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Pop-up menus

A pop-up menu provides users with a quick way to access the most common actions for a highlighted item. You can also use a pop-up menu if a highlighted item has multiple actions associated with it or if a highlighted item does not have any primary actions associated with it. You can create a pop-up menu that contains nine actions, six actions, or three actions.

Action

BlackBerry devices with a trackpad only

BlackBerry devices with a touch screen and a trackpad

Open a pop-up menu.
  • Click the trackpad.
  • If a primary action has already been assigned to an item (for example, open a message), users can click and hold the trackpad to open a pop-up menu.
  • Tap the item.
  • Click the trackpad.
  • If a primary action has already been assigned to an item (for example, open a message), users can click and hold the trackpad or touch and hold a finger on the touch screen to open a pop-up menu.

Choose an item from a pop-up menu.
  • Click the trackpad.
  • Press the Enter key.
  • Tap the item.
  • Click the trackpad.
  • Press the Enter key.

Close a pop-up menu.

Press the Escape key.
  • Tap outside the pop-up menu.
  • Press the Escape key.
  • Open or close the slider.
This screen shows a pop-up menu.

Pop-up menus replace context menus, or short menus. Any existing context menus are automatically converted into pop-up menus.

Best practice: Implementing pop-up menus

  • Use pop-up menus instead of context menus (short menus). Make sure that the pop-up menu provides value to users.
  • Set the menu item that users are most likely to choose as the default menu item. The default item in the pop-up menu should be the same as the default item in the full menu.
  • Only include the most common actions for a highlighted item in a pop-up menu.
  • Include an icon and a label for each item in the pop-up menu. Create icons with an average size of 33-by-33 pixels. These icons appear on a 60-by-40 pixel canvas and should have some negative space.

Guidelines for placing items in pop-up menus

  • Place the default menu item in the center of the pop-up menu.
  • Order the rest of the items from most common to least common according to the numbered positions below. Try to leverage users' muscle memory by making the order of actions consistent with the order of actions in other BlackBerry® device applications.
    This screen shows the different sizes of pop-up menus and the order of items in each menu.
  • If the positions are filled dynamically, do not display menu items that are unavailable. Allow the available menu items to shift position.
  • If there are not enough actions to fill the menu, use a smaller menu. If one or two positions need to be filled, include useful actions such as Copy or Search. If you do not fill a position, "Switch Application" or "Home" appears.
Next topic: About placing items in the pop-up menus
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