- Tooltips
- Anchor links
- Buttons
- Dropdowns
- Counts
- Lists
- Tables
- Blocks
- Panels
- Alerts
- Forms
- Search box
- File holders
- Data formats
Tooltips identify elements or provide additional, useful information about the referring elements. Tooltips are different from ALT-attributes, which are intended primarily for static images. Tooltips are summoned by:
- Hovering over an element with a cursor
- Focusing on an element with a keyboard (usually the tab key)
- Upon touch
A tooltip should be used:
- When there isn’t enough space to show the information
- When it isn’t critical for the user to see the information
- For icons that don’t have a label
Tooltips shouldn’t repeat information that is shown near the referring element. However, they can show the same data in a different format (e.g. date or timestamps).
By default, tooltips should be placed below the referring element. However, if there isn’t enough space in the viewport, the tooltip should be moved to the side as needed.
Anchor links are used for navigational actions and lone, secondary commands (such as 'Reset filters' on the Issues List) when deemed appropriate by the UX team.
Primary links are blue in their rest state. Secondary links (such as the time stamp on comments) are a neutral gray color in rest. Details on the main GitLab navigation links can be found on the features page.
On hover, an underline should be added and the color should change. Both the primary and secondary link should become the darker blue color on hover.
The focus state should match the hover state.
Buttons communicate the command that will occur when the user clicks on them.
Primary buttons communicate the main call to action. There should only be one call to action in any given experience. Visually, primary buttons are conveyed with a full background fill
Secondary buttons are for alternative commands. They should be conveyed by a button with an stroke, and no background fill.
Text should be in sentence case, where only the first word is capitalized. "Create issue" is correct, not "Create Issue". Buttons should only contain an icon or a text, not both.
TODO: Rationalize this. Ensure that we still believe this.
The default color treatment is the white/grey button. Follow the guidance on the basics page to add meaningful color to a button.
Primary buttons darken the color of their background and border for hover, focus and active states. An inner shadow is added to the active state to denote the button being pressed.
| Values | Info | Success | Warning | Danger |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Background: $color-light Border: $border-color-light |
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Background: $color-normal Border: $border-color-normal |
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Background: $color-dark Border: $border-color-dark |
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Since secondary buttons only have a border on their resting state, their hover and focus states add a background color, which gets darkened on active.
| Values | Success Secondary | Close | Spam |
|---|---|---|---|
Font: $border-color-light Border: $border-color-light |
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Background: $color-light Border: $border-color-light |
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Background: $color-normal Border: $border-color-normal |
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When there are a group of buttons in a dialog or a form, we need to be consistent with the placement.
The dismissive action returns the user to the previous state.
Example: Cancel
Affirmative actions continue to progress towards the user goal that triggered the dialog or form.
Example: Submit, Ok, Delete
Dropdowns are used to allow users to choose one (or many) options from a list of options. If this list of options is more 20, there should generally be a way to search through and filter the options (see the complex filter dropdowns below.)
TODO: Will update this section when the new filters UI is implemented.
The max height for dropdowns should target 10-15 single line items, or 7-10 multi-line items. If the height of the dropdown is too large, the list becomes very hard to parse and it is easy to visually lose track of the item you are looking for. Usability also suffers as more mouse movement is required, and you have a larger area in which you hijack the scroll away from the page level. While it may initially seem counterintuitive to not show as many items as you can, it is actually quicker and easier to process the information when it is cropped at a reasonable height.
A count element is used in navigation contexts where it is helpful to indicate the count, or number of items, in a list. Always use the number_with_delimiter helper to display counts in the UI.
Lists are used where ever there is a single column of information to display. Ths issues list is an example of a important list in the GitLab UI.
Simple list using .content-list
List with avatar, title and description using .content-list
List with hover effect .well-list
List inside panel
When the information is too complex for a list, with multiple columns of information, a table can be used. For example, the pipelines page uses a table.
Blocks are a way to group related information.
Content blocks (.content-block) are the basic grouping of content. They are commonly used in lists, and are separated by a botton border.
A background color can be added to this blocks. For example, items in the issue list have a green background if they were created recently. Below is an example of a gray content block with side padding using .row-content-block.
Cover blocks are generally used to create a heading element for a page, such as a new project, or a user profile page. Below is a cover block (.cover-block) for the profile page with an avatar, name and description.
TODO: Catalog how we are currently using panels and rationalize how they relate to alerts
TODO: Catalog how we are currently using alerts
There are two options shown below regarding the positioning of labels in forms. Both are options to consider based on context and available size. However, it is important to have a consistent treatment of labels in the same form.
Form (form) with label rendered above input.
Horizontal form (form.horizontal-form) with label rendered inline with input.
Search boxes across GitLab have a consistent rest, active and text entered state. When text isn't entered in the box, there should be a magnifying glass right aligned with the input field. When text is entered, the magnifying glass should become a x, allowing users to clear their text.
If needed, we indicate the scope of the search in the search box.
A file holder (.file-holder) is used to show the contents of a file inline on a page of GitLab.
Format for exacts dates should be ‘Mon DD, YYYY’, such as the examples below.
This format relates how long since an action has occurred. The exact date can be shown as a tooltip on hover.
Referencing GitLab items depends on a symbol for each type of item. Typing that symbol will invoke a dropdown that allows you to search for and autocomplete the item you were looking for. References are shown as links in context, and hovering on them shows the full title or name of the item.
TODO: Open issue: Some commit references use monospace fonts, but others don't. Need to standardize this.