English is not my natural language, but I still have to write a user's guide for my application in English. If I want to instruct the user to click the "Cancel" button do I say:
Which one is the right one? Maybe none of them? Or are there any other, possible shorter versions?
Click on the Cancel button to close the window.
Click the Cancel button to close the window.
Both sound fine to me
Click the Cancel button to close the window
OR
Click Cancel to close the window
Click on Cancel
or
Click the Cancel button
Either is fine, just be sure to be consistent throughout the documentation.
Click the Cancel button
This makes more sense to me because it reinforces the association of GUI buttons to real-world buttons. Nobody says "Push on the play button" for their music devices.
As a native speaker, "click on the cancel button" sounds a bit fussy.
The "on" doesn't clarify or help. It makes it sound like there's this "click" thing which can be done on a button or off a button. This is true in a narrow technical sense (the mouse click exists independent of the button that's underneath the cursor when you click) but it isn't a helpful distinction.
The "click" is a metaphor for clicking a real, physical button.
I recommend "click the button" to unify the click and button as one action the user is expected to perform.
I'm probably being a bit pedantic, but I think the first one is the best by far. Saying click "on" the button is taking the user outside the interface as you are implying that they could be clicking anything. But since it's already a button, and buttons are made to be clicked, then the "on" isn't needed. However, if you wanted them to click on something like an image (which isn't always clicked), then saying "click on the image" is fine.
"Click on the Cancel button to close the window." or "Click the Cancel button to close the window." are both fine.
However, as a matter of style I usually prefer to start with the desired result "To close the window, click the Cancel button".
Some Google statistics (note that results may vary based on regional settings):
IMO "Click [the] BUTTON_NAME" would be sufficient in most cases.
I would label the button 'Close', if closing the window is its function.
If they are closing a window, 'Close' is all the instruction needed on the screen, and that may make additional comment in the manual unnecessary.
By extension, if they are cancelling a process, labelling it 'Cancel' is fine; if cancelling the process does not close the window, then once the process has been cancelled, re-label the button 'Close' (or hide it and reveal the Close button, which would amount to the same thing from a user perspective).
It's a bit like pointless code comments - if the code is self-explanatory, comments are redundant. Similarly, if the label on a button truly reflects its function, help text is not required.
Edit: if you aren't in a position to influence the user interface, but still need to write the manual, then I agree with the others - "Click 'cancel' to close the window".
'Cancel button' rather than 'button Cancel' but apart from that either of the options - with or without the 'on' is reasonably correct.
The key is to be consistent, pick one structure and stick with it.
Why do you want to click on a "Cancel" button if the button is closing a window? It should be then a "Close" button.
I think the WEB2.0 way to say it would then be:
If your "Cancel" button is a button made to cancel something, then go for:
The key is to limit the text and put emphasis on subject and action. To do that it is even better to have the button with a customized text, but at the cost of some consistency.
For consistency, in Windows, users have the habit of clicking the left most button to continue and right one to halt the process. And as such, ok/cancel and yes/no or any other positive/negative can be treated in the same way. The simple layout
Question/Information
[OK] [Cancel]
is assumed here. I also assume that you can't change the layout, but only the text. As such, the answer is to put the focus of the question on the continuation part, not on the stopping/closing part.
A better text might then be:
Click OK to keep window open.
[OK] [Cancel]
or simply, although in your context you might even be able to come up with a better text that comply with the current process:
Something happened, keep window opened?
[OK] [Cancel]
Message boxes in themselves are quite the complex thing in GUIs it is generally best to avoid them. It is also important to think about how the user would interact with the application in the case where multiple messages like these would pop up hence the importance of consistency.
If the button cancels the operation and then closes the window, you should use "Click the Cancel button to cancel your edits and close the window."
"Cancel" and "Close" are not synonymous. That is, they don't mean the same thing. If the "Cancel" button doesn't cancel any edit operation, it should be called "Close" instead.
Although it's not fashionable to give props to Microsoft these days, the Microsoft Manual of Style For Technical Publications is a great reference for answering these sorts of questions.
If anything, it sets a familiar standard that can be applied throughout your documentation.
For this particular case, it recommends:
So, do not write:
Click the Cancel button to close the window.
Instead, write:
Click Cancel.
Also, since users usually do not RTFM, and certainly will not RTFM to find out what the Cancel button does, they will appreciate fewer words getting in the way of the information they really need to find.
The word button is surplus to requirements.
In this context Button is jargon, and the user may have no idea that what they are clicking is a "button". Furthermore as buttons look less and less like traditional 3-D buttons, the button metaphor is even less useful.
When words in the text refer to buttons/menus on screen, I use a font to distinguish this, So I'd write something like:
Click Cancel to close the window.
That make is clear it's a button or some user interface element.
I modestly think, as a non-native, that what is in question is the correctness of the sentence - and the Merriam Webster states that the verb to click must be used with the preposition "on" .
However, it is true that internet has created new expressions and uses of the language.
I also feel very insecure in this. Which way to go?