow a user to specify a "slack" too - my Touch Pro2 requires the bottom 80 or so pixels in either Portrait or Landscape for a status bar.) You know the "spacing", you know how many elements there are, you know the font, it should be possible to calculate. (You'd also have to calculate in the "spacing" screen, to tell the user "that spacing will make one or more menus too big".) So, the first or second idea is easier... Finally, one could flatten or shrink text (and especially spacers) if needed to fit. Again, need to be aware of current device resolution (and orientation) and any "slack". Bruce wrote: February 2nd, 2010 1. The problem with creating more submenus is that it looks bad in Portrait mode. Also, you're thinking I'm only using finger; I use keyboard (cursor arrows and shortcut keys). It's not efficient (takes time to go down each level) and looks poor (on a Portrait screen) when you have several layers deep of menus. 2. No, I actually break my Lists into separate submenus. Oh, I'm not sure I'm familiar with the "original Start Menu" - I immediately upgraded my Touch Pro2 to WM 6.5, which has that HORRIBLE Start functionality - diagonal placement, no real layout control, only three icons wide even in Landscape mode, no way to organize the icons, no Keyboard hotkeys (Microsoft, why can't I type "O" to jump down to an app that begins with "O" like "Opera"?) 3. Sorry, I DESPISE icons, much prefer the text descriptions (<sniff> I miss my Atari 800 command-line!). More serious: My brain does not reliably connected a given icon with its "purpose", whereas I read extremely rapidly, so icons are extremely inefficient for me. In any case, I still stand by the thought - having it wrap to additional columns (I prefer wrap over scroll, BTW) would allow a user to select, and not require the user to break the menu up. Frankly, I love the tool, lots of flexibility, but I would love for it to be better at handling larger blocks (despite your five-research <grin>).

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