Quick Edit button revamp?

[Gogf]

As it is, when you hit the edit button, you are presented with two options: "Quick Edit" and "Full Edit." The AJAX powered quick edit is very useful, but I, as someone who also posts on some vBulletin forums, have found that having to click on Quick Edit before actually being able to edit can be rather annoying. Before 2.1, clicking on Edit immediately brought us to an edit screen. It wasn't as quick as with AJAX, but there weren't a massive number of clicks involved.

So, my proposal is to remove the option dropdown from the Edit button. Make it automatically open the AJAX editor, and then have a button (next to "Complete Edit" and "Cancel Edit") which allows users to jump into the full editor. This would take the same number of clicks for people going into the full editor and less for people who wish to use the AJAX system :).

[TCWT]

I agree, some newbies are going to be confused. Hope there will be an optin in ACP to choose the default editing mode. Maybe even a setting in cookie or something.

[Gogf]

I agree, some newbies are going to be confused. Hope there will be an optin in ACP to choose the default editing mode. Maybe even a setting in cookie or something.

Or as a user-specific option under Board Settings in My Controls :mischief:.

[Mat Barrie]

I dunno about more settings, a cookie can do the trick (just use whatever the user last used ;)) but I do think this is a neat idea.

[Strange_Will]

Sometimes I use quick edit, sometimes I don't, sometimes I use fast reply, sometimes I don't. I like the option being easy to switch between them.

[TCWT]

Or as a user-specific option under Board Settings in My Controls :mischief:.

That's what I meant. :)

[.Timmy]

I love this idea. Would reduce the amount of clicks. I mostly use the quick edit for editing my posts anyway, unless I was editing a very huge post.

[Jaggi]

i don't think it works cus at the moment u can click edit and choose, say if i wanna do a completed edit i have to click edit then wait for it to load before i can click full edit wasting even more time than i would have with wot? one extra click :huh:

[Brandon C]

I love this idea as well. And also have it to where you double-click the text, it goes to the Quick Edit Editor with the S/RTE automatically.

[Matt]

The problem with that is you waste the resources just used (1 x ajax call, around 6 DB calls, 1 MySQL process and 1 PHP process) just to click another button.

[whitetigergrowl]

I have and use Vbulletin and hate their quick setting setup and much prefer IPB's. I've even mentioned this on the VB forums.

Why? With IPB you have a choice immediately. Just want to do a quick little edit? No problem. You can choose that right away. Need to do some more editing that requires the full mode, no problem, you can choose that right away. IPB's way is more intuitive.

With VB, if I want advanced mode right away, I have to go through quick edit mode first. Which makes no sense. Since I would obviously have no need for quick edit if I'm trying to go to advanced mode.

[Darksbane]

/agree with whitetigergrowl

It is one click and very easy to understand currently.

[Cherrymenthol]

OMG!! end of the world, we have two extra options to choose from! :rolleyes:

It's pretty simple, you press "Edit" you get a dropdown, Quick Edit & Full Edit, you choose which one you want and get on with it.

It really isn't that hard.

[Mark]

On the subject of quick editting, a very minor suggestion is to have that "remove the edited by line" checkbox on the quick edit.

Why? Because if, as an admin you can choose to not have it, it automatically does not display, but if I moderate someone's post, I like it to be obvious that a staff member has editted it.

That is a very simple thing to add in and I think it would benefit loads

[.Jack]

You lot are uber exaggerating. You're making out like there's like 20 clicks before you get to where you want to go. I'd rather have the choice beforehand and not after IPB has already second guessed that I probably want Quick Edit. As it is at the moment, with the popup menu is just fine.

[Gogf]

The problem with that is you waste the resources just used (1 x ajax call, around 6 DB calls, 1 MySQL process and 1 PHP process) just to click another button.

Okay, that's reasonable.

A checkbox for "always use quick edit" - along with some sort of "full edit" option when the edit is open, of course - would be nice, but it's not really a necessity.

