Status Bars
===========

Purpose
-------

A status bar is an area at the bottom of a primary window that
displays information about the current window's state, background tasks,
or other contextual information.

KDE applications should not use a conventional status bar by default in
favor of maximized space for content.

Guidelines
----------

Is this the right control?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-  Omit the status bar in the main window to maximize vertical space for
   content.

   -  Don't show meaningless information like 'Ready'.
   -  Use a floating panel or :doc:`tooltips <tooltip>` for short-term status
      information like full length text of links.
   -  Move controls to the toolbar.
   -  If you cannot find good replacements for status bar functions,
      please ask the usability team for support.

-  Don't display a status bar in secondary or internal windows.
-  If a status bar is really necessary in your application consider to
   use a :doc:`toolbar <../navigation/toolbar>` with all customization features.

Behavior
~~~~~~~~

-  Don't use the status bars or any kind of replacement for crucial
   information. Users should never have to know what is in the status
   bar.
-  Don't use the status bar or any kind of replacement to display
   advisory messages in place of standard :doc:`tooltips <tooltip>`.
-  Keep the status information plain; e.g. don't add icons.

.. for more info see http://user-prompt.com/what-is-a-status-bar-good-for/