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Update status form does not include 'I'm still waiting for the internal review' when a response is received to a request where an internal review has been requested #3830

Closed crowbot closed 10 months ago

crowbot commented 7 years ago

I think this is because InfoRequest::State::Calculator.transitions uses @info_request.calculate_status(cached_value_ok), which will return waiting_classification when the request is awaiting description (as it is when a response has been received). I think we could resolve this by switching it to use @info_request.described_state.

garethrees commented 7 years ago

Some extra comments from volunteers thread:

Based on a user report, I've played around a bit here re classification of requests: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/just_testing_some_classification

Basic scenario: User submits request, authority answers, user requests internal review. At that stage, the request is in state "internal_review". Then, the authority replies - let's assume it just writes "Thanks for your internal review request which we are now dealing with." What the user wants to indicate is "I'm still waiting for my internal review response". The choice he gets is:

image

If he clicks on the first choice "I'm still waiting for my information, maybe you got an acknowledgment", the request status jumps back to "waiting_response". Quite often, this will mean that the (first-stage) response is then being shown as being overdue, which clearly it isn't.

There is no option in the menu of "I am still waiting for my internal review response", it only gives options for if the IR is already finished. Of course, I can then click on "Update the status of this request" whereupon the "I'm waiting for an internal review response" option suddenly appears again:

image

But it's obviously very counter-intuitive for users that they first have to select a wrong status from the menu on offer and then click on Update status manually to get the right menu choice.

RichardTaylor commented 5 years ago

Just to add a +1 following correspondence from a WDTK user about this bug.

The consequences of this bug can include:

RichardTaylor commented 3 years ago

+a couple

This bug is still causing requests to be miscategorised, users to be confused, and support mail.

RichardTaylor commented 3 years ago

+1 A WhatDoTheyKnow user today provided a very clear and detailed bug report describing this issue, including six screenshots.

I then checked the history of actions on the request in question, reproduced it, then found the existing bug report here.

One further thought, shouldn't the text "The review has finished" be balanced by some text such as: "The review has not yet been completed"? The key thing though is presenting the "I'm waiting for an internal review response" option when a response is received to a request where an internal review has been requested.

RichardTaylor commented 3 years ago

A WhatDoTheyKnow user has reported this bug today:

The 'waiting on internal review' status does appear when the request is first sent but as soon as the public body responds with an acknowledgment of this the only appropriate option is 'received an acknowledgement' which then sets the site saying that the response to the original request is 'long overdue'

RichardTaylor commented 3 years ago

I wonder if "Actions" > "Update the status of this request" offers a workaround - and presents the "awaiting an internal review" classification?

This is the case for admins at least.

RichardTaylor commented 3 years ago

From user support correspondence today on WhatDoTheyKnow it appears this bug is having consequences.

A request was classified as ~"awaiting a response", rather than "I'm waiting for an internal review response", presumably due to this bug.

The user inappropriately received an email saying "[public body] has delayed" which they queried with us.

I note that in this case while logged in as the user the option "I'm waiting for an internal review response" was available via "Actions" -> "Update the status of this request".

RichardTaylor commented 3 years ago

User feedback:

Please can the change in layout be given a very high priority? This glitch is a very rare exception to the clear and helpful logic on the WDTK website.

User also writes:

May I commend: Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (3rd Edition) Steve Krug (2014) - Highly readable and non-techie. Don’t Make Me Think explains what everyone should know about usability. https://www.sensible.com/dmmt.html

garethrees commented 3 years ago

Don't Make Me Think

I have read this.

kennethmac2000 commented 3 years ago

Is there any update on this? It seems like it should be a quick win since you already have the option in another part of the UI.

As has been commented, not fixing this is leading to many requests being misclassified, as people don’t know that you can workaround it by updating the status twice (or can’t be bothered doing this).

garethrees commented 3 years ago

Hey @kennethmac2000. Many of the issues may or may not be quick wins, but we're extremely limited in capacity and have specific project commitments that often require all of our attention. It looks like there's an easy solution here, but investigating the history of why these differ, and testing to ensure that no regressions are caused also take time. We're always open to contributions in the form pull requests though, so please do investigate if it's something you can help us with! 🙏

RichardTaylor commented 2 years ago

I suspect this issue caused a support request to WDTK today in relation to request 792878

sallytay commented 2 years ago

To follow up on Richards comment, we've had a second issue in the support box related to request 795056

RichardTaylor commented 2 years ago

+1 as a result of support correspondence in relation to WDTK request 818721

kennethmac2000 commented 2 years ago

@garethrees: Per your earlier comment in September 2021, would you be able to point me to the places in the code where the two difference status update UIs live? I did look at this before, but it would have taken me much longer to build up a mental model of the codebase than I suspect it would to actually fix the issue, so any initial guidance you could give here would be much appreciated.

RichardTaylor commented 2 years ago

WhatDoTheyKnow user feedback:

I had an FOI go to internal review, and it was in the Waiting for Internal Review status.

I then got a response from the council. The only appropriate category for their response was that I'd received an acknowledgement. The status of the request then changed back to Delayed.

Should requests stay as internal review once they're in internal review, regardless of the council's response? Or should there be a new set of categorisation options?

RichardTaylor commented 2 years ago

+1

Still an issue.

garethrees commented 2 years ago

@garethrees: Per your earlier comment in September 2021, would you be able to point me to the places in the code where the two difference status update UIs live?

RequestController#show is the controller that renders the request page.

We only show the update state form under certain conditions

request/_describe_state is the "public" version of the form. Private requests have a different form.

Hope that gives you some pointers. I'd have to spend more time than we have available to go much further, as this part of the codebase is quite old and complicated.

FOIMonkey commented 2 years ago

+1 Frequently encountering this issue whilst classifying requests.

RichardTaylor commented 2 years ago

+1 another user writing to WhatDoTheyKnow about this issue.

WilliamWDTK commented 2 years ago

The same user that @RichardTaylor mentioned above has reported their request again (as delivery error), since they have been sent a manual acknowledgement with ref number for the internal review request, following than the previous automatic one (#2045).

Can this be overcome by manually going Actions → Update the status of this request? I think it can, see #5395.

FOIMonkey commented 2 years ago

+1 Dealing with another support request today because of this bug.

nc011 commented 2 years ago

Can this be overcome by manually going Actions → Update the status of this request? I think it can, see #5395.

I contacted WDTK support about this issue (didn't know this repo existed) and yes, this is the workaround. My main annoyance is that WDTK doesn't keep the correct timescales - as it treats the request for review as the original request for information. But the workaround does fix this.

FOIMonkey commented 2 years ago

+1 Encountered this with one of my own requests and didn't remember how to fix without going into the admin panel.

RichardTaylor commented 2 years ago

+1 This issue has resulted in a user being sent an inappropriate message from the system today. They classified their request quite reasonably as still awaiting a response, following correspondence connected to their internal review request. They then received a "Delayed response to your FOI request" alert and wrote to us to say:

I think you may be mixing up my initial FOI, which [body] did reply to within the timescale, with my follow up request for an internal review.

garethrees commented 2 years ago

Linking to https://github.com/mysociety/alaveteli/issues/6440 and https://github.com/mysociety/alaveteli/issues/2282.