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Confusing reuse of styling between button and tab header
At the top of the page there are sections for the community's Categories, which are displayed as tabs that can be switched between. For example, here on Meta Codidact there are "Q&A", "Site Proposals", and "Blog".
Similarly, on the next line down there are sections for things relevant to the currently selected Category. For example, here in Q&A there are "Posts", "Tags", and "Edits". However, instead of being displayed as tabs these show as buttons. This is inconsistent with the line above, and also somewhat confusing because there is also the "Ask Question" button on the same line. In the following image I have narrowed the window to emphasise the similarity between the "Posts" and "Ask Question" buttons:
The same styling is being used to mean two different things.
- "Posts" has styling which distinguishes it from "Tags" and "Edits", so it is clear that we are on the "Posts" tab
- "Ask Question" has that same styling even though we are not on the "Ask Question" page
The problem is most pronounced on a narrow mobile screen where there is not even a gap between the tab titles and the "Ask Question" button:
Would it be clearer if "Posts", "Tags", and "Edits" were styled in the same way as the line above ("Q&A", "Site Proposals", and "Blog") so that "Ask Question" is clearly a button rather than a tab, and clearly available rather than already selected?
Alternatively, "Ask Question" could be seen as another tab, just like "Posts", "Tags", and "Edits". It could then be styled the same as "Tags" and "Edits" (the inactive tabs) rather than the same as "Posts" (the active tab). It could also possibly be moved left to be part of the "Posts", "Tags", and "Edits" family.
Do people see a potential improvement to be made here? If so, would you prefer to see one of the solutions suggested or something different?
2 answers
You are accessing this answer with a direct link, so it's being shown above all other answers regardless of its score. You can return to the normal view.
Another option is to not use button styling in the bar at all. The "Ask Question" button can become another tab along with "Posts", "Tags", and "Edits":
This is my personal preference as it simplifies the interface without changing how the user interacts with it. All 4 items are now treated as tabs, rather than one of them being treated as a button even though it behaves just like the other tabs when clicked.
I think this fits particularly well with the fact that the "Ask Question" tab saves your progress so you can come back to your draft question later. It really is a tab you can come back to, rather than a button that generates a brand new question each time it is clicked.
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One option is to style the tabs as tabs rather than buttons, similar to the row above which shows the category tabs. The "Ask Question" button can then remain a button:
I prefer this to the current situation with 2 things that both look like buttons, but it still seems needlessly complicated as "Ask Question" is styled differently despite being just another tab in terms of functionality.
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