where are "my" branches?

[EmmaJane]

I uploaded a branch... and then I couldn't find it. It is unclear what the difference is between "Related software" and "Code." I've attached a screenshot that shows why I find this so confusing. There are three problems:

(1) "Related Software" links to "Related Projects" which includes PPA, but there is no explanatory text on what any of these things are. To me "related software" implies "code you've worked on", but this is absolutely not the case. When I don't find my code in the black tabs, I don't immediately think to click on the "Code" tab above because "Related software" has already told me that I'm related to nothing. https://edge.launchpad.net/~emmajane/+related-software
(2) O! There is my software. It's under the "code" tab. Both "code" branches are actually documentation projects. It's not really code at all. Which further confuses me because I don't have anything listed under projects in #1 but I do have something under code? Confusing. https://code.edge.launchpad.net/~emmajane
(3) The list of "Branches related to" is in no way connected to the "code" I've uploaded. Planet Ubuntu and Ubuntu-Women Team? Do those teams even have "code"? (Yes, there is the Planet RSS info and I-have-no-idea-what in Ubuntu Women.) Again, this is confusing. Perhaps the title should be changed to, "Teams of which you are a member that also have branches which you may or may not have contributed to"? ;) To me this feels like a developer short-cut that was added at some point because it was useful to someone, not because it made sense to everyone. :) https://code.edge.launchpad.net/~emmajane

[Martin Albisetti (beuno)]

:)

[Curtis Hovey (sinzui)]

While This issue revolves around the domain of the code tab, I think recent branches could be included in the profile page "Working on" section.

[Jonathan Lange (jml)]

EmmaJane, we've recently changed the Code page for people so that it shows only branches they own, rather than the vague and useless "related branches".

What else do you think we should do?

[Tim Penhey (thumper)]

Perhaps we should change "Code" tab back to "Branches"? beuno?

[Tim Penhey (thumper)]

Also the "Related branches" should have a heading with something like "Teams you are a member of that have branches" or "Teams that Emma Jane is a member of that have branches"

[EmmaJane (emmajane)]

@Jonathan Lange: The page itself is still very confusing.

For example:
https://code.edge.launchpad.net/~emmajane
Related branches: 8 (7 registered, 7 owned, 8 subscribed)

related to what? the table below shows only three branches which is neither 7 nor 8. And there is no relationship between the numbers. For example: I often think that things in brackets are a break down of the preceding information. So perhaps:
    7 registered
    7 owned
+ 8 subscribed
--------------------
    8 Related branches???

And then when I click on the link next to "7 registered" I get a page with only two items displaying. So what exactly does the seven represent?

The page as a whole lacks visual focus. There is no grid to show me how the pieces of information fit together and no sense of hierarchy within the information. The page needs to be made into a coherent summary of information instead of having visually disparate pieces of information.

There is tabular, and non-tabular data as well as a button shoved way out in right field. A CSS border, which looks like an HR element, splits the page into top and bottom without a strong definition of what information is summarized in the top vs the bottom halves of the page. There is also inconsistent naming within the headings on the top and bottom half of the page ("Bazaar branches related to EmmaJane" vs "Branches related to"). Are these headings showing two separate sections of information within a page? If yes they should be weighted (visually) the same way. If not, what's the point of the top/bottom division?

[Jonathan Lange (jml)]

To be clear, when I said "we've recently changed..." I forgot to mention that those changes have not yet been rolled out to edge. Sorry about that.

The discrepancy in the numbers is because the numbers are grand totals, but the lists only include "active" branches. I agree that this is confusing.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

What are the totals there for? When might you want to visit the pages that the totals link to? Could the links be presented in a way that doesn't give the impression that it's possible to have a branch in Launchpad that isn't registered?

I suggest replacing the "Branches related to" section, heading and all, with a sentence. Something like: "EmmaJane also owns or subscribes to active branches indirectly via _Canonical Training (3 owned)_, _Planet Ubuntu (1 owned)_, _Ubuntu Members (1 owned)_, and _Ubuntu-Women Team (1 owned)_." Producing that sentence would take quite a bit more effort -- both from developers and from the database -- than the current table, but I think it would be more explanatory.

[EmmaJane (emmajane)]

Apart from being a fun programmer trick to give totals, what's the point of having the numbers there at all? Why not just have:

EmmaJane also owns or subscribes to active branches indirectly via:
* Canonical Training
* Planet Ubuntu
* Ubuntu Members
* Ubuntu-Women Team

I'm not related to a lot of projects. That list probably gets really unruly for a lot of developers. Having the list as a run on sentence probably makes it even more difficult for people to separate out the links. For example: https://code.edge.launchpad.net/~beuno Martin has more projects than me. Some have similar names. With a bullet list you can scan down the front (first few letters) and back (last few letters) of the words; but as a run on sentence you must read each word as well as parse list separators.

[Jonathan Lange (jml)]

This bug is turning into a broader discussion of the person branch listing page.

We are planning on redesigning the person branch listing page, but we hadn't considered the "Branches related to" section below the listing. As far as I'm aware, we hadn't discussed broader layout / grid issues either.

I'm in favor of changing the text from "Branches related to" to something like "EmmaJane also owns...". Unless there's great protest, I'll consider that as closing this bug.

More broadly:
  - I very much like this kind of discussion and would like more of it.
  - I think this kind of discussion is better suited to a mailing list, if there isn't a shared room + whiteboard handy.
  - I'm loath to make any page take longer to load than at present.

[EmmaJane (emmajane)]

To close this bug I would like to see the following addressed/resolved:

1. The number of branches listed in the phrase:
## owned branches, ## registered branches, ## subscribed branches
must correspond to the number of items displayed on the table in the destination page. If the numbers cannot correspond, remove them from the links. In other words: when I click on "7 owned branches" I should be taken to a page that lists seven things.

2. The button text, "Related software" must exactly match the corresponding destination page title. Currently the following titles are used:
a. Related software (button text)
b. Software related to EmmaJane (page <title>)
c. Related projects (page <h1>)
Please see incorrect titles at https://edge.launchpad.net/~emmajane/+related-software
Please also see correct titles at https://edge.launchpad.net/~emmajane/+related-projects (all three match)

3. Clarify language in the bottom half of the page https://code.edge.launchpad.net/~emmajane. The current title is, "Branches related to." This could be expanded to read, "Branches related to teams that EmmaJane is a member of." The important distinction here is *teams*. That list may or may not have anything to do with /~emmajane branches, but it does have to do with the teams I'm on. The title of the list must correspond with the contents of the list.
Note: your proposed solution of changing it to "EmmaJane also owns" is a bad suggestion. I don't own branches on the corresponding destination page. It merely links to branches of the teams that I'm a member of.