wishlist: usability: When listing collections to copy list once

[shanen]

HI All,

When copying a collection the collection is listed as many times as the number of pages.
This results in confusion for staff and students and is hard to write instructions for.
For example: Search for collection X and copy it.
Click the "copy collection" button for any of the items in the list that are called X, any page of Collection X will do. Ignore any results where collections are called other things. Collection names are on the left and page names are to the right of them.

It would be great if when copying collections the collection is shown only once, regardless of how many pages it contains, since this doesn't really matter.

Another idea for discussion: In the case of copying templates, complexity could be reduced further by eliminating the step where you can add other pages, since the template already has the necessary pages.

Thanks,
Shane.

[Mahara Bot (dev-mahara)]

Patch for "master" branch: https://reviews.mahara.org/3297

[Robert Lyon (robertl-9)]

Hi Shane,

I made some adjustments for this that are in version 1.9 where if one goes to that list via Portfolio -> Collections -> Copy a collection button the list is ordered by collection name rather than page name.

I've also just added a patch: https://reviews.mahara.org/#/c/3297/
so now if one goes to the list via Portfolio -> Collections -> Copy a collection button the 'Copy collction' buttons only appear once per collection.

Cheers

Robert

[shanen (shane-nuessler-canberra)]

Thanks, that's awesome Robert and should make it easier.

I was wondering, if copying a collection, why the copy page button appears? I can copy pages via the copy page function, so, not really sure why I can copy pages when copying collections?

My colleagues are reporting that some students are not using Mahara even when asked to as part of an assignment, so I'm focusing on wishlist items around what can be simplified.

Thanks,
Shane.

[Aaron Wells (u-aaronw)]

Cheers Shane. Usability is high on my priority list. I especially welcome simple, specific fixes that reduce Mahara's learning curve and/or reduce the "number of clicks" to get things done.

[shanen (shane-nuessler-canberra)]

Speaking of usability :)

A user just copied a collection and tried to drag and drop pages to reorder.

They ended up laughing at themselves getting lost using the up and down arrow buttons to reorder.

(first time user)

Cheers.

[Robert Lyon (robertl-9)]

Hi Shanen,

Yeah, something like jquery sortable would be the go, see http://jsfiddle.net/bgrins/tzYbU/ as an example

Where one can just click/drag the table row to where they want it to go.

[shanen (shane-nuessler-canberra)]

Looks interesting Robert, I just tried that code from a tablet but it doesn't seem to be mobile friendly?
I'm using android 4.1.2, Firefox browser. Not sure what iOS does....

PS, regarding the list of collections when copying, if Mahara lists only the collections (thereby reducing complexity) you can still let the user see the list of pages in a correction by using a popup - eg on button click (say, "show pages" or a pages icon)

I'll try to attach a mockup.

Sent from Samsung tablet

Robert Lyon <email address hidden> wrote:
Hi Shanen,

Yeah, something like jquery sortable would be the go, see
http://jsfiddle.net/bgrins/tzYbU/ as an example

Where one can just click/drag the table row to where they want it to go.

--
You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
report.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1314020

Title:
  wishlist: usability: When listing collections to copy list once

Status in Mahara ePortfolio:
  In Progress

Bug description:
  HI All,

  When copying a collection the collection is listed as many times as the number of pages.
  This results in confusion for staff and students and is hard to write instructions for.
  For example: Search for collection X and copy it.
  Click the "copy collection" button for any of the items in the list that are called X, any page of Collection X will do. Ignore any results where collections are called other things. Collection names are on the left and page names are to the right of them.

  It would be great if when copying collections the collection is shown
  only once, regardless of how many pages it contains, since this
  doesn't really matter.

  Another idea for discussion: In the case of copying templates,
  complexity could be reduced further by eliminating the step where you
  can add other pages, since the template already has the necessary
  pages.

  Thanks,
  Shane.

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/mahara/+bug/1314020/+subscriptions

[Robert Lyon (robertl-9)]

For the point about: "A user just copied a collection and tried to drag and drop pages to reorder."

I've added a new patch to deal with this https://bugs.launchpad.net/mahara/+bug/1320716

[shanen (shane-nuessler-canberra)]

Awesome thanks Robert I'll check it out. Do you patch on a testing server or do I need to set one up locally to test?

Sent from Samsung tablet

Robert Lyon <email address hidden> wrote:
For the point about: "A user just copied a collection and tried to drag
and drop pages to reorder."

I've added a new patch to deal with this
https://bugs.launchpad.net/mahara/+bug/1320716

--
You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
report.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1314020

Title:
  wishlist: usability: When listing collections to copy list once

Status in Mahara ePortfolio:
  In Progress

Bug description:
  HI All,

  When copying a collection the collection is listed as many times as the number of pages.
  This results in confusion for staff and students and is hard to write instructions for.
  For example: Search for collection X and copy it.
  Click the "copy collection" button for any of the items in the list that are called X, any page of Collection X will do. Ignore any results where collections are called other things. Collection names are on the left and page names are to the right of them.

  It would be great if when copying collections the collection is shown
  only once, regardless of how many pages it contains, since this
  doesn't really matter.

  Another idea for discussion: In the case of copying templates,
  complexity could be reduced further by eliminating the step where you
  can add other pages, since the template already has the necessary
  pages.

  Thanks,
  Shane.

