QoL suggestions

[noahkiss]

Demo Site

• Add some sample posts, comments, multiple users to show how it works
• On the "Demo Credentials" page, when you click "Login", it requires you to have copied both email and password (or remember the email). Would be better if the email was pre-filled via a query string, maybe? That functionality could also make it easier to add secondary users, if you are managing the email used for them - sending a link where the email is already filled in.

Account Page

Right now, the options for Password are:

• Password (leave blank if you don't want to change it)
  • 6 characters minimum
• Password confirmation
• Current password (we need your current password to confirm your changes)

This is confusing.

Either the "Change Password" screen should be a sub-menu (different page), or it should at least have its own header, with its own save button:

Proposed Account Layout

Account

• Email
• Name
• Current Password
  • current password required to save changes

save changes

Password

• New Password
• New Password (again)
• Current Password

update password

Delete Account

• Current Password
  • current password required to delete account

delete account [custom css to make it red, probably]

---

I'll update if I find more. If I end up using the site, I may open a PR for some of the above.

[mawise]

Thank you! Really appreciate the suggestions!

[elapse2039]

Ive started using this software more and have a few of suggestions on UX. These are just my opinions based on creating and viewing posts on an iPhone.

The Recent Activity

This is a bit of an eyesore and occupies a lot of space at the top of the blog feed. On an iphone it is messy and you have to scroll down several screens before the latest post.

Suggestions:

1. Allow for a configuration option to allow this activity on a separate menu tab.
2. "About N hours ago" seems unnecessary
3. If the original poster comments on a comment thread it doesnt mention who and the assumption is me. Might read more easily if it says "you commented".
4. It might be semantically easier to review activity if the sentence started with the name of the blog post.
5. I think "thumbs up" on activity thread is cluttering the activity texts. If I wanted to know, Id probably go to the post where it lists the names of who liked.

More effort: notification badges on posts and recent activity summary could be simplified to the post title and these notification badges for new comments and new likes. With a link to take you to the post.

Like Button

This is cute and engaging but my subscribers have often pressed it with the intention of liking the last comment they read in the post comment thread. There is some confusion whether you are liking the post or a comment.

A simple UX fix might be to ensure the Like button is directly under the post... and not under the post comments.

Clicking on a photo

There is a hyperlink and some users have pressed on it on a phone expecting it has just enlarged, can be zoomed and then swipe down to go back to the original post. (This is very much a learnt iPhone app behaviour). In this blog, users end up tapping and swiping to no effect and it doesnt dawn on them it is another separate browser window.

Not sure if this can be changed to emulate the app behaviour with the photo being presented in same browser window in a new layer?

Comments on posts

The users name font is smaller than the comment text and there seems to be no spacing between posts which makes it hard to identify who wrote it.

It might be clearer if the font size was the same and each new comment started with the name. Eg: "Peter: I really like the way..."

[mawise]

Thanks! These are really great suggestions!

…

On Sat, Jul 6, 2024, 8:32 PM elapse2039 ***@***.***> wrote: Ive started using this software more and have a few of suggestions on UX. These are just my opinions based on creating and viewing posts on an iPhone. *The Recent Activity* This is a bit of an eyesore and occupies a lot of space at the top of the blog feed. On an iphone it is messy and you have to scroll down several screens before the latest post. Suggestions: 1. Allow for a configuration option to allow this activity on a separate menu tab. 2. "About N hours ago" seems unnecessary 3. If the original poster comments on a comment thread it doesnt mention who and the assumption is me. Might read more easily if it says "you commented". 4. It might be semantically easier to review activity if the sentence started with the name of the blog post. 5. I think "thumbs up" on activity thread is cluttering the activity texts. If I wanted to know, Id probably go to the post where it lists the names of who liked. More effort: notification badges on posts and recent activity summary could be simplified to the post title and these notification badges for new comments and new likes. With a link to take you to the post. *Like Button* This is cute and engaging but my subscribers have often pressed it with the intention of liking the last comment they read in the post comment thread. There is some confusion whether you are liking the post or a comment. A simple UX fix might be to ensure the Like button is directly under the post... and not under the post comments. *Clicking on a photo* There is a hyperlink and some users have pressed on it on a phone expecting it has just enlarged, can be zoomed and then swipe down to go back to the original post. (This is very much a learnt iPhone app behaviour). In this blog, users end up tapping and swiping to no effect and it doesnt dawn on them it is another separate browser window. Not sure if this can be changed to emulate the app behaviour with the photo being presented in same browser window in a new layer? *Comments on posts* The users name font is smaller than the comment text and there seems to be no spacing between posts which makes it hard to identify who wrote it. It might be clearer if the font size was the same and each new comment started with the name. Eg: "Peter: I really like the way..." — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#82 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AA2DVLWW434J3RH6NR3V6UDZLCLBFAVCNFSM6AAAAABDZHDTMGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDEMJSGE3TQOBYG4> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[elapse2039]

