Since the Moodle interface introduced the Navigation and the Settings blocks, a number of "settings" have been moved from "tabs" to the Settings blocks. However, at the moment (Moodle 2.4) there does not seem to be a consensus as to which is the "best interface".
Some modules have dropped tabs altogether and moved all settings to the Settings block: Quiz, Forum.
Some modules have "doubled" the tabs settings interface with the Settings block: Lesson, Feedback.
Glossary has kept the "Browse by" tabs interface.
I am currently updating the Questionnaire module interface to look more like the other core modules. At the moment it only uses tabs. Should I "double" tabs settings with a copy of the links in the Settings block (like Lesson and Feedback do) OR take a radical decision and move everything to the Settings block (like Quiz does)?
Are there any plans in forthcoming versions of Moodle to deprecate tabs in the interface as far as possible and encourage using the Settings block instead? Or, in other words, do people think that having the dual system (tabs + settings block) for some time would provide a nice transition for users?
Note.- The same problem exists, although to a lesser extent, for tabs and the Navigation block, mostly for student view.
Joseph
PS.- Illustration of the present situation for the Lesson module: