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admin interface: navigation / structure
Well, this is not a real feature request. First of all it is a question about logic and perhaps later it might become a feature request. Okay, let’s start…
In one of my projects I’m using Textpattern for our website there has been some confision about how to create a new article. It happened sometimes that people saved an article and then – as they wanted to start a new one – overwrote this article. There is not any kind of “new article” button. This is how the interface is structured by now:
- content
- organise
- write
- articles
- images
- files
- links
- comments
- presentation
- admin
So my question is: Wouldn’t it be more logical to have it structured like this:
- content
- organise
- articles
- new
- edit
- article list
- images
- files
- links
- comments
- presentation
- admin
This would separate content elements (like texts, images, files…) from actions (create, edit, list, sort).
Last edited by Skubidu (2006-02-25 09:44:02)
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#2 2006-02-25 10:56:31
- -P-
- Member
- From: Finland
- Registered: 2005-09-10
- Posts: 211
Re: admin interface: navigation / structure
You might wanna take a look at some discussion in Rights and permissions workgroup
Yes, it is about rights and permissions but also about the whole admin interface and ways to improve it the future.
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Re: admin interface: navigation / structure
As a workaround I habitually use upm_savenew (Which would even be more useful if a certain translator would have avoided to translate both “save” and “save_new” as “Speichern”, which results in two equally labelled buttons for two distinct actions).
Hint, hint! ;-)
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Re: admin interface: navigation / structure
@p: Okay, I think I’m not up to date about the “rights and permissions” discussion. Can you give me a short summary concerning my problem?
@wet 1: I once tried upm_savenew but it cunfused the users even more. I think it was especially because they expected this option at another place (in the main navigation). Generally, I have to say, that (why ever) I never had these problems myself. But I had trouble several times because the normal editors totally messed up the page content.
@wet 2: Got that hint with the translation ;) But I remember that there was a problem why we couldn’t translate it properly… It might have been due lenght problems or due to an usage of this string in other places where the exact translation didn’t fit. Was wäre denn Dein Vorschlag für eine sinnige deutsche Übersetzung von “save_new”? “Als neu speichern”? Klingt ein bisschen seltsam…
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#5 2006-02-25 12:39:30
- Mary
- Sock Enthusiast
- Registered: 2004-06-27
- Posts: 6,236
Re: admin interface: navigation / structure
I figured when I made my plugins that there might be translation problems I couldn’t forsee: I’m not bilingual at all (not for lack of trying!) so of course I only work with the english interface.
If I were to do it over again now, I’m thinking I’d drop the calls to gTxt from my plugins, replace them all with calls to the plugin’s lang function, and use the gTxt function to feed the default values to that function. That way you can still override the default lang strings. Would that help any? Obviously “real” plugin translation would be best, but in the meantime?
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Re: admin interface: navigation / structure
Hi Mary!
I remember that I – as I used upm_savenew – hardcoded a different translation in the plugin code. But this didn’t help with the general problem: the normal users where totally desorientated where to click for witch action (article list, edit, new). The admin interface is not consistent concerning this point and I fear this could not really be clearified by a plugin.
Nils
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Re: admin interface: navigation / structure
I agree, upm_savenew is not intuitively usable and leads to errors even when used by educated users, though it is acceptable as a work-around filling a much needed gap.
I’d prefer an extension of the “copy $thing as” functionality which is already available in the “presentation > page” tab to all other content items.
I have translated “save_new” with “Erzeugen” but I am not 100 percent content with that verb. It mainly serves two purposes: To be distinguishable from “Speichern” | “save” and to be short enough to fit into the available space.
Last edited by wet (2006-02-25 15:17:03)
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#8 2006-02-25 15:33:42
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- Member
- From: Finland
- Registered: 2005-09-10
- Posts: 211
Re: admin interface: navigation / structure
@skubidu
What I meant is that I fully agree with the problems you posted. But same time I think that they are part of bigger brainstroming that has been talked about in rights and permissions. So though maybe you wanna take a look of that thread there and participate. .. it´s about rights and permissions but also about the logic how content elements and items could be implemented in most user and admin friendly way.
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Re: admin interface: navigation / structure
@-p-: I’ve been re-reading the last postings and charts and understand what you mean. I just wasn’t aware, that you’re discussing this topic in your working group, too. I think it would be great if – beside a reorganisation of the user rights – a restructuring of the interface would follow.
Last edited by Skubidu (2006-02-25 15:51:22)
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#10 2006-02-25 15:53:26
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- From: Finland
- Registered: 2005-09-10
- Posts: 211
Re: admin interface: navigation / structure
Yes, that discussion is mostly about rights and permissions but if those ideas come to life, I believe they will have an affect too to the way how some parts of admin area is handled. It´s kind of you have to fix the walls first before you can start painting them :D
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Re: admin interface: navigation / structure
Skubidu,
I have often thought that when an article is published it ought to return a blank “write” page instead of the published article. This would avoid a “haphazard” overwriting of an article. One would have to specifically call an article from the article edit list in order to overwrite it.
Make sense?
Hey look I’m MU, that’s a Buddhist meditation, and it also the sound a cow makes!
Last edited by ma_smith (2006-02-25 18:43:33)
- I am Squared Eye and I
am launchinghave launched Pattern Tap
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Re: admin interface: navigation / structure
Hi Matthew!
I understand what you are thinking about, but I’ve got the feeling that most unexperienced user would think: “Oh no! It’s all gone! I’ve deleted my article!”. I think it would be more clear if you got an “edit” and a “new” tab, so that the it can be distinguished easily.
Nils
@mu: In German “mu(h)” is the noise of a cow! Okay, what am I? Oh, êta… Well, isn’t that a Basque separatist organization? I never understood where all these subtitles are for ;o)
Edit: Okay, with this post I am thêta. What the hell is that?!
Last edited by Skubidu (2006-02-25 18:55:52)
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