5.7.4 - suggestion: Increase Dashboard Sidebar usability
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If, for example, i want to go to "Page Templates" in the right sidebar, i have to:
1) click on the Dashboard button - the right sidebar opens,
2) click the menu item "Pages & Themes" - the right sidebar is closing - "Themes" is getting loaded (but i don't want to go to "Themes"),
3) click the Dashboard button again - the right sidebar opens again and - surprise! - now showing the submenu items of "Pages & Themes",
4) finally click on "Page Templates" which was previously hidden.
Why not save step 3, one unnecessary click and some potential confusion:
1) click on the Dashboard button - the right sidebar opens,
2) click the menu item "Pages & Themes" - now the submenu opens and shows Themes, Page Types, Page Templates, Attributes, Single Pages, RSS Feeds, the sidebar remains open and let me choose the desired item,
3) now click on "Page Templates".
It doesn't make any sense to redirect to the first submenu item of the dashboard-sidebar by default and not showing any of the submenu items. Clicking on "Pages & Themes" always opens "Themes" instead of just opening the submenu and let the user choose which subitem he wants to have opened. Even worse - the user might not even know that subitems do actually exist, because he's getting redirected without seeing these items (the sidebar immediately closes), he only sees them, when he clicks the dashboard button a second time! And why would he do that?
This is exactly what also happened to me, namely with the options of the GalleryES add-on. That menu is located at the bottom ofi the right sidebar. For a while i didn't even know that there were four more options than just one, the first, to "Manage" the images!
1) click on the Dashboard button - the right sidebar opens,
2) click the menu item "Pages & Themes" - the right sidebar is closing - "Themes" is getting loaded (but i don't want to go to "Themes"),
3) click the Dashboard button again - the right sidebar opens again and - surprise! - now showing the submenu items of "Pages & Themes",
4) finally click on "Page Templates" which was previously hidden.
Why not save step 3, one unnecessary click and some potential confusion:
1) click on the Dashboard button - the right sidebar opens,
2) click the menu item "Pages & Themes" - now the submenu opens and shows Themes, Page Types, Page Templates, Attributes, Single Pages, RSS Feeds, the sidebar remains open and let me choose the desired item,
3) now click on "Page Templates".
It doesn't make any sense to redirect to the first submenu item of the dashboard-sidebar by default and not showing any of the submenu items. Clicking on "Pages & Themes" always opens "Themes" instead of just opening the submenu and let the user choose which subitem he wants to have opened. Even worse - the user might not even know that subitems do actually exist, because he's getting redirected without seeing these items (the sidebar immediately closes), he only sees them, when he clicks the dashboard button a second time! And why would he do that?
This is exactly what also happened to me, namely with the options of the GalleryES add-on. That menu is located at the bottom ofi the right sidebar. For a while i didn't even know that there were four more options than just one, the first, to "Manage" the images!
Thanks for that information, that's strange! Must be something got messed up in my system... It was a 5.7.4RC2 installation on a shared host, updated with the current 5.7.4 by replacing "concrete" with the new one and running the update script. Everything seemed allright after installation, then i ran into errors that blocked "add page" and clipboard usage, which i reported as bugs. Finally i experienced that dashboard issue...
Seems that upgrading from 5.7.4RC2 is risky. Now i'm going to completely reinstall 5.7.4. Let's see, if the issues will be gone. I will report.
Thank you,
Michael
Seems that upgrading from 5.7.4RC2 is risky. Now i'm going to completely reinstall 5.7.4. Let's see, if the issues will be gone. I will report.
Thank you,
Michael
Unfortunately, the problem is back again - at least with Firefox.
After a clean 5.7.4 install it seemed that the problem was gone, submenu items opened as expected, but as soon as i have uploaded some images, the sidebar was closing again after clicking a menu link and the behaviour is the same a described above.
That problem seems to not exist with Safari.
After a clean 5.7.4 install it seemed that the problem was gone, submenu items opened as expected, but as soon as i have uploaded some images, the sidebar was closing again after clicking a menu link and the behaviour is the same a described above.
That problem seems to not exist with Safari.
I am experiencing the same behavior using 5.7.4 upgraded from 5.7.3.1 on Windows 7 with Firefox 37.0.2
The dashboard redirects to a sub menu item and closes.
Martin
The dashboard redirects to a sub menu item and closes.
Martin
@okapi
@martbase
I recommend posting to the bug tracker and to the GitHub issues page regarding this.
https://www.concrete5.org/developers/bugs/5-7-3-1/...
https://github.com/concrete5/concrete5-5.7.0/issues...
@martbase
I recommend posting to the bug tracker and to the GitHub issues page regarding this.
https://www.concrete5.org/developers/bugs/5-7-3-1/...
https://github.com/concrete5/concrete5-5.7.0/issues...
FWIW, I've been dealing with this dashboard closing all day, and I think it should stay open until you either "Return to Website" or click a close button on the Dashboard panel. 2¢ : )
I rolled back to a 5.7.4RC2 install and then updated it to 5.7.4.
The dashboard panel now will intermittently close on its own. It doesn't happen very often or always in the same place.
The dashboard panel now will intermittently close on its own. It doesn't happen very often or always in the same place.
This definitely isn't by design and isn't something we've seen in any of our environments. If you clear your cookies does the issue persist?
@andrew
The issue persists after clearing cookies.
I identified a pattern though.
Example:
1. Click to Dashboard and then Stacks & Blocks, the first menu item Stacks is opened and the dashboard stays open. I click "Return to Website" and then navigate back to the dashboard, the panel stays open.
