[horde] [imp] default reply behavior in dimp/imp

Jan Schneider jan at horde.org
Tue Sep 6 15:53:01 UTC 2011


Zitat von Brent <impuser at bitrealm.com>:

> Quoting Vilius Šumskas <vilius at lnk.lt>:
>
>>> Am 06.09.2011 10:48, schrieb Vilius Šumskas:
>>>>> Am 06.09.2011 09:53, schrieb Michael M Slusarz:
>>>>>> And this is a fantastic feature of IMP.  One button = less confusion for
>>> the
>>>>> users when they want to reply.  So
>>>>>> IMP is better than mailers that have more than 1 button.
>>>>>>
>>>>> why does the whole world think it is better to hide options
>>>>> from users and think anybody is confused if he can select
>>>>> between "reply to sender" or "reply to sender and all others"
>>>> Because it is the way human brain works. Take a look at cars before
>>> automatic gear box. You had to know at least minor things about how car
>>> operates to do good over the wheel. Now, every older lady down the street
>>> can do grocery shopping. Sure it does a little bit less miles to  
>>> the gallon this
>>> way, or you never want to ride automatic gear box in the race. But  
>>> this is only
>>> important for power users. And they always be a minority.
>>>>
>>>> The same goes with every device you own at home, including software.
>>>
>>> sorry but it is idiotic to take the decision "reply" or "reply  
>>> all" away from the
>>> users
>>> this makes NOTHING easier, it makes it more complex for everybody who
>>> knows what he
>>
>> As others already pointed out, it's not "taken away". For users who  
>> *really* know what they are doing it is there, under drop down menu.
>
> The problem is that most users know Outlook, and Outlook has a Reply  
> button which means "Reply to Sender".  That label/button is  
> ingrained into people...you can't change it.  So, when a Horde user  
> sees a "Reply" button, they will logically assume it is going to the  
> person that sent the message.  Sure, there is a pop-up that  
> indicates what is going to happen, but habits are hard to break.  I  
> think there should be another button like Outlook has for "Reply To  
> All"; or if you insist on the one-button-to-rule-them-all, make the  
> button text say something like "Reply To..." and force the user  
> choose what they want.  I don't think any button with logic behind  
> it should automatically make a default selection, especially with a  
> heated debate about what the default should be.  Developers seem to  
> like their feature, while users/administrators want to change it.
>>
>>> wants to do and in my opinion everybody who do not realize the difference
>>> between both
>>> should not use a computer at all
>>
>> You do realize that like 98% of computer users doesn't know the  
>> difference between forward or reply, don't you? Or even what *is*  
>> the mailing list?
>
> And THIS is the reason for the default.  The Horde list people grew  
> tired of people hitting "Reply" and not having it go to the list and  
> then had to explain to the user how to use the list appropriately.   
> I can deal with switching between email clients and an extra click  
> to do what I want, but most people don't pay attention, which is the  
> point you make above:  "98% of computer users doesn't know the  
> difference between forward or reply".
>
> I'm all for progress in the UI, and I personally don't mind the new  
> feature.  As as administrator, however, the change is actually quite  
> drastic and that's why people are asking for the previous behaviour.  
>  It won't matter how much information you send out to your users  
> pimping the new features of the uber-Horde, the first time a  
> high-level exec hits "Reply" and says something disparaging to the  
> sender of the message and didn't notice it went out as "Reply to  
> All" who/what is going to be blamed?

I already suggested earlier to make the button text dynamic, but  
didn't get any feedback. It's not a simple change because the reply  
logic happens server-side, and that change would need to happen  
client-side, but it would at least give the user an indication what  
kind of reply is going to happen *before* he clicks that button. A  
short WTF moment why there is a Reply To All button, but not Reply  
button should get the dumbest user to discover that the button has a  
drop down to pick from.

Jan.

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