Tweaks to the post layout

Dominion

Yes, that sounds like a good idea. The breathing room helps, what with the controls over there.

Hm. Though it might be making the space between the post and the avatar seem a wee bit crowded, by comparison. Now that I think about it. Still, you wouldn't want to make that gap too wide.

Nahh, it's good as it is.

Dominion

It might be a good idea to tweak the width of the post entry field to match. To increase the WYSIWYGiness.

The preview wrapping at a different place is making me confused 😉

Fastidious

Toby I very much like the changes. Showing post controls all the time encourage participation as well. Love the use of otherwise empty spaces! I think this is going in the right direction.

Dominion

@Toby This is slightly off topic, but a consequence of the change, so here goes:

One thing about having the controls on the right end, is I'm starting to wish the "Post Reply" and "Preview" buttons were over there too. Would that be a possibility?

I'd suggest moving them over to the right, and reversing their order so "Post Reply" takes pride of place.

Fastidious

Dominion the preview is instant on Flarum, as you compose. There is not "Preview", there is no need. Isn't reply, post reply? I am not following.

I realize you meant it on the compose screen, perhaps.

Dominion

Fastidious I'm talking about the buttons in the lower left corner of the reply composer.

There is a "Preview" button, it's the one with an eye on it. 😉

It scrolls the preview up from its initially hidden position behind the composer box.

Franz

jdavsz One small suggestion: The post control buttons (which appear after clicking) seem very large/padded. Would it make sense to make these more compact?

I don't think that's a good idea. Otherwise they'll be hard to tap on mobile.

Kulga

Franz I don't think that's a good idea. Otherwise they'll be hard to tap on mobile.

Toby Ah yes, I haven't optimised it for mobile yet! Added a note to my initial post. Let's focus on desktop for now.

That sounds contradictory 😛 There must be some way of making both desktop and mobile look good!

tarun The concern regarding invisible-controls UX would have held true if the user had to find the place to hover to make those control appear. I'd argue that a large% of the screen (any post) would invoke those controls on hover. Thus, a user's learning that those controls exist under each post would have happened very quickly. We could still hide them to keep the interface minimal and clean. That said, I'm not a UX expert - am I missing something?

I concur. I learned very quickly and I never had a issue with looking for post controls. It's kinda hard to miss when the whole post causes the controls to light up. It also made it very clear what post I was liking / replying too rather then taking a moment to "guess" that the one I want is the one between the borders of the post and not the one above.

Franz

Small bug report: when opening the dropdown action menu and then moving the mouse away from the surrounding post, the dropdown menu itself becomes semi-transparent, too - that should probably not be the case.

Dominion

Maybe it would be a good idea to prevent the fading of not only the menu, but the Like/Reply/... controls as well?

... Until such a time as the menu is closed, of course.

Dominion

I too am starting to think the always-visible controls aren't really needed. I agree that their location is easily learned.

The idea of making them always visible originated with concern about the "edited" pencil icon being mistaken for a control that would allow editing. I can understand that, but I'm not sure that making the actual controls visible all the time is going to prevent anyone from trying to click the pencil.

Instead of making the controls visible all the time, maybe it would be best to do something about the actual source of potential confusion: the pencil icon. Even when used for its real purpose, it is a rather small target. Since the low-contrast text is relatively unobtrusive, why not replace the pencil with the word "edited"? Like so:

Dominion 28 minutes ago / edited

There's little chance that someone will mistake the word "edited" for a control. 😉

I just had to get that out of my head before going to bed ... it was seeming likely to keep me awake. 😮 Yawn!

Fastidious

Dominion The idea of making them always visible originated with concern about the "edited" pencil icon being mistaken for a control that would allow editing

No, no, no, no. I was hijacking that thread, but the always visible has nothing to do with editing. Having the controls always showing provide a better UX, and balance the white space reserved for "likes" and "replies."

I like the "always on" controls as they are now.

Toby

Dominion Dominion 28 minutes ago / edited

I like this idea!

Regarding the post controls: I've made them completely invisible until hover ... let's see how it feels.

Fastidious

Dominion yes, that referred to the "three dots." The "likes" and "reply" came after, when I blatantly hijacked the thread. The point you made is that you are "starting to think the always-visible controls aren't really needed." I happen to think the opposite. <polite smile goes here>

Edit: It seems you deleted your comment.

Dominion

Yes, I decided that it wasn't really adding to the conversation. After all, it wouldn't really do for a moderator to ignore the Community Guidelines, now would it?

Your objections notwithstanding, I stand by every word I wrote in this post. I've said my piece, and you've said yours. I don't see a need to pursue this line of discussion any further.

Fastidious

Dominion you don't sleep, do you?! <smile>

Kulga

Toby It gives a much less cluttered feeling. It gives back its left oriented feeling
Especially when you just want to read through the posts you can keep the mouse off and not be distracted. The controls are almost more visible on right border since there's more white-space around it when it appears after hovering. If you have your mouse hover over posts while you scroll (in a more active mood) it's always displayed.
I like it.

Dominion

Toby Regarding the post controls: I've made them completely invisible until hover ... let's see how it feels.

I'm not missing them at all ... as for the white space, posts without any likes do seem a bit empty at the bottom (as compared with the space above the post). But the impression of emptiness goes away as soon as the controls show up in the corner.

And the dividing line between the posts is so thin that it doesn't really matter how the white space is balanced.

Fastidious

Toby let's see how it feels

I don't like it, usability diminish (hover, then move mouse to chosen action). Flarum has lots of blank spaces as it is, showing the controls all the time helped to compensate.

Dominion 28 minutes ago / edited

I like this idea!

We hide controls, to avoid clutter, then clutter with text, over an icon? It doesn't make sense.

luceos

Toby Regarding the post controls: I've made them completely invisible until hover ... let's see how it feels.

On my android phone I cannot see any controls until I randomly click within a post. I must not click on the right side otherwise I like, reply or do another action 🙂

Felipe

Invisible doesn't works. You click to scroll the page down and likes button is pressed without you want. Also with reply button. Mobile impression.

henshaw

Might want to make it a setting for the Admin or for each user, and have it hidden by default. While I like the aesthetics of it being hidden, it's still not the best UX for all users. There's a reason why Facebook – a company that tests ALL THE THINGS – keeps everything visible. In particular, the Like option is visible and aligned to the left. I don't think there's a right way to do this because it's subjective, which is why I think there should be an option.

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