2. Click to Dashboard and then Stacks & Blocks, the first menu item Stacks is opened and the dashboard stays open. I click on Dashboard to close the dashboard panel, so the Stacks page is full width. I click "Return to Website" and then navigate back to the dashboard, the panel automatically closes.
If you click on Dashboard to close the dashboard panel, the next time you navigate to the dashboard, it will automatically close.
If you did not close the dashboard panel, the next time you navigate to the dashboard, it will stay open.
The issue persists after clearing cookies.
I identified a pattern though.
Example:
1. Click to Dashboard and then Stacks & Blocks, the first menu item Stacks is opened and the dashboard stays open. I click "Return to Website" and then navigate back to the dashboard, the panel stays open.
2. Click to Dashboard and then Stacks & Blocks, the first menu item Stacks is opened and the dashboard stays open. I click on Dashboard to close the dashboard panel, so the Stacks page is full width. I click "Return to Website" and then navigate back to the dashboard, the panel automatically closes.
If you click on Dashboard to close the dashboard panel, the next time you navigate to the dashboard, it will automatically close.
If you did not close the dashboard panel, the next time you navigate to the dashboard, it will stay open.
Clearing cookies doesn't help.
Now i'm seeing this behavior with Safari too.
And as mentioned, with Firefox 37.0.2, MacBookPro OSX Yosemite or PC Windows 7.
It exists on Upgrades from 5.7.4RC2 as well as on clean 5.7.4 installs.
To reproduce:
Click on button "Dashboard" - Panel opens
Click on "Pages & Themes" - Panel stays open, submenu opens correctly
Click on button "Dashboard" - Panel closes
Click on button "Dashboard" - Panel opens
Click on "Blocks & Stacks" - PANEL CLOSES, instead of staying open and showing the submenu of Blocks & Stacks.
Now i'm seeing this behavior with Safari too.
And as mentioned, with Firefox 37.0.2, MacBookPro OSX Yosemite or PC Windows 7.
It exists on Upgrades from 5.7.4RC2 as well as on clean 5.7.4 installs.
To reproduce:
Click on button "Dashboard" - Panel opens
Click on "Pages & Themes" - Panel stays open, submenu opens correctly
Click on button "Dashboard" - Panel closes
Click on button "Dashboard" - Panel opens
Click on "Blocks & Stacks" - PANEL CLOSES, instead of staying open and showing the submenu of Blocks & Stacks.
I'm unable to reproduce this issue following both your and @MrKDilkington's examples. I think we're going to have to have someone affected figure out exactly what is going on. The issue could be cookie based, it might have something to do with your server and/or your URL
I have (had) the same problem.
The problem is in the footer file (\concrete\themes\dashboard\elements\footer.php).
On line 22 you can see the comment that it needs some time for the variable "ConcretePanelManager" to update. The setTimeout function has been set to 500ms.
On my end it did work when I changed the setTimeout to 1500ms.
So I guess, depending on how fast your website is running you can increase or decrease the timeout.
Andrew, you most likely have a faster computer (so your browser is running faster) which causes the variable "ConcretePanelManager" to update faster. So try reducing the timeout to like 100ms or maybe even 10ms. Then you'll encounter the same problem.
However, I think this should get fixed. It really may not be an issue you should encounter even if you have a slow browser.
For us (tech guys) it is normal to have everything up to date and have fast running computers. But for instance our clients, which are not that technical, probably don't bother to have a fast pc.
- Stef
The problem is in the footer file (\concrete\themes\dashboard\elements\footer.php).
On line 22 you can see the comment that it needs some time for the variable "ConcretePanelManager" to update. The setTimeout function has been set to 500ms.
On my end it did work when I changed the setTimeout to 1500ms.
So I guess, depending on how fast your website is running you can increase or decrease the timeout.
Andrew, you most likely have a faster computer (so your browser is running faster) which causes the variable "ConcretePanelManager" to update faster. So try reducing the timeout to like 100ms or maybe even 10ms. Then you'll encounter the same problem.
However, I think this should get fixed. It really may not be an issue you should encounter even if you have a slow browser.
For us (tech guys) it is normal to have everything up to date and have fast running computers. But for instance our clients, which are not that technical, probably don't bother to have a fast pc.
- Stef
For me the problem has gone with version 5.7.5 RC 1.
I think you can fix it the same way? Have you tried that already?
- Stef
- Stef
@andrew
I continue to experience the auto-closing behavior of the dashboard, but I did find a cause.
When the dashboard is closed, a cookie with the name "dashboardPanelStatus" and the value "closed" is created. While this cookie is set, the dashboard will auto-close. If the cookie is deleted, the dashboard does not auto-close. Closing the dashboard again will reset the cookie.
Here is screen recording of what I am describing:
http://www.screencast.com/t/54kmPHdO...
I continue to experience the auto-closing behavior of the dashboard, but I did find a cause.
When the dashboard is closed, a cookie with the name "dashboardPanelStatus" and the value "closed" is created. While this cookie is set, the dashboard will auto-close. If the cookie is deleted, the dashboard does not auto-close. Closing the dashboard again will reset the cookie.
Here is screen recording of what I am describing:
http://www.screencast.com/t/54kmPHdO...
I had the same problem when using Safari - but not when I was using Chrome. I fixed the problem by clearing my cache in Safari. (Concrete 5.7.4.2) - Once cleared, the Pages & Themes menu stayed open.
My dashboard panel stays open after clicking Dashboard and then Pages & Themes (with the Pages & Themes submenu items visible).
I am using a clean install of 5.7.4.
Are you using a local or server install, operating system, and was it upgraded or clean install?