UI issues noted while watching Matt do Demos in early October

[timhunt]

This is probably not going to be a very useful issue in itself. I suggest that if any of the points below are actually useful, we create a new issue for each one (or group of related ones).

This are things I spotted in the UX, while watching Matt's demos to the MUA and Moodle dev meeting - be warned, they were noted down quickly.

1) For qbank columns wich just display one number (e.g. number of comments and usage), should we change the styling to make them a bit chunkier. (For example Boostrap badge - perhaps only when the number is non-zero, like number of unread messages in each thread in the forum index.) Perhaps more importantly than changing the visuals, this would make the clicable area you are aiming at bigger.

3) In the admin screen, should we prevent you from disabling the plugins that provide absolutely key functionality (edit, preview, delete ...). Or, is it necessary to be able to disable the core ones, in case you want to replace them with your own custom alternative? (Not sure this is critical. I think it is OK to rely on admins not to mess things up.)

4) 'Move to >>' (in the bulk move pop-up): are the chevrons screne-readable? (Using ... instead would be more normal, I think?)

5) Version - When this screen opens, sort by version number/date should be default. (Somehow it wasn't is Matt's demo.)

6) Qtype icon in title of preview pop-up - should be made a bit bigger to match font size of the text next to it.

7) Should we list tags at top of preview, alongside idnumber? (I think that would be more consistent and useful.)

8) I think that new questions added to the quiz should go in as "Always latest" by default.

9) We currently don't have Help icons for qbank column headings. They are in the mock-up and would help with columns like 'Facility index'

10) Plus, there was the whole debate about the 'Facility index' column name.

11) Can bank plugins participate in import/export? (We will need that eventually - so they can add data to at least Moodle XML export, and then load it back in - there is a callback like this for qustion types.) If need be, this can be a 4.1 feature.

12) From Matt's slides with the code samples, we need to review the return types (and argument type hints) in question/classes/local/bank/plugin_features_base.php. object is always wrong. Type should be as sepecific as possible (e.g. get_bulk_actions should return ?bulk_action_base.) And, if it is really any object, that should be shown as ?stdClass - at least in Moodle coding style.

[abonaccorso]

Thanks for noting them down @timhunt!

1. Can you please visualize this?
2. I agree that we can rely on Admins not to mess things up. But maybe we could somehow emphasize the plugins providing absolute key functionality? There might even exist a policy (It's a while since I had a look at Adminpages...)
3. Do we need ">>" or "..." at all? Imho they add no semantic value at all
4. I agree. Personally I would expect the latest version on top.
5. I agree, noted that down, too. Same holds for the cog-wheel on the same page.
6. displaying tags in the preview window sounds like a good idea. I am not sure if alongside the ID-number is the best place, though. But it might do the trick.
7. I agree (and think we had agreed on that already). Unless, when adding the questions you choose a specific question (instead of just ticking the checkbox next to the question in the general question bank view)
8. I would definitely LOVE to see help icons next to each column of the question bank
9. I don't remember the term (and can't find the saved chat at the moment)
10. I think this would be a sensible feature. Given I add a new statistics plugin, or one that displays the "time needed per question", I would expect this information to be contained in export/import as well
11. no comment due to no clue :)

Let's discuss these points tomorrow in our meeting.

[timhunt]

Welcome back Antonia.

No 1. Well, forum UI on moodle.org looks like this:

No 3. Conventionally, ... indicates that it is a multi-step process. So, clicking the button won't immediately change something. It will open a dialogue where you can put in some more details before the action happens.

[abonaccorso]

No. 1: So we would not only change something visibly, but also add another feature: Showing, how many new comments there are, right? I like this idea.

No.3: If "..." is a convention known by many, I would opt for ... then. I did not know this, however. So I guess there will be many who don't. But that does not mean, it is a bad thing.

[timhunt]

No 1: No. I did not mean that.

[mattporritt]

HI All, Just going through these.

1. I think Tim means this: This was done very quickly in the browser inspector but it uses bootstrap badges. As Tim has also pointed out there are other places that do this in Moodle. Comment and related trackers have landed in 4.0. So I would say this is a 4.1 feature and also a new project requirement.

2. I'd say with great power comes great responsibility, and it's up to admins. We already stop admins from uninstalling the core plugins. Leave it as is.

3. This is very simple to change. We just need a decision really soon as this is waiting for integration review.

4. Easy, will fix as part of the preview

5. Simple to fix, but will need to be in 4.1 as preview has landed and not technically a bug. I would also suggest this is a new project requirement.

6. Happy to discuss further. Also new project deliverable for 4.1. Preview plugin has landed in 4.0

7. This one may have been a misunderstanding, my notes say latest version at time of adding to the quiz. As opposed to always latest. We can change for 4.0 as part of versioning but need to decide soon.

8. This will be an extension to core table as it's not anywhere I could find currently. Will need to be 4.1 as related functionality has already landed. I would also suggest this is a new project requirement.

9. This is very simple to change. We just need a decision really soon as this is waiting for integration review.

10. Short answer is no in current functionality. As Tim says this would be a callback in the import and export plugins, which would be straightforward to implement. Will need to be 4.1 as related functionality has already landed. I would also suggest this is a new project requirement.

11. This has been fixed but not landed in core yet. I believe the code change is in: MDL-72553

[mattporritt]

Hi All, Based on the most recent meeting the following has been decided/resolved:

1. Style added, will be included in: MDL-71696
2. After discussion we are leaving the functionality as it is
3. Changed to: “Move to …” as part of MDL-72076
4. Default sort changed, will be included in: MDL-72448
5. Style added, will be included in: MDL-71696
6. This will be changed in 4.1. Have made issue #338 for this
7. After discussion we are leaving the functionality as it is
8. This will be changed in 4.1. Have made issue #340 for this
9. After discussion we are leaving the label as it is.
10. This will be changed in 4.1. Have made issue #341 for this
11. Return types changed, will be included in: MDL-72553