Layer Tabs on a Tabbed Button

[Richard Gaskin]

Marcus wrote:
> Is there anyway to create a layered effect on a tabbed button, so that you can
> have two or even three rows of tabs all on the same button? 

I understand that multi-row tabs are a common convention, but they're
not supported on other OSes for several reasons.

First, they break their own metaphor when a user selects a tab in any
but the lower-most row, since the row needs to shift to the front and
thus departs from the real-world metaphor of a physical object which
remains in one place when selected.

Also, the moving of the rows often confuses the user; tests show few can 
predict exactly what will happen when the rows need to shift (I can't 
find the paper I'd read that in, but maybe one of the others here know 
the URL).

OS X explicitly forbids the use of multi-row tabs, and the Gnome HIG 
offers the suggestion to consider using a vertical list when you need a 
selector that has more options than can fit in a single tab row:
<http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/controls-notebooks.html.en>

The nice thing about Calum Benson's suggestion is that it's simple to 
make in Rev. :)

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Managing Editor, revJournal
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