type="topic"

      id="application-menus">

  <info>

    <link type="guide" xref="patterns#primary"/>

    <desc>Global application menu that is accessed from the top bar</desc>

    <credit type="author">

      <name>Allan Day</name>

      <email>aday@gnome.org</email>

    </credit>

    <include href="legal.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"/>

  </info>

<title>Application menus</title>

<media type="image" mime="image/svg" src="figures/patterns/application-menu.svg"/>

Application menus provide access to global, top level actions and options for your application. These include standard items for accessing documentation and information about the application.

<section id="when-to-use">

<title>When to use</title>

Application menus are a standard part of GNOME 3, and every application that runs under GNOME 3 should have one.

</section>

<section id="general-guidelines">

<title>General guidelines</title>

<list>

<item>
Follow the standard <link xref="menus">guidance for menus</link>.
</item>

<item>
Only include menu items that relate to the application as a whole, such as application preferences. Items that are specific to a particular window or view, or which act on content within an application window, should not be included.
</item>

<item>
If an item from the application menu is frequently used, consider moving it to a more accessible location.
</item>

</list>

</section>

<section id="standard-menu-items">

<title>Standard menu items</title>

Common application menu items include <gui>New Window</gui>, <gui>Preferences</gui>, <gui>Help</gui>, <gui>About</gui> and <gui>Quit</gui>. <gui>Help</gui>, <gui>About</gui> and <gui>Quit</gui> should be contained within their own group at the bottom of the menu.

<gui>New Window</gui>

Opens a new window. Only <link xref="primary-windows#application-types">multiple instance applications</link> should include this menu item. If the new window contains a specific type of content item, or simultaneously performs an action, rename it to be less generic. For example: <gui>New Connection</gui> or <gui>New Document</gui>.

<gui>Preferences</gui>

Opens the application's preferences dialog. Only show this menu item if your application has a preferences dialog.

<gui>Help</gui>

Opens your application's user documentation in the <app>Help</app> application. Only show this menu item if your application has user documentation.

<gui>About</gui>

Opens the application's about dialog. Every application menu should include this item.

<gui>Quit</gui>

Closes the application, including all application windows. Every application menu should include this item.

</section>

<section id="api-reference">

<title>API reference</title>

<list>

<item>
<link href="https://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/stable/GtkApplication.html">GtkApplication</link>
</item>

</list>

</section>

</page>