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/mahara/+bug/1314020/+subscriptions

[Robert Lyon (robertl-9)]

Hi Shanen,

For patches in gerrit reviews we tend to check them out to our local
test instances.

So if you wish to test you'll need to set up a git clone of Mahara and
checkout the patch to that.

If you need help with any of that you can take a look at
https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/Developer_Area in the Getting set up
section.

Cheers

Robert

On 19/05/14 13:17, shanen wrote:
> Awesome thanks Robert I'll check it out. Do you patch on a testing
> server or do I need to set one up locally to test?
>
>
>
> Sent from Samsung tablet
>
> Robert Lyon <email address hidden> wrote:
> For the point about: "A user just copied a collection and tried to drag
> and drop pages to reorder."
>
> I've added a new patch to deal with this
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/mahara/+bug/1320716
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1314020
>
> Title:
> wishlist: usability: When listing collections to copy list once
>
> Status in Mahara ePortfolio:
> In Progress
>
> Bug description:
> HI All,
>
> When copying a collection the collection is listed as many times as the number of pages.
> This results in confusion for staff and students and is hard to write instructions for.
> For example: Search for collection X and copy it.
> Click the "copy collection" button for any of the items in the list that are called X, any page of Collection X will do. Ignore any results where collections are called other things. Collection names are on the left and page names are to the right of them.
>
>
> It would be great if when copying collections the collection is shown
> only once, regardless of how many pages it contains, since this
> doesn't really matter.
>
> Another idea for discussion: In the case of copying templates,
> complexity could be reduced further by eliminating the step where you
> can add other pages, since the template already has the necessary
> pages.
>
> Thanks,
> Shane.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/mahara/+bug/1314020/+subscriptions
>

--
Robert Lyon (Programmer - Mahara Team)
Catalyst IT
Catalyst House, 150 Willis Street,
PO box 11 053 Wellington, New Zealand

[phone] (d)
[phone] (m)

[shanen (shane-nuessler-canberra)]

Hi Robert, Aaron,
I have created some mockups of the copy-collection process that based on my experience with users would help with usability.

My recommendations for simplifying based on user recurring feedback would be:

1) separate the "copy page" and "copy collections" into two separate pages, and dedicate each to their own function.
2) During the copy-collection process - allow the user to change the prefix from the "Copy of" default.

Rational for 1) the number of templates we are using is exploding, and finding them as a user is becoming almost impossible because the copy collection screen is mixed up with the copy pages screen. e.g. There are too many buttons, collection names are repeated over and over and/or don't exist in the list, and there are no collection descriptions to go by to help students pick the right collection for their course. Even for non-course related purposes the combined functions on one screen make things difficult. The mockup attached seeks to address these issues.

Rational for 2) Many times I have sat with students through this process of copying collections with up to 17 pages. The response is always one of resignation and I now dread having to tell students they have to edit every page title and replace "copy of" with their name.

I've spent some time making some mockups, please see attached.

Thanks again.

[shanen (shane-nuessler-canberra)]

a before shot of the mockup - forgot to attache before sorry.

[shanen (shane-nuessler-canberra)]

Another before shot as an example of complexity for a new student copying one collection.

[Kristina Hoeppner (kris-hoeppner)]

For patch https://reviews.mahara.org/3297 : We have had this before Mahara 1.8 and thus I think it must have been an accessibility issue that was fixed. We shouldn't revert that. ;-) Robert, can you please check if that was the case?

We list both pages and collections when copying pages or collections so that no matter which button you click, you could decide to only copy a single page or an entire collection. I think this concept - if it is to be changed - would need a bit more discussion in the community to find out how people are using these two pages.

[Robert Lyon (robertl-9)]

Ok, I've attached a pdf explaining the changes that have happened when you click the 'Copy a collection' button - hopefully that makes things clearer about what is trying to be achieved with this change.

Note: The functionality should still be the same as before if you click the 'Copy a page' button.

[shanen (shane-nuessler-canberra)]

Some more discussion would be great. I think in the mean time the PDF Robert attaches shows less complexity than currently exists. Certainly when helping students at the moment I always have to point out they can use any copy collection button for a collection, they always hesitate.
Cheers.
Shane.

[Kristina Hoeppner (kris-hoeppner)]

Hello Robert,

Please speak with Julius about your proposed change because we are going backwards in regards to the change that was made for accessibility reasons as far as I remember. Maybe this page will need to be rethought entirely.

[Mahara Bot (dev-mahara)]

Reviewed: https://reviews.mahara.org/3297
Committed: http://gitorious.org/mahara/mahara/commit/338d6c2db4ca842337e8303d609ba4736356d689
Submitter: Son Nguyen (<email address hidden>)
Branch: master

commit 338d6c2db4ca842337e8303d609ba4736356d689
Author: Robert Lyon <email address hidden>
Date: Wed Apr 30 07:21:14 2014 +1200

Show only one 'Copy collection' button per collection (Bug #1314020)

When going to Portfolio -> Collections -> Copy a collection the 'Copy
collection' button only shows once per collection now.

When going to Portfolio -> Pages -> Copy a page the 'Copy
collection' button shows for each page in a collection still.

Change-Id: Ia742744f6c9fff0c93c0eeb1ed4c353c28a60b88
Signed-off-by: Robert Lyon <email address hidden>