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Tooltips

Tooltips provide a short description of a page element or control.

Specifications

  • Icon tooltips and interactive tooltips may be positioned top, bottom, left, or right to the trigger item.
  • Top and bottom pointers can be positioned (in addition to center) from left or right. The pointer is then placed relatively 16px from the edge of the tooltip. Non-centered pointer is used, for example, when a tooltip points to a control placed at the edge of the screen.
  • The container of the tooltip text may be aligned to start, center or end.
  • Do not make the tooltip larger than the element it appears from.
  • Tooltips should have a 350ms before appearing.
Tooltip positions

Colors

Element Property Color
Tooltip Text White Trimble Gray
#ffffff
#252a2e
Background Gray 7 Gray 0
#585c65
#e0e1e9

Behaviors

  • Icon tooltips appear on hover and focus.

Editorial

  • Keep it brief—aim for fewer than 10 words.
  • End full sentences with a period. Using “&” is OK. No “!”.
  • For brevity, don’t spell out numbers: Use 12, not twelve.
  • Use tooltips to present small amounts of data. Tooltips are similar to toasts, or micro-conclusions, which give the user a short confirmation.
  • Use the past tense rather than present perfect (was submitted vs. has been submitted). We avoid the past perfect tense because it lacks clarity for translators.
  • Use sentence case for tooltips.
  • Never add a link to text in a tooltip.
Last updated September 17, 2024.