When should I use a ellipsis in a Menu Item

Question

When should I put ... at the end of a menu item? I seem to remember reading some rules but can\'t for the life of me find them.

For context - I\'m adding a properti

Answer 1

One exception to the first two answers: if the whole point of the menu command is to open a window or dialog, then you don't need an ellipsis. For example, a "Get Info" or "Properties" command shouldn't have it, even though it's opening a window which lets you edit things.

It's only when the menu command's purpose is to do something else, but it needs a dialog or confirmation in order to do it.

Answer 2

It generally means that a Dialog will be shown when the item is clicked.

Answer 3

You should add ellipses to the end of text only if you're truncating the text (this applies anywhere). You should truncate the text if it's too long to reasonably fit where you're putting it.

Edit: interesting, I never noticed that menus in Windows use the ellipses to indicate truncated text, but also use the ellipses on short text to indicate that more information will be collected before the action is taken. This is inconsistent interface design, but since menus are under the control of individual programmers it's unavoidable.

Answer 4

They usually signify that clicking on that entry will open a dialog window.

Answer 5

It means that there will be another dialog box after you select that option, it won't actually 'do' anything. There will be another prompt.

Answer 6

I've usually seen it in places where more input is required from the user before completing an operation. If your properties dialog is allowing the user to change properties, I would include the ellipses. If it's just displaying the information, don't include it.