Add "new folder" option -- to make starting a new project easier.

[ultraGentle]

I may be doing something wrong, but the experience of starting a new project from within VSCode is clunky / unintuitive.

On the welcome screen and menu, there's "new file" -- but when starting a new project, I'd actually want a new folder.

After all, for existing projects one typically opens the folder, not an individual file, so why should project creation be any different?

As it is, I create the new file, and then when I go to save the the file for the first time, I create a folder using the "new folder" button in the OS's "save as" dialog --

but even then, VSCode's file explorer doesn't switch into that folder.

So, I'd suggest "new folder" as a both a menu item and on the Welcome screen.

For the best UX, you'd then probably want to highlight or make obvious a "new file" button, either in the file explorer sidebar, or in the empty/open folder.

[JacksonKearl]

Do you have an Open or Open Folder entry on the welcome page? That should give you the option of creating a new folder in the OS's file explorer.

[ultraGentle]

There's "open" -- but presumably that's for existing projects?
Of course, you can create a new folder from withing the system dialog, but if I'm thinking of the new-user experience, it wouldn't occur to me to use "open" to start a new project.

I'm using Mac OS 11, and latest stable for VSCode.

[JacksonKearl]

cc @digitarald what do you think?

[ultraGentle]

@vscode-triage-bot @JacksonKearl

Hi, just suggesting we un-close, unless there's been behind-the-scenes discussion (which is fine!).

[digitarald]

@ultraGentle thanks for the nudge.

@JacksonKearl it does make some sense with the other ideas in #124304 and #126105. Given how easy it is to create a new folder during "Open folder", it does feel somewhat duplicated; but maybe "Create Folder" can first pick a new target and then kick off the "create project" scripts provided by extensions.

I'd also like to consider that saving a new file could automatically (prompt to?) open the parent folder in VS Code; which seems a low hanging improvement for a flow that feels awkward right now.

[ultraGentle]

As an even easier option, right now the welcome page just shows
[Folder Icon] Open...

But if it even said [Folder Icon] Open Folder / New Folder

Then it would at least indicate to the user that that's the intended flow.
So when they clicked it, they'd already be thinking "oh, I can just create a new folder from my OS dialog, like usual."
That was a blind spot for me -- silly, but true.

@JacksonKearl

[julie777]

@ultraGentle If you are starting a new project then wouldn't "new workspace" be more accurate than "new folder"?

Create "new workspace" can create a folder, create the .vscode folder, and whatever else is needed to get you started.