The Code Project - Circular Menu Component

The Code Project - Circular Menu Component - .NET


"Describes the use and architecture of an animated, circularly arranged pop-up menu control written in C#.

...

Circular menus have a few advantages when compared to traditional popups:

1. They look cooler: Users will appreciate the fresh look and feel associated with this type of menu, and it will add extra coolness to your application.

2. They're more fun: The animation and new style of circular popups help to create a more "fun" atmosphere for your program. This can help users lower their guard and learn your application with less resistance.

3. They can provide better user efficiency: Because menu options are arranged circularly around the click position, each option is equidistant from the user's mouse when the menu is originally shown. Circular menus are iconic, and can be thought of as a temporarily visible toolbar. Because users can find icons more rapidly than they can text, use of the circular popup can be faster than a normal popup, and because the popup appears where the user's focus is, they can even be faster than a normal toolbar.

..."

Circular menus are now quite common in PC games. Now Mark Biddlecom has released one I can use for WinForms.

Anyone looking for a new popup/right-click menu paradigm should check this out. Sometimes "standard" is good, but it's "sizzle" that sells. My only problem with this component is that the icons will make or break it and I'm pretty graphically challenged... sigh

Still, it looks like a pretty cool component. Maybe I can draft some graphic help... :)