Using the Status Notification Area

Using the status notification area applications can notify the user of non-critical events (for example, arrival of new email, or a chat 'buddy' having logged on), and expose the status of active system processes (for example, a printing document, or a laptop's battery charging).

Following the guidelines in this section will help to clarify the difference in the user's mind between information presented in the notification area, and controls and information presented on other parts of the panel.

The utility of the notification area decreases rapidly when more than about four icons are always present. For this reason, icons that appear only temporarily in response to events are preferable.

2.4.1. Notification Area or Panel Applet?

You should probably write an applet instead of using the notification area if:

  • clicking your notification area icon does anything other than opening a window directly associated with the icon (e.g. a mail folder window for a new mail icon, or a print queue window for printer notification icon), or
  • there are icon-specific options on its context menu for doing anything other than that
  • your application would ever need to display more than one notification icon at the same time

2.4.2. Icon Appearance

Guidelines
  • Use table perspective for icons representing physical devices, with the light source above and to the left of the represented object. For example, a printer icon during printing. See Section 9.1.1 ― Perspective for more about table perspective.
  • Use shelf perspective, with overhead lighting, for all other icons. For example, an envelope shown when new mail arrives. See Section 9.1.1 ― Perspective for more about shelf perspective.
  • For monitors or progress bars that change over time, such as a battery charge monitor, clearly delimit the border of the area.
Guidelines
  • Only core GNOME programs may perpetually display an icon in the status area.
  • Non-core programs for which a perpetual icon may be useful must default to not perpetually showing the icon. Users may select to enable a perpetual icon for the application as a preference.

2.4.3. Animation

Guidelines
  • Icons should not usually appear animated. They may change to indicate a change of state, but should not do so when that change is occurs regularly rapidly. A battery status indicator would usually change slowly, therefore an icon is appropriate. By contrast, a load meter would always be changing, therefore it should use a flat image.
  • Any icon may blink to indicate an error in deference to showing an alert. For example, a printing-in-progress icon may blink when there is a paper jam, but not when the printer is on fire - that should show an alert.
  • Do not rely on blinking or animation as a means of alerting the user to any particular event.

2.4.4. Interaction

Icons should respond to the these user actions. (Keypresses apply only when the icon has focus, of course)

Guidelines
  • Double-click or Space key should perform the icon's default action. Normally this should open a window with relevant data, for example:
    • the printer queue for a printing-in-progress icon.
    • the inbox for an incoming email iconi
    • the message for an incoming message
  • Right-click or Shift+F10 should present a menu for the icon containing at least the icon's default action.
  • If the icon's properties may be altered, it should have a menu item Properties in its menu, nd show its property panel in response to Alt+Enter.
  • Icons should obey normal tooltip conventions.
Mapping Document Types to Applications Windows

About