Inbox Redesign

[momijizukamori]

This post is for feedback for the redesigned inbox! As this is a redesign rather than a port, 'it's different' isn't useful feedback - please let me know how that difference is impacting you!

In particular, I'd like feedback from phone/tablet users, and from people who regularly get inbox messages in languages that use different character sets than English (languages that use Cyrillic, various East Asian languages, etc) - a lot of the elements of the redesign were meant to address problems with these.

Fixed Issues

• 'Unread' message filter missing from the navigation sidebar
  
• All entries are showing up collapsed, even unread ones.
  
• Odd word-breaking behavior in subjects and messages
  
• Action/navigation buttons are no longer in the footer as well
  
• Spacing between subject and timestamp
  
• Have to click on the checkbox rather than anywhere on the message to select it
  
• Expand/collapse does not work on read messages
  
• 'Delete all for this entry'/'Mark all read for this entry' does not work
  
• Selected messages aren't highlighted
  
• Intermittant weirdness/failures when using the in-message comment moderation tools
  
• The bottom message on one page is duplicated at the top of the next page
  
• Clicking a link in a message also causes that message to get marked as selected.
  
• Missing link to the beta comm in the header
  
• No confirmation dialogue for 'Delete All'
  
• Deleting messages via JS causes expanded/collapsed status to reset on other messages on the page.
  
• Current page button color is incorrect in all site schemes
  
• Not enough space between compose button and manage/refresh links
  
• Following reply link does not mark message as read
  
• Actions doesn't work with JS off
  
• Links in read messages aren't muted in color
  
• Images embedded in inbox notifications overflow badly
  

Fixed But Not Live

Known Issues

• Navigation buttons reflow in a kind of ugly way on some screen sizes
  
• Not enough space between action buttons
  
• Mark All Read button doesn't update text on press
  
• No warning when you've hit the max number of flagged messages (just silent failure)
  
• Left-clicking on message actions is slow and does not always correctly redirect.
  

Possible Tweaks

• Separate filters for comments and entries
  
• Wording for buttons
  

EDIT: A proposal for alternate button interaction, to cut down on the number of action buttons for people with JS on (no-JS would still get a slightly cluttered view):

• if nothing is selected, the two buttons are 'Mark All Read' and 'Delete All'
  
• if anything is selected, 'Delete All' becomes 'Delete Selected'
  
• if anything selected is read, 'Mark All Read' becomes 'Mark Read' (or possibly 'Mark Selected Read') - a mix of read and unread marked would get this
  
• if all selected are read, 'Mark All Read' becomes 'Mark Unread' (or 'Mark Selected Unread'
  

Comments

[bluedreaming]

Feedback from a mobile user:
- As otherwise mentioned, the font size does feel bigger than other dw pages, which is especially noticeable since mobile already has a small screen. My mobile browser reduces zoom in a step to 85%; I can’t tell if that’s about the same as other site pages or too far, but it’s still easier to read.
+ the fact that the inbox actually fits the width of the screen, with collapsible filters, is a massive plus!
- while it’s better than the previous non-mobile-optimized sizing (where the > was much smaller) the > to expand a message is still really small and hard to hit.
- maybe it’s more noticeable because of the smaller screen, but the words break oddly, including one line that has the “o” and then the next line has the “n” (for the two-letter word “on”).

Also, seconding the request to separate entries and comments!

[momijizukamori]

Font size is actually the same as all the other 'new-style' pages (which is more and more of the site) - there's also more padding, too, which may be tweakable. I'll also contemplate if there's a way to make a better expand target for messages (particularly in conjunction with the old 'clicking anywhere on a message checks it' behavior, because that would have otherwise been my first go-to for expand/collapse...)

The weird mid-word breaks will also get addressed!

[bluedreaming]

It’s interesting that you mentioned there’s more padding, because I’m not sure, but maybe the lack of padding on the sides increases the reading discomfort? I’m on Safari in iOS 15, zoom is 100% (using a night mode extension since it’s after sundown right now).


I’m not sure what to suggest for the expand target that wouldn’t interrupt other functions, but I noted that I’ve continued to have trouble tapping the right spot, so maybe even just a larger symbol?

Glad to hear the the word breaks are a known issue!

[momijizukamori]

Ah, some of that may be the messed up word-breaking settings honestly, because it's trying to jam AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE onto single lines, so the text block is very.... dense, lol.

Bigger expand arrow may be a solution! I think it's using the entry cut one right now, buuuut those also have the actual cut link as an alternative target.