Development:Tooltip

Moodle User Interface Guidelines > Tooltip

Problem

You have an item in the user interface, the visual outlook of which does not communicate its function and usage. There is insufficient room in the UI for a more verbose UI element, the function and usage of which would be more clear at a glance.

Forces: factors that affect selection

• Elements that appear only if the user knows where to look for them may never be discovered.

Solution

Moodle uses tooltips extensively. Tooltips can be simple title elements or YUI tooltips can be used for bigger tooltips.

Common mistakes

Tooltips are best used on functional elements that can be clicked, as an aiding device helping the user understand the concequences of the click. They should be avoided on static, nonfunctional elements, and Help Popups should usually be used instead.

Examples and implementation

Moodle has many command icons, which have tooltips to help users understand/remember their usage.

In Moodle 2.0, YUI tooltips are used to display quick previews of Help Popups.

Further information / Sources

TODO