So, my intent: create a PM linking an existing Topic OP Post
Action: go to bottom of Topic Post, hit the chain, + New Topic, switch to PM
Two current issues:
First action populates new Topic with Topic template of linked Topic Category (undesirable, all I want to do is PM someone about an existing Topic/Post)
Switching to PM populates with artefacts from previous draft for me atm, leading to more irrelevant text being added?
So this is a bit broken atm.
Good workarounds exist:
Use the message button on the Topic Post avatar/User Card.
Iām usually a fan of removing options! this seems fine to me. How common is it for someone to start writing a topic and say ānah, this should be a PMā?
Would we want to add a new keyboard shortcut for starting a PM, in case some power users miss the quick access of opening the composer with c and toggling to PM? (not sure if these people exist)
You begin to type a response, and then feel youād prefer to restrict the audience, so you switch to direct message.
The user card method is a bit more clunky at this point in your workflow. In this scenario youād have to back out, hit the user card, then populate the other desired recipients.
I like the User Card option when you know at the point of reading the Post you want to contact the author privately, thatās great, but it is not a 1:1 replacement of this facility.
My general thinking is that the general utility is far smaller than the general confusion. Leave this experimentation to theme components or something. Clunky, to avoid confusion, is a feature.
I bet that only a tiny fraction of people have even noticed the menu with the āReply as linked topicā option, and that those people are less likely to get confused at the options than the rest.
I didnāt understand the original complaint though. Was it that the ācontinuing the discussionā¦ā text is unnecessary for a PM?
I agree here as well. There are multiple states our composer can be in and we definitely shouldnāt show the āCreate New Personal Messageā option when the composer is in the reply state or editing state which led to this report. However, when the composer is in the create new topic state, the āCreate New Personal Messageā definitely makes sense and does not seem out of place.
I donāt think removing the option completely is the right way to go here, the state of the composer needs to be considered.
In this case, Iāll suggest removing the option only when sidebar is properly introduced. I feel like we donāt need to make creating a PM harder for everyone on tests-passed while sidebar is being worked on. There is no need to rush to remove the option and in turn making it much harder for everyone to create a private message.
I see the challenge here. But it doesnāt negate the fact that in a perfect world if you didnāt have to consider other things, a:
āQuote in New PMā OR
āLink to Post in New PMā
is a genuinely useful function that will be used by some regularly. I suspect some people currently donāt even realise they will miss it until itās gone.
If itās too difficult to maintain within the way drafts and category topic templates work then ok but thatās unfortunate. It would be nice to work out the additional measures necessary to make drafts and topic templates work here:
If doing this never populate with a Topic Template
If doing this use special class of draft specifically for this action if initiated prior or otherwise just create fresh PM include the link to post OR doing this never use a draft? Yes how about never invoking a draft here whilst leaving any normal reply draft intact. Or is that not going to work in the current architecture?
(Not sure why it was doing 1 as reply in first place btw)
But I donāt want to link to OP. I want to link to a specific Post.
So Iām replying to that Post then choosing to PM to third party
Hitting the Post authors Card (let alone any other) then hitting PM button is not perfect option as :
I have to deliberately delete the author first (forgetting to is potentially ādangerousā)
More importantly, it is about the discrete decision Iām making AFTER I hit Reply. It is at this point Iām potentially changing my mind slightly and deciding to PM instead of Replying publicly. The current functionality gave me that luxury. Without it I have to back out of what Iām doing and go a completely different route and then Iām undoing some of my progress (Iāve already chosen which post to reference) The ability to switch track at this point was genuinely useful and efficient. Of course it could be my intention to reply as PM all along.
A whisper is close but wouldnāt be as good either:
That assumes the intended audience is all staff which canāt be assumed
Whoever came up with this functionality in the first place did have insight into the genuinely useful workflow. Is the inventor still about?
