Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

philwareham · 2016-09-05 08:23:41

I’ve just implemented Philippe’s suggestions for the tag builder vertical sizing (the flexbox option) in the Textpattern master branch – let me know how that goes for you.

maverick · 2016-09-05 15:19:30

Bloke wrote #301036:

I really like this idea. If it could be done, that’d be terrific. And lots of code saved in core!

I’m one of the folks who like the tag builder. I don’t use it often, but it’s handy to have when I do want it. Maybe for a tag I don’t use often, or when I’m rusty on tags after having been away from coding for a while. Though my most frequent use is building the tag to insert an image into an article. Pure laziness – it adds the image number into the tag and I’m good to go with a bit of customizing.

All that said, it’s about convenience, and I’d not be likely go to a third site normally to build a tag – though if I were already at the site it would be a nice feature.

Given the split of those who use the tag builder and those who do not, and given the amount of code Bloke references, my personal use situation would be satisfied if the tag builder was moved from the core to a plugin. Sort of a compromise to moving it to a website.

Just fwiw.

philwareham · 2016-09-05 15:48:39

I have now moved the action links (create new, duplicate) on forms/pages/styles panels in GitHub master. Let me know if that suffices.

gaekwad · 2016-09-05 16:03:55

philwareham wrote #301070:

I have now moved the action links (create new, duplicate) on forms/pages/styles panels in GitHub master. Let me know if that suffices.

Oh, please let it suffice. We passed 3,000 Textpattern commits since 4.5.7 today. To put this into perspective, GitHub is (currently) reporting 6,247 commits to Textpattern since its inception. 3,011 of those commits are since 4.5.7 hit the streets.

I have servers that I’m holding back on upgrading because PHP7 doesn’t play nicely on 4.5.7 without a bunch of bodging.

Someone has to say this — let’s get 4.6 out of the door so we can move on already. There’s already been a colossal amount of work and time invested. There comes a point where this is just bike shedding, and I really hope we’re better than that.

It’s not ever going to be perfect, that’s the nature of the beast, but look how far we’ve come since the early days of version 4: Robert, Jukka, Stef, Phil, Oleg, Ruud, Destry and countless others have put in thousands of hours of work to get us this far.

Please — PLEASE — try beta 3 out. If it breaks, say something. If it’s great, say something. If there’s something I can do with the demo site that will help you further test beta 3 out, say something. If there’s a workflow improvement that could be made and can wait until 4.6.1, then let’s pencil it in for a point release, otherwise I fear we’re never going to see 4.6 arrive at all and that makes me very sad.

Come on, we can do this!

philwareham · 2016-09-05 16:27:39

I’m pretty much ready for it to release. I think by the end of this week if no major bugs are found it can go. Stef might have a better idea.

GugUser · 2016-09-05 20:20:05

gaekwad wrote #301071:

Someone has to say this — let’s get 4.6 out of the door so we can move on already. There’s already been a colossal amount of work and time invested. There comes a point where this is just bike shedding, and I really hope we’re better than that.

That is well said.

candyman · 2016-09-05 21:09:46

Well, I’ve tried the demo of the 4.6.0 release.
First thing I noticed (and that it seems strange to me) is the behavior of the Write panel: why the Sort and display panel is always fixed?

I mean: Expand all and Collapse all commands are running as I expected and probably it’s better that, at least one panel (let’s say the first is the most important) remains opened… but, the thing that seems strange to me, is that clicking on titles to open others panels (Date and time, Meta, Comment options and so on…) the Sort and display remans always open.

According to me it would be better looking (and more intuitive) if only one panel could remain opened with the other previously opened closing itself automatically (with the list of the panels that slide to the top).

I mean: I set the Status, -Section_ and Categories of the post in the Sort and display panel, then I click on the
Date and time panel (and the Sort and display closes) and so on…

In this way I’ll avoid to scroll the screen to much.

Panels that must be opened according the needs of the user can be set as open/closed by clicking on the [+] or [-] buttons (that would replace the arrows).

At least this could be an option that the user can set in the preferences?

Just one thought :)

Last edited by candyman (2016-09-05 21:26:42)

jakob · 2016-09-05 21:53:31

candyman wrote #301078:

Why the Sort and display panel is always fixed?