I have and use Vbulletin and hate their quick setting setup and much prefer IPB's. I've even mentioned this on the VB forums.

Why? With IPB you have a choice immediately. Just want to do a quick little edit? No problem. You can choose that right away. Need to do some more editing that requires the full mode, no problem, you can choose that right away. IPB's way is more intuitive.

With VB, if I want advanced mode right away, I have to go through quick edit mode first. Which makes no sense. Since I would obviously have no need for quick edit if I'm trying to go to advanced mode.

You're missing the fact that you still only have to make two clicks.

/agree with whitetigergrowl

It is one click and very easy to understand currently.

No, it's two clicks, and it's very annoying if we're used to just hitting it once on VB forums.

OMG!! end of the world, we have two extra options to choose from! :rolleyes:

It really isn't that hard.

No, it's not hard, but it's annoying. Having to make a massive number of clicks to do basic actions is annoying. While doing it once or twice across a forum system isn't that bad, having it EVERYWHERE can get pretty annoying. There's a lot of these (unnecessary) dropdowns in the Admin CP, there was one in the profile view, there's one to even view a profile now, and there's one to edit posts. With something done as often as editing posts, I think having to click a bunch of times to perform a simple action isn't necessary. My suggestion is a way to remove that drudgery, and I don't think the tone of your response was necessary at all.

Anyway, if this would cause oversized server loads, I can understand that. However, the "OMG TWO CLICKS :rolleyes:" replies aren't very constructive...

[whitetigergrowl]

You're missing the fact that you still only have to make two clicks.

No, it's two clicks, and it's very annoying if we're used to just hitting it once on VB forums.

No, it's not hard, but it's annoying. Having to make a massive number of clicks to do basic actions is annoying. While doing it once or twice across a forum system isn't that bad, having it EVERYWHERE can get pretty annoying. There's a lot of these (unnecessary) dropdowns in the Admin CP, there was one in the profile view, there's one to even view a profile now, and there's one to edit posts. With something done as often as editing posts, I think having to click a bunch of times to perform a simple action isn't necessary. My suggestion is a way to remove that drudgery, and I don't think the tone of your response was necessary at all.

Anyway, if this would cause oversized server loads, I can understand that. However, the "OMG TWO CLICKS :rolleyes: " replies aren't very constructive...

Its 2 clicks if I want Advanced mode on Vbulletin since they have no option around it. Which for some...if not many people is actually more often than quick. Have you ever stopped to think you are over emphasizing very unimportant things like this. Think about it. How many things do you think arent that many 'clicks' that to others are too many? You might be suprised. I find this trivial IMO. At least with IPB you have a choice. VB you don't. It seriously takes a fraction of a second or so to get what you want. So, unless its somehow taking away productivity from the site, which I know its not, I still find IPB's way much more intuitive. If roughly 1 second is make or break....than I personally think you need to start re-evaluating things. Most members don't even notice or care. And at least I have a choice. Would you prefer they have seperate buttons for advanced and quick edits? That just adds more clutter. Would you rather screw over those that use advanced more by going VB's route and being forced through quick edit just to get to advanced edit? Thus still making 2 clicks happen regardless? Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

On some things I can understand things. Like templates and such. But I find this rather trivial and not affecting the forums activity or members activity in any way. Nor is it depreciating their experience. And at least this way, people have an immediate choice, without cluttering up the forums, about how they want to edit. And not being forced through one, just to get to another. All in the sake of 'less clicks', which would still, for those using advanced, make it 2 clicks. How would you make everyone happy, while not cluttering up the forums, but yet giving quick edit and advanced edit options available. And think about it. Its almost impossible not to have many 'clicks'....if you also want more options available to you or your members while not cluttering up the forum.

[Luke]

Both methods have their own problems...

