Category selector is restricted on "reply as linked topic" when "show subcategory list" is enabled

Contribute Bug

AI-generated summary

A bug has been reported where the category selector is restricted on “reply as linked topic” when “show subcategory list” is enabled. john_mardlin described the issue and steps to reproduce it, noting that the expected outcome is the ability to type in the category selector and filter category options.

cpradio and john_mardlin confirmed that the current behavior is a bug, as “reply as linked topic” should allow users to select categories outside of the current one.

codinghorror suggested that the category picker’s behavior should be special-cased for “reply as linked topic,” showing the complete list of categories and subcategories while defaulting to the current category.

The issue has been addressed by eviltrout, who has committed a change to GitHub that prevents the category selector from scoping to the current category when replying as a linked topic.

1

Yes, Chromebook. It’s usually very stable, but other tools we use have had chromebook specific bugs in the past.

So, to reproduce the bug (on Chromebook at least):

  1. create linked topic
  2. try to set a new category
    (I’ll have a colleague test that)

Expected outcome:
You can type in the category selector, which will filter category options

Actual outcome:
No ability to type. Options are limited to current category, or uncategorized.

Am I correct about the expected outcome?

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Hidden or staff only posts for collaborative moderation
2

Yes, this is how it should look

3

Moving this to a bug cause this is the second time it has popped up in a few days.

If you enable the site setting “show subcategory list” when replying as new topic you are “boxed” into the category and its children when replying as a new topic.

I think the “boxing” should not apply here and clearly feels like a bug.

I see 2 options here:

  1. Add a site setting for “restrict reply as new topic to current category and children”
  2. Stop doing this as the “boxing” behavior feels totally unrelated to “reply as new topic”

@eviltrout / @codinghorror thoughts?

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4

I think it’s because the shared category picker has one set of behaviors, based on the topic you are in.

Even if we are suppressing subcategories, though:

  • why would “reply as linked topic” ever be limited to only the current category. That feels like a bug? At minimum other top-level categories should be shown to choose from?

And beyond that

  • reply as linked topic is kind of a special case and should probably show the complete list of categories, including subcategories, but always default to the current category unless there are permissions issues preventing you from posting in the current category..
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5

Strongly agree. Even though it makes sense to have the current category be the default, it’s far from an edge case to use this feature to open a conversation in a different category.

6

Okay, now when you reply as a linked topic it will never scope to the current category:

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