To me this seems entirely logical: it’s the one thing that absolutely has to be filled out. If it were not visible, people would post all over the shop without even noticing. I can see e-mails rolling in from clients already saying “it’s broken … I posted and it put it in the wrong place …”.

I suppose a valid argument might be that an already set article won’t change afterwards, but to make this workable one would really have to store the display prefs per user (as is current) and per article.

According to me it would be better looking (and more intuitive) if only one panel could remain opened with the other previously opened closing itself automatically (with the list of the panels that slide to the top).

I get your idea about a concertina-type arrangement saving space, but here too there are (I think) good reasons for having combinations of panels open. I don’t know about you, but I make regular use of bot_write_tab_customize to show clients only the combination of information required for a particular section. It’s important that certain items show in combination to ensure an article is filled out properly (example: without this people may post an event but forget to specify the start and end date). If the UI automatically hid “the rest” when setting one item, it would mean the client would have to click through to discover what else there is to fill out. That would seriously impact usability, and I suspect also how well – and happily – a site is used by the client. And if a client loses trust in their homepage, that’s the beginning of its end.

I realise I am talking from my personal perspective but I suspect others share the same problem. I really think a better way to make the UI usable for clients is to go the extra mile and tailor it the end user’s(‘) need(s). A further way is to extend the hive admin theme and slim things down a bit in the UI.

At least this could be an option that the user can set in the preferences?

If you really want it for your own purposes, I think you could probably easily add that functionality via bot_wtc’s javascript panel (or the new javascript insert option as part of an own theme). Essentially what you need to do is hook into the expand button and make it do a collapse all before expanding a settings group. The functions are already there in the textpattern.js, you just need a little jQuery to jump in on click and call them in the desired order.

Bloke · 2016-09-05 22:09:05

philwareham wrote #301075:

Stef might have a better idea.

Stef has no better idea. Stef wanted it released in the Spring but events conspired against us.

candyman wrote #301078:

Expand all and Collapse all commands are running as I expected [but] the Sort and display remans always open.

I meant to move the expand/collapse links below the Sort and Display box so it’s more obvious that they only pertain to what’s below it. Just forgot to do it. Might sneak that in if it looks okay. If not, we’ll live with it for now and worry about it next version.

Accordion boxes for the sidebar is a big no from me in core. If you need it for a particular client, by all means make a plugin to do it. As jakob says, I suspect bot_wtc is more than capable.

Bloke · 2016-09-05 22:29:02

Bloke wrote #301083:

I meant to move the expand/collapse links below the Sort and Display box

Done. See if that’s any better.

candyman · 2016-09-06 05:36:02

Thank you jakob for the explanations and for the tip about bot_wtc.

Bloke wrote #301083:

I meant to move the expand/collapse links below the Sort and Display box so it’s more obvious that they only pertain to what’s below it.

Like it.

hcgtv · 2016-09-06 06:59:46

Finally got to install 4.6.0 locally and play some more, it’s super fast.

I’m using the Hive Neutral admin theme, and all this discussion about screen readers and such, has me wondering why the Write panel has it’s menu on the right, and the Pages, Forms and Styles has the menu on the left.

Are the menu alignments specifically for screen readers or is it just a personal preference?

Also, the default article links to the docs at the old wiki and the new .io site, a bit confusing.

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#61 2016-09-05 08:23:41

Re: Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

#62 2016-09-05 15:19:30

Re: Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

Bloke wrote #301036:

#63 2016-09-05 15:48:39

Re: Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

#64 2016-09-05 16:03:55

Re: Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

philwareham wrote #301070:

#65 2016-09-05 16:27:39

Re: Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

#66 2016-09-05 20:20:05

Re: Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

gaekwad wrote #301071:

#67 2016-09-05 21:09:46

Re: Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

#68 2016-09-05 21:53:31

Re: Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

candyman wrote #301078:

#69 2016-09-05 22:09:05

Re: Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

philwareham wrote #301075:

candyman wrote #301078:

#70 2016-09-05 22:29:02

Re: Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

Bloke wrote #301083:

#71 2016-09-06 05:36:02

Re: Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

Bloke wrote #301083:

#72 2016-09-06 06:59:46

Re: Feedback to: Textpattern CMS 4.6.0 beta 3 released

Board footer