dlaliberte
commented
8 months ago Hi Dominic. Since I was the instigator (and primary implementor) of these changes, I am very interested to hear your feedback. It seems to be working now as intended, so maybe we need to make some more changes so the behavior is less confusing.
Navigate to https://infra.spec.whatwg.org/#strings and click on the bold "string" definition. In the reference box that pops up, click
#stringat the top. In the past (and in maybe every other bikeshed specification) this would fragment-navigate you to#string, centering on that definition.
The way it used to work, which I found very confusing, was that two things would happen when you clicked on the #string link:
- The window scrolled, putting the definition I had hovered over in the center of the window.
- The reference box disappeared and was immediately displayed at the bottom of the window.
Consequently, I wasn't aware that the reference box was moved to the bottom of the window; it just seemed to disappear. The scrolling motion of the navigation was effectively like a slight-of-hand distraction that obscured the immediate redisplay of the reference box at the bottom corner of the window.
Instead, the reference box does this awkward slow animation as it slides to the bottom left of the screen, and no navigation occurs.
The initial redisplay of the reference box is immediate, straight down to the bottom of the window, and then the animation that slides the box to the left should be done in about a second. The intention of the animation was to make the repositioning visible so you know what happened to it, rather than appearing to merely disappear.
Scrolling the definition (that you were already looking at when you clicked on the link) to the center of the window is not particularly helpful, and instead, it seems to be more of a distraction since you are not really navigating to a link that is somewhere else. The definition is already visible in the window where you were hovering and clicking. If you need to see what was above the definition, you can do that by scrolling (with the mousewheel or by other means) instead, even while the reference box is displayed under the definition.
If you want to navigate to the
#stringdefinition, you have to click on any reference within that reference panel, and then go back up and click on#stringat the top of the reference panel to center you correctly on the definition.
The current behavior is a little different from what you describe in some cases. If the destination that a link would navigate to is already visible on the page, then no scrolling occurs. Rather, the destination is highlighted, and the highlight fades over one second. The intention is to make the destination visible without the distraction of a scrolling event. When you click on the #string link, the definition itself is not highlighted, unless scrolling is required to make it visible on the page. I think that lack of highlighting is actually a bug, and it should instead highlight every destination in all cases, regardless of whether scrolling is required.
I tend to think that the highlighting of the destination is not quite enough to be noticeable. Scrolling the destination to the top of the window is not particularly desirable if it is already visible within the window, but it may serve to draw attention to that destination on the first line, if the scrolling is not otherwise distracting.
This seems like a usability regression:
- I think anytime you click on
#stringat the top of the box, you should be fragment-navigated to the definition.
Navigation to a page with a link that includes a fragment actually scrolls the page to display the destination at the top of the window, not the center. Is there some user-customized behavior I am unaware of?
- Why does the mouse turn into a question mark when you hover over definitions now?
The definition link does not behave like other links that navigate to somewhere else. Instead, clicking on the definition displays information about the thing you just clicked on; hence, the question mark cursor seems entirely appropriate.
- Why does the reference box animate now, slowly to the corner instead of just snapping there?
Unless you are already aware that the reference box will appear in the corner, you will tend to not see it. I know that was true for me. I wonder how many other people were similarly confused.
I noticed all of these on most WHATWG standards, but not really any other bikeshed specs. Any thoughts as to what is happening here?
This should be true of all bikeshed specs that have been regenerated since the last release of Bikeshed. I suspect your experience of being surprised by the change is more about what you were used to than that the new behavior is a regression. I am curious if you might get used to the current behavior. I am also curious about what other people have experienced.
domfarolino
tabatkins
domenic
smaug----
Navigate to https://infra.spec.whatwg.org/#strings and click on the bold "string" definition. In the reference box that pops up, click
#stringat the top. In the past (and in maybe every other bikeshed specification) this would fragment-navigate you to#string, centering on that definition. Instead, the reference box does this awkward slow animation as it slides to the bottom left of the screen, and no navigation occurs.If you want to navigate to the
#stringdefinition, you have to click on any reference within that reference panel, and then go back up and click on#stringat the top of the reference panel to center you correctly on the definition. This seems like a usability regression:#stringat the top of the box, you should be fragment-navigated to the definition.I noticed all of these on most WHATWG standards, but not really any other bikeshed specs. Any thoughts as to what is happening here?