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.
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.
I've given these changes 5 days, and here are my feelings:
The right aligned controls are troubling me each time I use Flarum on the mobile. I know Toby mentioned it is not optimized for mobile yet, but I'm skeptical it can be figured out if the alignment is inline-right. IMO, on mobile, the best UX was how the controls were laid out before this thread started, with always visible links. Having the links appear on tap is happening as I'm scrolling - even when I don't want to use them. It's a distraction.
It was mentioned that it is a good idea to keep the content creation links (reply, like, edit, report) on the right as most posts will end towards the right of the screen, and the user could move their mouse pointer easily to them, and click. My worry is that the movement of the eyes almost always precedes the movement of the hand, and the latin script, being read left to right, is going to pre-dispose users to shift their attention to the start of the next line (ie, move diagonally downwards) after they finish the last line of a thread. Not move down vertically as we assumed. From my experiences on desktop over the last 5 days, I have felt that it would have been better if the links were on the left as they were before for this reason.
Hiding the controls until I require them seems right. So does keeping the Report and Edit tools alongside reply and like within the elipses.
Agree with @Fastidious suggestion that we do should not use text in lieu of the icon to clutter up the interface. As a philosophy, we should keep things as minimal as possible. Perhaps the solution to this dilemma is to find the right icon. The problem with the current icon is that it says "edit" more than "edited". Why not use something that shows a document without a pencil to signify that the edit action has happened already in the past? Some examples of how I'm thinking:
tarun I've given these changes 5 days
The most visible changes were reversed within hours. :-)
luceos 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
I even found a solution, i think.
if i'm right about the LESS files we can change this line to read opacity: 0.25; then we'll get nice greyed out icons when they're not active.
tarun From my experiences on desktop over the last 5 days, I have felt that it would have been better if the links were on the left as they were before for this reason.
I've used several different forum packages, and they always put those links to the bottom right; it seems to me it's better to remain consistent with that expectation
Having right side controls is still a little confusing, I for some reason want to go to the left side to do reply / like and have to think, then go to right side for it.
But I like the compactness of it. Perhaps change places? Like / Replies on left side, likes, replies on right side?
accalia Feel free to try it out (modifying the LESS/CSS) on the demo site. In the admin, you can modify existing CSS/LESS stuff in Appearance. Don't worry about breaking it 
Kulga But I like the compactness of it. Perhaps change places? Like / Replies on left side, likes, replies on right side?
I was thinking about that too. The present layout seems more, well, grammatical for LTR languages. You've got a list of people who like the post on the left, and right after that (ignoring the intervening space) you've got a link that you can use to add yourself to that list.
To keep the semantic connection between the "Like" link and the likes, you'd have to reverse the controls. Ellipsis on the far left, then Reply, then Like. Sounds doable, except the ellipsis in front seems kind of funky.
Hmm. Thinking about this (italics added for emphasis) ...
Dominion you'd have to reverse the controls. Ellipsis on the far left, then Reply, then Like. Sounds doable, except the ellipsis in front seems kind of funky.
... gave me an idea. I still find myself looking for the ellipsis button in the upper right corner now and then. Maybe there's a way to kill two birds with one rearrangement.
I understand why @Toby grouped the ellipsis with the links, but there's also a good semantic reason to keep them apart. The links are used to respond to the content; the ellipsis is used to manage the post. Different sorts of activity.
As for the disappearing controls issue accalia mentioned in the post she linked, it does sound like that would interfere with mobile use. Would it be possible to have them disappear in the desktop view, but only fade on mobile?
Dominion As for the disappearing controls issue accalia mentioned in the post she linked, it does sound like that would interfere with mobile use. Would it be possible to have them disappear in the desktop view, but only fade on mobile?
For what it's worth, I was on a laptop when i noticed the issue,. A laptop with a touchscreen yes, but still.
I also think it's important not to hide interaction points from the end user. You don't want them to be surprised at finding functionality, leave the right hints that it's there and they will use it.
In this case you are already reserving the space for the buttons so why hide them, particularly when they are still active hitboxes for errant taps/clicks
Kulga A image might help illustrate your idea.
True ... I'm trying to get back to this huge translation job I've got waiting, but I'll try to find the time. Unless someone beats me to it.
accalia In this case you are already reserving the space for the buttons so why hide them, particularly when they are still active hitboxes for errant taps/clicks
That's probably something best answered by the designer, but I think the idea is to keep the clutter down and the emphasis on the content. If you read back a bit you'll find that they were always visible (but faded) for a while there. That didn't bother me at first, but after a while it became distracting.
There does seem to be a bit of personal preference involved here. Some people seem to appreciate the invisibility, others seem to prefer them merely faded. The best solution may be to add a user preference.
Dominion That's probably something best answered by the designer
agreed there.
Dominion I think the idea is to keep the clutter down and the emphasis on the content.
Yes, i can understand that, where i'm coming from is a discoverability stand point. with the buttons invisible a user who is new to the software is not cued that there is something to interact with there, I argue that would not be desirable.
On the other hand there is a desire to reduce clutter. I get that too.
one way or another I've got to say that making the buttons invisible but still clickable is a bad idea because it means the actions can be triggered accidentally. If they are going to be made invisible they should not be active while they are invisible,.
We can agree on that at least, no?
As I said much Toby, please ignore how the controls currently appear (or don't appear) on mobile! Yes, it is terrible UX to hide them completely on a touch screen, and this has been fixed in the latest code – I just haven't deployed to this forum for a while. 
Dominion The links are used to respond to the content; the ellipsis is used to manage the post.
Not necessarily! Report is in the ellipsis, but that's a matter of responding to the content. Keeping them all together simplifies the thought process from "what am I doing? where should I look for this control?" to "I want to do something. I'll move my mouse to the controls." At times, I've found myself doing the same as you (looking for the ellipsis in the top-right corner)... but it's an issue of familiarity, not semantics.
Toby Report is in the ellipsis, but that's a matter of responding to the content.
Ah, good point. Though in general, I still tend to think of them as different sorts of things.
Thing is, I should be familiar enough with the new layout by now. I stopped trying to click the Like and Reply links in the lower left corner within a day of the change. But the ellipsis is a different matter.
Perhaps it's because so many other forum scripts put the controls up there. Is that a factor to consider?
... I suppose I should also mention that I still find myself about to edit other peoples' posts when I'm trying to reply to them. It doesn't happen all that often, and mostly when I'm tired or distracted, but under those circumstances that ellipsis button seems to act like a mouse-magnet. 
Added later:
After a bit of thinking, my original point still holds. The Report command is technically a response, but the intent behind the action is to manage the post. All the controls in the ellipsis have this in common: they're used with the intent of either altering the content of the post, or removing it from the discussion entirely.
The ultimate goal of the Like and Reply links, by contrast, is simply to express ones own opinion in response.
Dominion The Report command is technically a response, but the intent behind the action is to manage the post. All the controls in the ellipsis have this in common: they're used with the intent of either altering the content of the post, or removing it from the discussion entirely.
I don't think that's how people think, though. They're far more likely to do something like what Toby described:
Toby "I want to do something. I'll move my mouse to the controls."
I pretty much like the current layout. I just don't like that the content below the post I'm liking jumps down just a little when I click on "Like" (and am the first to do so). Apparently, the line with the "X, Y and Z like this post" is a tad higher than the action buttons on the right.
Franz I just don't like that the content below the post I'm liking jumps down just a little when I click on "Like" (and am the first to do so). Apparently, the line with the "X, Y and Z like this post" is a tad higher than the action buttons on the right.
I'm pretty sure I fixed this today, can you confirm?
