Right now, with the addition of the wiki option via @velesin (and thank you very much for that) we have a grand total of eight glyphs / actions on each post:
From left to right:
like
edit
flag
delete
link / share
bookmark
extra / other
reply
This is too much. I think we need to change the wrench to an ellipsis and put these less-used functions there:
edit
delete
wiki, etc
I do not think we should move like, flag, link/share, and bookmark as those are essential. Bookmark is on the edge, I maybe could be convinced there, but note that we use bookmark to indicate active read state on each post too.
Per this mockup by @awesomerobot â before we hit V1.0 we need to move those three post functions to a drawer.
This also makes extensibility easier, as you can register new unique (rare?) post actions without overwhelming everyone with glyphs / actions on every post.
It actually would VERY likely have an effect, most of the implementation just simulates mouse clicks. You canât mouse click an element that is not in the DOM.
Just to also process it via another point of view. Letâs say several new plugins add actions to each post, they may not build in keyboard shortcuts, so that only leaves tabbing to the action as a way to get to it. It would be nice that if tabbing to the ellipsis, pressing enter, that the next tab would cycle through the drop down menu.
Hiding the less-used functions is a good idea but Iâd ditch the drawer. How about instead of a box below the row of icons the icons would appear in the same space as they do now? The ⌠icon would simply reveal more icons instead of opening another ui-box. It would make more sense and there is ample room.
Where would the glyphs be âaddedâ? On the left, or on the right? I guess itâd have to âexpand rightâ which is OK.
I really want the expansion to be on the right not the left anyway (we read from left to right, most important stuff on the left, that is why is on the left), so more like this:
This does highlight one small problem @awesomerobot, the ellipsis is kind of a crap click / tap target because it looks so tiny. I guess itâs an expandable drawer for less used functions anyway so it doesnât need to be in-your-face.
It is nice that even after the expansion, we are still back to âonlyâ 7 actions on the post versus 8. Since the expanding glyph consumes itself in the expansionâŚ
How would this effect extending buttons through plugins and the configuration of the order of buttons through the admin interface? Would the ellipsis just hide everything after the second item?
What about when those are optional buttons?Like the âeditâ, which is only shown when you have the rights to actually edit. I know for you, @codinghorror, as an admin they always show, but for a normal user like me, the like and the share buttons are way more frequently used.
How do we deal with the already a little awkward difference in behaviour for the reply-button? If I move that to position four of eight, will it also be in the ellipsis?
Quiet honestly, without any additional plugins, as normal User, I have four buttons and reply. I donât feel that is too much. Iâd rather argue the buttons for âdeleteâ and âeditâ belong into the admin wrench that has been created recently â which is only shown to a minority of users with special privileges on certain posts.
Ah, alright. then the first mockup was just misleading as it showed the edit outside the ellipse. But yes, if the point is to move âmore advancedâ options into a sub-area, I volunteer to build this (once there is an agreement on mockups). What will the rule be for whether they are moved there?
For me, the vast majority of the posts on meta look like this:
Of these four glyphs, only one is a candidate for hiding - either the share or bookmark button, depending mostly on perceived importance of the feaure in question.
Adding an ellipsis/wrench button to hide one of these four glyphs would then be a design flaw. Hiding only makes sense when more glyphs are added, e.g. when the current user owns the post, when the user is an admin or moderator, or when the post is marked as wiki.
Mockups should probably consider these three cases separately. For instance, adding a fifth glyph where there are normally only four - for example the edit button on wiki posts - would be a good visual indicator that the post provides additional actions and help to make that feature more accessible.
Yeah, from a language perspective it definitely makes sense to have the ellipses on the right⌠itâs a little weird to be shifting the already-visible icons to new positions, but on second thought donât think itâs a big deal â these nav elements are anchored to the right anyway, so adding icons to the right and pushing things left feels natural.
The ellipses looks like a smaller tap target, but technically itâd be the same size as the other icons because theyâre all bound by a larger box, so I donât think itâd cause any issues.
I donât really have a compelling argument to ditching bookmarks, Iâve just never used it⌠I donât even really read it for post read status.
I really like the idea of having the ellipsis on expand to the left/right vs. the popup.
How about hiding everything but Like and Edit under the ellipsis?
For a normal user, you usually only see one of these anyway. And they are far more likely to be clicked than any of the other buttons.
Edit is good to keep as a single click for ninja-edits.
Having only the one most often used button aside from the ellipsis will also make normal users have to think less when they like posts as there are no other choices unless they seek them.
I, too donât agree that we need to generally strip down to only two items (and decide those are Like and Edit) and I am one of these plugin authors and forum admins, whoâs opinionated and dared to change the order (making it an annoyance every time something new is added though). So, how about this simple and clear approach for now:
We already do have the post_menu-SiteSetting allowing administrators to customize the order of buttons. Letâs add another Setting like post_menu_max_items (default 4) that if more than these buttons would be rendered (excluding ⌠ehem ⌠reply âŚ) replaces the fourth with the ellipsis and hides all following behind a click. Once clicked it expands the original buttons from the right (pushing the important ones to the left) in the order giving in the site settings. If the setting is set to 0 the ellipsis never shows up and the buttons are always shown.
This case, what ever the admins considers most important for their community just needs to be at the front of that list (default: like, edit) to be easily accessible and what is closer to the end might be hidden behind a second click (for our community for e.g. flag, bookmark and make to wiki). How does that sound?
You could leverage the post_menu setting in other ways without adding a new site setting, for example by allowing and parsing prefixes. But thatâs quite far from the âsimpleâ v1 solution.
What should be possible, however, is to include the ellipsis button in the post_menu setting. Everything to its left is always shown, everything to its right is hidden as long as there are at least two elements to hide. @codinghorrorâs ânewâ mockup would then be expressed as like|flag|share|...|edit|delete|bokmark|reply, assuming that the reply button is treated as special and is never hidden behind the ellipsis.
This adds no new functionality to the UI apart from what was already discussed for posts and provides a good mix of simplicity and customization.
Yeah, Iâm down with this. Bookmark is so rare, letâs just put it in the ellipsis drawer. Think item: I really wish we had a nice âDiscourse knows you read this postâ indicator on each post. The feeling of seeing âread it, read it, read, itâ marked on a post as you scroll down is a good, positive one. A glass half full indicator. Reading is fundamental!
But what could that indicator be? What subtle but visible indicator could be used for a âyou read thisâ indicator on each post?
I see your point, perhaps the logic is flexible:
if there are more than (n) actions on a post, show the ellipsis expander
decide which actions are âhideableâ (like should never be, for example)
hide the hideable actions when there are more than (n) actions on a post
That way we can avoid showing the ellipsis all the time, if there are only 3 actions, youâre right, itâs just noise to show an ellipsis in that case.
is on the left), so more like this:
