In a UX-focused discussion about bookmark actions in Discourse, piffy raises concerns about confusing terminology and visual cues: the use of “Edit” and “Delete” for bookmarks (hidden behind “…”) may mislead users into thinking they’re editing or deleting the post itself. They suggest renaming “Delete” to “Unbookmark” or “Remove bookmark” to reduce perceived severity, since bookmark removal is personal and reversible. The current UI also shows a green confirmation message after deletion — which feels inconsistent, as green typically signals success, while deletion is often associated with red. NateDhaliwal echoes this, noting the green trash icon is visually jarring and proposes using a green tick instead. twofoursixeight points out mobile UI already clarifies context by labeling the menu “Bookmarks,” suggesting desktop adopt similar clarity. awesomerobot supports “remove” as less intimidating and more browser-aligned. piffy also notes excessive notifications (triple feedback) and an ambiguous blue header that looks interactive but isn’t. HAWK explains green is meant to confirm action completion, but NateDhaliwal argues text alone may suffice, or a green tick could better convey success without visual dissonance. The thread seeks to improve clarity, consistency, and emotional tone in bookmark interactions.
So for a moment, I was confused about what exactly I was editing or deleting, the post or the bookmark? Being a Discourse expert it was just a momentary lapse but I do wonder if a less capable user would be more confused?
And on the topic, I find the “Delete” in red to be a bit intense. Removing a bookmark is a very common action that is usually a positive thing (like checking off an item on a checklist), only affects a single user and doesn’t really have the permanence that a “delete” would suggest.
On the mobile layout, it indicates the bookmark as the menu section, so at least the mobile users have a clue about bookmarks. An idea could be to edit the UX for desktop Discourse to have this same title as on the mobile version.
I agree, “remove” is a little less scary and helps make a clear separation from “delete” for posts — this is the wording browsers tend to use with bookmarks.
This blue layout header thing does not seem standard across Discourse and looks like something that can be pressed (ie. Bookmark as a verb not a noun). I think removing it and just changing the wording of the two actions would improve the ux
After bookmarking something, the message has a green tick that says ‘Bookmarked!’. Then, when pressing the all-red button ‘Delete’, there is the message ‘Bookmark deleted!’ with a green trash icon.
Following most places, the trash icon should be red, no? If the tick if in green, to acknowledge the bookmark, shouldn’t the deletion of it show a red trash icon in red?
I see. Although, I find the green trash icon looking odd (we all see red trash icons, not green ones). I feel (this is just an opinion) that the text ‘Bookmark deleted!’ is sufficient to show that the bookmark has been deleted, so the green colour is not that supportive.
If needed, it could be substituted with a green tick? Or would that be a change for the worse?
but I do wonder if a less capable user would be more confused?
