Quote:
Originally Posted by v16
TBH, I hardly can imagine how can it be more convenient to scroll through a tiny ajax, and counterintuitive to just see full-height ajax. Maybe it's just me - but, if not, is editing css overrides really more in line with the interface guidelines than having a control switch?
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The problem lies in creating a custom interface for existing functionality. Users expect a scrollbar will show content that overflows a block. Users will not expect a + graphic or other such representation to feature the same (or similar, or even a subset thereof) functionality, particularly when a scrollbar is also present.
This is true amongst users of all skill levels and proficiencies. I've designed several user interfaces, numerous websites, et all and yet I had absolutely no idea what effect the paired vertical double up and down arrows at the top right of the "Reply to Topic" message area had, much less expect that they would resize existing elements.
This is a significant violation of the principle of least surprise.
The reason the scrollbar appears is due to an explicit statement of the height of the element. I believe the better request here is
not for the addition of an "expand" element/graphic/mechanism/whatnot, but rather for the mere removal of the explicit height. That way, there will be no overflow as the containing block will be sized to fit all content, and you won't have to use a scrollbar...
Granted there are a few anime with numerous recommendations that do benefit from a scrollbar. Guess a reasonable comprimise would be to make the max-height property a bit larger.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Much of the ongoing discussion seems related to
Fitts' Law. Personally I think a clean, consistent, and user-friendly interface is far preferable than minimizing the mean distance that you have to move the mouse to access the desired link.