- Having a menu come up by clicking the edit button isn't very clean, and it requires another click. But if you consider resources, it's a unnecessary call to the server that you don't have.
- Opening quick edit immediately and having a "More Options" button is rather clean, but then you have an extra call to the server. More of a resource hog than anything else if you want to go to full edit anyway. If you still want it, you could always change the skin to do it that way. Might take a tad of custom javascript, but not much.
- You could have a user based option to have either quick edit, full edit, or the drop down. But if you set it to either of them, there might be that one post that you want to use the other on, and you really don't want to go back and change your options just for that one mode.
- You could have two buttons - one for each. As a default option it may no make sense though. Something you could do on your custom skin - a normal button that says "Edit" and a small square one in-front that says "QE" or something.

So in short.. it's fine the way it is. If you prefer it a different way, most things can be done through a skin change ;)

[Keven Fox]

Personally I prefer the option of quick versus full edit. On many vB forums I use I get so frustrated at having to click "Advanced edit" after I click on edit just to get what I want, often just to change the emoticon.

[Guest]

I like Gogf suggestion, but then again I always just use quick edit...

[Tim Dorr]

However, the "OMG TWO CLICKS :rolleyes: " replies aren't very constructive...

Well, you're the one saying it's a "massive" thing to have to make an extra click

If it really irks you, it can be changed in the skin. Instead of making the edit button call the javascript to show that menu, have it call the JS to show the edit box. And add a "Full Edit" button to the quick edit box. Bingo! There's you're vB-style editing.

[Josh DeVeau]

As it is, when you hit the edit button, you are presented with two options: "Quick Edit" and "Full Edit." The AJAX powered quick edit is very useful, but I, as someone who also posts on some vBulletin forums, have found that having to click on Quick Edit before actually being able to edit can be rather annoying. Before 2.1, clicking on Edit immediately brought us to an edit screen. It wasn't as quick as with AJAX, but there weren't a massive number of clicks involved.

So, my proposal is to remove the option dropdown from the Edit button. Make it automatically open the AJAX editor, and then have a button (next to "Complete Edit" and "Cancel Edit") which allows users to jump into the full editor. This would take the same number of clicks for people going into the full editor and less for people who wish to use the AJAX system :).

I agree, I like the vB style post editing, it makes it a little better.

[Gogf]

Its 2 clicks if I want Advanced mode on Vbulletin since they have no option around it.

And it's two clicks on the current system. No clicks are added for those interested in advanced mode.

Which for some...if not many people is actually more often than quick.

Theoretically, you should be able to set the edit you want in your profile. Even if you can't, that shouldn't matter - it takes no more clicks to get to the full edit under my proposed system than the current one.

Have you ever stopped to think you are over emphasizing very unimportant things like this.

What makes this trivial? Sure, having to make an extra click once or twice isn't so bad, but not only is it for just about any action you want to perform on the forums now, but editing posts is a very common action. I edit quite a lot of posts, which translates to quite a lot of extra clicks.

Think about it. How many things do you think arent that many 'clicks' that to others are too many?

I'm not exactly positive what you mean, but if you have an issue with something requiring too many clicks, I would think you would post about it here.

You might be suprised. I find this trivial IMO.

You've already made that clear.

At least with IPB you have a choice. VB you don't.

Not upfront, no, and that's a good thing. It takes no more clicks to get to the full edit in vB, just less to get to the quick edit. The only reason I can see against this system it the potential for using too many server resources.

It seriously takes a fraction of a second or so to get what you want.

Multiply that by hundreds or thousands of edited posts.

Additionally, regardless of how long it takes, it's still extremely irritating.

So, unless its somehow taking away productivity from the site, which I know its not, I still find IPB's way much more intuitive.

That's a ridiculous argument. What if my site isn't meant to be productive? What if it's a discussion forum?

The current system makes editing posts more difficult than it could be. The lack of AJAX editing for posts on older forum systems doesn't make them less productive, per se, but it's still annoying once we're used to it.

