List view filters are inconsistent

crystalenka commented 2 years ago

This issue has been created after some discussion around #5 .

Problem we're trying to solve:

Depending on the component, the filters available are inconsistently ordered. This leads to frustration both for experienced users and new users, because one must look carefully which filter they need before selecting. They are also inflexible (it's not possible to filter by multiple categories, for example).

Possible solutions include:

Decide on a standard order for filters based on usage
Some filters are available in every (or almost every) core component. Could we pull 2-3 of these out of the accordion and have them next to the search box for easy access instead? If so, which ones?
Should we rework the UI pattern for filters completely to allow for more flexible options? (Checkboxes instead of dropdowns, for example?) (This would be a B/C break and need to go into a major release)
Filters are currently hardcoded into XML files. Would it be better and easier to maintain common patterns if we passed those filters through a common layout instead? How would that work? How would that affect 3rd party developers?

Things to remember as we discuss this issue:

Every component (core or 3rd party) has different filtering options available.
Workflows introduce an additional filter.
Currently, filters mostly follow column order. If the column order is inconsistent too, should we come up with a more standard pattern? Does it make sense, since each component has different needs and focuses? Would simplifying there make it better or worse for integrators and content managers?

brianteeman commented 2 years ago

Depending on the component, the filters available are inconsistently ordered.

Please could you point out which ones are not consistent. They should be as I spent quite a lot of time ensuring that the order of the filters matched the order of the columns

crystalenka commented 2 years ago

Depending on the component, the filters available are inconsistently ordered.

Please could you point out which ones are not consistent. They should be as I spent quite a lot of time ensuring that the order of the filters matched the order of the columns

They are consistent with the columns in most cases (though I think maybe not with workflows enabled), but they are not consistent with each other:

Screenshot of a spreadsheet showing different filter orders in joomla components

One of the questions I raised above is that since the filters follow column order, the columns are ordered inconsistently across components too when compared to each other. Should they be more consistent? I don't know the answer, just keeping track of the different things we're looking at as a team right now. :)

brianteeman commented 2 years ago

but they are not consistent with each other:

How can they be if all the views have different columns

crystalenka commented 2 years ago

Relevant past issue: https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/issues/28056

joomla / jxt