One more...

Uploading Images at Caret Location

Uploaded images always appear at the bottom of the markdown.

It would be a nice QoL if the new markdown appeared wherever the caret is in the markdown text box.

[elapse2039]

More a functionality suggestion but would be useful to have an option when editing a post to be able to choose "show all" (default) and "read more..." on main blog site that allows you to truncate a post after say a paragraph or two and one image.

[mawise]

@elapse2039

If the original poster comments on a comment thread it doesnt mention who and the assumption is me. Might read more easily if it says "you commented".

I really like the idea of saying "you commented" or similar.

I also suspect that you don't have a name specified on your Account page. The Haven setup/deployment instructions don't include a step for setting your own name. I could have it fall back to email in that case. What do you think?

[elapse2039]

You're right... I had not specified a Name in my Account.

[elapse2039]

I think fall back to email address is a good idea if there is no Name.

[mawise]

@elapse2039

The Recent Activity

This is a bit of an eyesore and occupies a lot of space at the top of the blog feed.

What do you think about the activity being collapsible? See screenshots. It would start open, but then a single tap hides all of it instead of needing to scroll through a bunch of stuff. I'm still thinking about ways to make this content easier to parse.

[elapse2039]

I think a collapsed activity tab is a good choice. Ive noticed this activity info only seems to appear for admins and not subscribers.

[mawise]

The intention is to bring your attention as owner of the site to activity you might miss if you aren't reviewing each post. If someone comments on an old post, you might not notice it right away. I'll push this change and minor improvements to how comments are displayed per some of your suggestions. I'll keep iterating--thanks so much for your input!

[elapse2039]

I think iteration is the key as probably wont find an optimal single flow/layout choice with experimenting a bit. Maybe a configuration flag or two may help if its easy to add to the Settings section?

[elapse2039]

Im still using this! And its been reliable and a great way to send updates to family.

Editable Post Date...

Another suggestion... it would be nice to be able to edit the post date and allow for creating a post today, but edit its published date to some date in the past.

[elapse2039]

Cant recall if Ive already mentioned but if the post editing could cache the contents locally in browser this would help when a poor internet connection times out. Going "back" usually ends up with an empty text box or all previous edits lost.

This happens more than you might expect especially while travelling and using crappy wifi or unstable mobile data.

I end up saving often, but it would be great if the browser could automatically save locally... and not rely on the internet as I can never predict when its going to timeout.

[mawise]

I'm glad you've been enjoying your Haven!!

I used to have an editable post date, but removed it to keep the flow simpler. While it would b easy enough to put it behind a setting, I'm wary that the settings will explode in options if I'm not super careful about what I put in there. I'll have to think about this one some more.

Local caching of an in-progress post seems like a clear and obvious win. I'll look at what it takes to make this happen.

[mawise]

@elapse2039 with #124 you can now edit the post date (and time for ordering). The options appear only when you edit a post, so the post creation flow stays minimal.

[elapse2039]

@elapse2039 with #124 you can now edit the post date (and time for ordering). The options appear only when you edit a post, so the post creation flow stays minimal.

This is perfect! Thanks!