The discussion is about improving the “lowest read position” Back button/indicator on Discourse. codinghorror shares his experience with a poorly functioning Back button, which only appears after scrolling up a significant number of posts. He proposes two solutions:
Displaying a dark blue horizontal line to indicate the lowest read position, visible within ~3 posts of scrolling up
“Docking” the Back button to the bottom of the date if it can’t fit normally
codinghorror also mentions that the feature is missing on mobile devices and suggests adding a floating “back” button when scrolled away from the lowest read position.
eviltrout has implemented a couple of commits to address the issue, which are now deploying. codinghorror invites feedback on the updated feature, highlighting its importance on longer topics. He also shares an article on the philosophy of the Back button and user expectations.
See how I have to scroll all the way up to read position ~36 to get the back button to appear? And once I click it, I jump back to post 102! That’s.. bad. The back indicator and button should appear within ~3 posts of scrolling up, not ~66.
I believe
we should almost always show your back position (unless you are within ~3 posts of your lowest read position), as a dark blue horizontal line superimposed over the timeline.
The back button should “dock” on the bottom of the date if it can’t fit normally.
OK! We went through a round of feedback on this as well. Give it a try and see what you think. Should be a lot easier to find your way back to your lowest reading position, particularly on longer topics where it is needed the most.
Also, this article was really interesting on the philosophy of what the back button means and what users expect it to do:
