Recently I was drawn into one of those UI \u201creligious\u201d disputes that has no easy answers and usually both sides are right. One of our web developers was trying out new web tech (with pretty rich widget library) and started to question himself about some basic usability decisions. The low level problem in this case is usually brought to \u201cwhich widget should I use ?\u201d. I\u2019m not fond of bringing the usability problems to questions: Should I use Tabs over Menu ? Or should I use Context menu instead of buttons panel ? But sometimes if time is crucial factor and other usability levels are by default not addressed at all \u2013 better developer that asks those basic questions than developer that do not question himself at all. One of often \u201cproblematic\u201d choice that is bring up by web developers is should user launch actions on selected objects (one of many or some of many) by \u201cContext menu\u201d or \u201cAction buttons\u201d. Basic example is shown below and it is usually a table or list of components that has some defined actions (i.e. on table where rows are single orders change status of selected order would be on of possible actions). Of course there are many other solutions that can be implemented (some actions can be handled directly in table row or cell) but narrowing choice to those two was subject of mentioned discussion. During those hot and fast discussions I wasn\u2019t able to point out pros and cons of both solution that\u2019s why I decided to grab them all in this one short post. I hope it will be helpful for same lone developers that thirstily look for best practise or choice while the answer is usually much contextual\u2026<\/p>\n
![\"example_view_1\"](\"http:\/\/touk.pl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/example_view_1.png\")
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