Organize gallery UI problem

jfriend

This is not the most important issue, but it drives me nuts everytime I encounter it so I thought I'd share in the off-chance that someone will think of a better way to do this.

When I'm in the "organize galleries" screen or the "organize photos" screen, the selection UI drives me nuts because it's not like selections work anywhere else in Windows. Here's what happens to me everytime.

I select a bunch of galleries/photos. I move them to where I want. I then start selecting the next batch I want to move. I move them to where I want. At this point, I realize that the previous galleries/photos were still selected and now they are all mis-positioned. This happens nearly everytime.

I think the reason this happens is that there is almost no Windows UI that trains you to work this way. When you select something with no Ctrl/Shift modifier key, that is a single selection. If you want multiple items selected, you add them with Ctrl/Shift. So, when I'm done moving the first batch of images, I merrily just select the next item thinking that it will clear the previous selection. It doesn't.

Furthermore, when I realize that I still have a whole bunch of items selected and I want to unselect them, I have to manually unselect each and everyone of them. I know there's a button to clear them, but that somehow never seems handy.

I have a couple of ideas for possible changes.

1) Once you start moving items, it could put you into "move mode". The UI encourages you to finishing moving them and then clears the selected items when the move is done (you'd have to confirm that the move is done somehow), leaving you free to just start selecting the next batch of items without having to remember to clear the previous selection.

2) Make it work exactly like other selections in Windows (Windows explorer, Adobe Bridge, Windows list boxes, etc...). An unshifted selection selects only that item (clearing any other selected items). To add to the selection, you hold down the Ctrl or Shift key.

Thanks for listening. Again, this isn't the most important issue on Smugmug, but I get it wrong almost every time I use it so I figured I'd speak up in the hopes it gets improved someday.

--John

{JT}

Responses:
1) confirming the move is done takes just as many clicks as pressing the unselect all button - not sure if it wold help by asking "are you done moving?" - plus I would not know how to program when to ask that question. Some people move, take a few minutes, then move again after they have studied the order. I can think on it, just not sure how to solve it.

2) Guess what, here is the problem: you are in a browser and not in Windows All those programs you mentioned have the benefit of using a real programming language and not javascript. Ctrl and shift are reserved buttons for certain browsers (they perform functions for the browser itself), so there is no way for me to detect when they are being pressed or not. I tried and failed to make it work that way from the start, but if you know of any other website that works the way you like it to, point me at it

jfriend wrote:

1) Once you start moving items, it could put you into "move mode". The UI encourages you to finishing moving them and then clears the selected items when the move is done (you'd have to confirm that the move is done somehow), leaving you free to just start selecting the next batch of items without having to remember to clear the previous selection.

2) Make it work exactly like other selections in Windows (Windows explorer, Adobe Bridge, Windows list boxes, etc...). An unshifted selection selects only that item (clearing any other selected items). To add to the selection, you hold down the Ctrl or Shift key.

jfriend

A little more description

{JT} wrote:

Responses:
1) confirming the move is done takes just as many clicks as pressing the unselect all button - not sure if it wold help by asking "are you done moving?" - plus I would not know how to program when to ask that question. Some people move, take a few minutes, then move again after they have studied the order. I can think on it, just not sure how to solve it.

2) Guess what, here is the problem: you are in a browser and not in Windows All those programs you mentioned have the benefit of using a real programming language and not javascript. Ctrl and shift are reserved buttons for certain browsers (they perform functions for the browser itself), so there is no way for me to detect when they are being pressed or not. I tried and failed to make it work that way from the start, but if you know of any other website that works the way you like it to, point me at it

I'll look around for some other web examples. I figured your toolbox was limited since it was a browser. In suggestion 1), I was trying to describe something like the following:

o You select items just like you do today.
o You start moving them with the arrow keys or the arrow buttons.
o When you starting moving them, something changes in the UI to indicate "accept" or "cancel" that move.
o If you try to select another item without first hitting accept or cancel, then you are prompted to accept or cancel the move and the selected items are cleared after the prompt, thus reminding you that you still have a bunch of other items selected.

This is just one possible implementation. I'm guessing there are other ways to prevent the problem that hits me too.

--John

rainforest1155

{JT} wrote:

1) confirming the move is done takes just as many clicks as pressing the unselect all button - not sure if it wold help by asking "are you done moving?" - plus I would not know how to program when to ask that question. Some people move, take a few minutes, then move again after they have studied the order. I can think on it, just not sure how to solve it.

I like the idea with the question "are you done moving?". Simply writing this over the unselect button in red color like the warning when the gallery is not set to position sort order. This should help to remember the button.

Sebastian

PS: I miss a cancel button in the arrage UI.

{JT}

Ok, this was addressed in yesterdays update. After you move any photo at least one space then try to select another, the previous photo is automagically unselected. Give it a shot

Techman1

JT,

Thanks to you and the team for making this change. It seems to be working. I'll review the other threads as there seems to be a few new problems.

Thanks for this change!

Fred