Topic on Talk:Talk pages project/New topic/Flow

• T278190: Introduce Watchlist Expiry Functionality within Discussion Tools
• T299267: More clearly relate the link that appears within the hint to Special:Preferences

1. What did you find unexpected about how the prototype looks and functions? It mostly seemed to work as expected. I just happened to notice one thing that appears to be missing. There's an option to add a page to "Watchlist" temporarily for a particular period of time. This is possible via the "legacy" experience. I couldn't find a way to do something similar in the new UI.

2. What do you appreciate about the prototype? The transition between hitting the "Add topic" link and the appearance of the new topic addition interface was pretty smooth. For the most part, the behaviour of the prototype was understandable.

3. What do you wish was different about the prototype There are a few points here:

• I somehow feel the name "Advanced" menu for menu isn't particularly apt. May be try something like "Edit options" or just "Options"?
• Also, I found the usage of "legacy" in the hint a bit disturbing. But this could just be me :)
• The various links in the hints appeared to work fine. That includes the link to preferences to set legacy as the default. There was one gap that I noticed there. It took some time to identify that the actual preference is named "Enable quick topic adding". I'm wondering if this may be because the link text said something about setting legacy experience as default but neither the actual preference name nor its description had any mention of "legacy" in it. It might be nice if something could be done to improve this part.
• This might be a bit off-topic but mentioning here as I think its relevant. There's this "change recovery" that happens when someone leaves and returns back to the page in the midst of creating a topic with some content in it. This appears to be happening fine when clicking on links and navigating away to a different page on the same tab. OTOH, the change recovery doesn't seem to be happening consistently when closing / re-opening the tab. It happens at times. It does not happen at other times i.e., the add topic tool itself isn't shown. Also, when it happens it doesn't seem to be recovering the content that was there when leaving the page. It appears to be recovering an earlier version of the content. Not sure how. Anyways, feel free to ignore this one in case its a tangent.

hi @Kaartic! We appreciate you experimenting with the prototype and sharing the thoughts it brought to mind for you. Below are responses to the feedback you shared...

There's an option to add a page to "Watchlist" temporarily for a particular period of time. This is possible via the "legacy" experience. I couldn't find a way to do something similar in the new UI.

It is accurate for you to think there is not currently a way within the Reply or New Discussion Tools to temporarily add a talk page to your Watchlist. Here is the ticket where this work could happen: T278190. Note: the Editing Team has not yet prioritized work on this task.

I somehow feel the name "Advanced" menu for menu isn't particularly apt. May be try something like "Edit options" or just "Options"?

Question: can you say a bit more here? What does "Edit options" or "Options" suggest to you that "Advanced" does not?

Also, I found the usage of "legacy" in the hint a bit disturbing. But this could just be me :)

Ah! Can you share what "legacy" led you to think? And second, what word(s) seem natural to you to use instead?

It took some time to identify that the actual preference is named "Enable quick topic adding". I'm wondering if this may be because the link text said something about setting legacy experience as default but neither the actual preference name nor its description had any mention of "legacy" in it. It might be nice if something could be done to improve this part.

Great spot. I've filed T299267 to capture this issue.

There's this "change recovery" that happens when someone leaves and returns back to the page in the midst of creating a topic with some content in it. This appears to be happening fine...

I'm glad you decided to share this feedback here! So you're aware, feedback about the tools we're developing as part of the Talk Pages Project is welcome everywhere :)

Now, to the point you are raising, can you please give T299270 a read and let me know whether it captures the behaving you are reporting here?

Question: can you say a bit more here? What does "Edit options" or "Options" suggest to you that "Advanced" does not?

To me, "Advanced" sounds too generic i.e., I'm not able to infer what kind of "Advanced" options are available from the name. While "Edit options" (I'm having second thoughts about "Options now), sounds a bit more relevant and conveying of the fact that some edit (publish?) related options are available.

Ah! Can you share what "legacy" led you to think?

"legacy" kind of made me think that the usual interface is already deprecated ? (I'm not sure if that's relevant). Anyways, even if that's true. I "kind of" felt hurt when seeing the "legacy" word possibly due to some attachment to the existing interface :-]

And second, what word(s) seem natural to you to use instead?

I couldn't get great suggestions. For now, the only good one that occurs to me is: "previous". I'm not sure if it fits so well in the message, though.

So you're aware, feedback about the tools we're developing as part of the Talk Pages Project is welcome everywhere :)

That's nice. Thanks! :)

Now, to the point you are raising, can you please give T299270 a read and let me know whether it captures the behaving you are reporting here?

I read it. The point I'm raising is not about whether changes are retained or not when switching b/w new and old experiences. Mine was about some inconsistency w.r.t when / how changes are restored using the new experience. I observed this when closing / opening the browser tab in the middle of adding a topic. I could try capturing a video in case that would be helpful.