How is IPB's system more intuitive. You click on a button that says "edit," and instead of getting the ability to edit your post, you get a menu saying "quick edit" and "full edit." I'd wager that would probably confuse some people the first time around.

"If roughly 1 second is make or break....than I personally think you need to start re-evaluating things."

Who said anything about it being make or break? Again, think about all of the AJAX quick features that we now have. Nobody is saying that the second or two saved by these is crucially important, but they make life easier when posting on forums.

"Most members don't even notice or care."

Who are you to say? I personally found getting a menu when I clicked on the edit button very frustrating, and I knew why it was there. Ideally, forums should minimize the amount of clicks required to perform an action while still maintaining all options. Programs which require repeated confirmation of a simple actions are a good example of why we should try to minimize the number of clicks: it's very annoying to have to tell the forum what you want to do multiple times when you could have just done it once.

"And at least I have a choice. Would you prefer they have seperate buttons for advanced and quick edits? That just adds more clutter."

Did you even read my suggestion?

"Would you rather screw over those that use advanced more by going VB's route and being forced through quick edit just to get to advanced edit?"

You're right, it would be awful if people who wanted to use the full edit had to make two clicks to do it. Wait... :rolleyes:

"Thus still making 2 clicks happen regardless? Damned if you do, damned if you don't."

So your argument against my system is that while it doesn't harm the full edit users, it doesn't help them either? If one group is unaffected and the other is helped, then that's a net gain.

"On some things I can understand things. Like templates and such."

What does this mean?

"But I find this rather trivial and not affecting the forums activity or members activity in any way."

It's no more trivial than the AJAX editing of posts, and it affects every member who edits their posts. There are so many post edits so often that dismissing all concerns relating to them as "trivial" is a ridiculous stance to take.

"Nor is it depreciating their experience."

Yes, it is. Making superfluous clicks is definitely a deprecation of my experience.

"And at least this way, people have an immediate choice, without cluttering up the forums, about how they want to edit."

Why is that a benefit? Why do they need an immediate choice?

"And not being forced through one, just to get to another."

What's wrong with having to go through the quick edit to get into the full edit? AJAX takes an extremely short amount of time to load; far less, in fact, than the "trivial" amount of time that you were arguing it takes to click on "quick edit."

"All in the sake of 'less clicks', which would still, for those using advanced, make it 2 clicks."

Again, nobody is harmed under my system. All that's lost is a needless choice, and those who use the full edit are forced to endure a millisecond of extra loading time.

Now, server load can be an issue, but that's on the server side. Clearly my system is better if server resources are not an issue.

"How would you make everyone happy, while not cluttering up the forums, but yet giving quick edit and advanced edit options available."

Read the first post in this thread.

"And think about it. Its almost impossible not to have many 'clicks'....if you also want more options available to you or your members while not cluttering up the forum."

Read the first post in this thread.

EDIT: Stupid quote limit. Wow, that is EXTREMELY annoying.

[Kman_]

As it is, when you hit the edit button, you are presented with two options: "Quick Edit" and "Full Edit." The AJAX powered quick edit is very useful, but I, as someone who also posts on some vBulletin forums, have found that having to click on Quick Edit before actually being able to edit can be rather annoying. Before 2.1, clicking on Edit immediately brought us to an edit screen. It wasn't as quick as with AJAX, but there weren't a massive number of clicks involved.

So, my proposal is to remove the option dropdown from the Edit button. Make it automatically open the AJAX editor, and then have a button (next to "Complete Edit" and "Cancel Edit") which allows users to jump into the full editor. This would take the same number of clicks for people going into the full editor and less for people who wish to use the AJAX system :).

I agree. It is much more practical that way.

At least have an option in the ACP where you can switch between the current system and the system that the topic creator mentioned.

[harmor]

I am used to the vBulletin's way of doing quick edit. When I use an IPB board I forget about the menu that asks me me if I want to do a quick or full edit. So for me the IPB method takes longer.