[Q] Usability....

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#1 Fri, 02/20/2009 - 14:22
TheEdge

[Q] Usability....

G'Day,

I have been using Webmin for a while and finally decided I needed Virtualmin PRO. Great products. However.... :-):

  1. Navigation - Positioning

I notice that on a large number of screens in VirtualMin Pro that some navigation is only available at the bottom of the page.

For instance if you navigate into a virtual server ie.https://somehost/virtual-server/edit_domain.cgi?dom=12339169818513 you have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to return to the virtual servers list. (I am ignoring use of back button)

It would be better if you did not have to scroll to the bottom of the page to return.

  1. Navigation - Location

When you are editing a bread crumb trail would help to take you back to where you want to go. Eg. say when editing a particular mail alias:

virtualhost.com > email aliases > some user

And if this was placed top and bottom of the screen it would help with 1. and make it easier to return to where the user wants to go. And yes if I click on virtualhost.com from within "some user" I lose my changes.

  1. Navigation - Apply Button

I want to make a change and stay on the page I am on. So in addition to the Save button I want an apply button.

  1. Contextual help

Make this more flexible as follows:

a) Offer it as either a hover hint tip and/or as the existing popup menu. b) Indicate where help is available. Currently it is as a hyperlink. Does that link to functionality or help?

  1. Improve CSS

This will help with all of the above. For instance there is no differentiation of whether a hyperlink is for navigation or say to help. By adding CSS to distinguish these template developers can do 4.b for instance easily.

PS. Is there a roadmap or current features in development somewhere? I realise I could look at the bug tracker but that does not tell me what is coming ;-).

Fri, 02/20/2009 - 14:38
Joe
Joe's picture

<div class='quote'>1. Navigation - Positioning

I notice that on a large number of screens in VirtualMin Pro that some navigation is only available at the bottom of the page.

For instance if you navigate into a virtual server ie.https://somehost/virtual-server/edit_domain.cgi?dom=12339169818513 you have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to return to the virtual servers list. (I am ignoring use of back button)

It would be better if you did not have to scroll to the bottom of the page to return.</div>

You're not using the Virtualmin Framed Theme. This is the only theme currently designed for use with Virtualmin...and the only way to get a reasonable workflow in Virtualmin.

<div class='quote'>2. Navigation - Location

When you are editing a bread crumb trail would help to take you back to where you want to go. Eg. say when editing a particular mail alias:

virtualhost.com &gt; email aliases &gt; some user</div>

Probably, but I think you'll find this is dramatically less annoying when you switch to the Virtualmin Framed Theme. (Bread crumbs are non-trivial to implement in the contexts where they don't already exist.)

<div class='quote'>3. Navigation - Apply Button

I want to make a change and stay on the page I am on. So in addition to the Save button I want an apply button.</div>

This one would be possible, and trivial to implement...I'm not sure I agree, though. I'll try it in our next usability tests.

<div class='quote'>4. Contextual help

Make this more flexible as follows:

a) Offer it as either a hover hint tip and/or as the existing popup menu.
b) Indicate where help is available. Currently it is as a hyperlink. Does that link to functionality or help?</div>

Definitely agree on this one. It's coming.

<div class='quote'>PS. Is there a roadmap or current features in development somewhere? I realise I could look at the bug tracker but that does not tell me what is coming ;-).</div>

Not really. We actively try not to make huge long range plans...we release early and often, and what you see is what we have today. The theme <i>is</i> undergoing major changes, as we speak, and quite a few dramatic usability improvements are planned...but exactly how they will be implemented and what they'll look like has not yet been determined, so there isn't much to talk about--we'll be doing testing on each change to make sure we're going in the right direction, of course.

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Fri, 02/20/2009 - 14:58 (Reply to #2)
TheEdge

<b>Joe wrote:</b>

Appreciate your feedback.

[quote]The theme is undergoing major changes[quote]

After having tried the framed theme and looking at what stress-free offers already things to add to the mix:

- AJAX navigation - No need to click to see what is under servers when you are under networking for instance. Theme uses a regular &quot;main menu&quot;.
- AJAX search - Cant remember where a module is? Start typing in the search box and you get a link
- Support for Google Gears which makes the theme incredibly fast

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