Loomio
Tue 25 Jan 2022 1:05PM

Thread overview column in screen layout

AH Adam Hardy Public Seen by 183

I have just noticed the right hand column on loomio, and it took me a while to figure out what it was because unfortunately it looked a bit chaotic and wasn't at all clear.

It looks like a thread summary and navigator, if the links to different parts of the thread are anything to go by.

Is there an option to turn this off? It's not working at all for our loomio instance, in terms of utility. Most of the loomio users here are pensioners and I am always looking to make loomio simpler for them to use. Thanks.

RG

Robert Guthrie Wed 26 Jan 2022 3:00AM

Hi @Adam Hardy, thanks for the feedback. The right nav bar is supposed to be a table of contents and navigation tool.

There isn't a way to turn this off currently. Ideally we would not have to, maybe there are some other improvements I can make to get it out of the way when it's not required, or make it more clear and useful.

I'd be happy to have a call with you and discuss your experiences with your particular group if you think that would be helpful.

Thanks again.

AH

Adam Hardy Wed 26 Jan 2022 1:24PM

Hi Rob,

here's a screenshot. As you can see it doesn't add much to the page in its current state for this thread. I can see that it disappears when the screen width is reduced, which is great, but currently like this it is making my declutter instincts go ping.

MB

Midi Berry Wed 26 Jan 2022 5:15PM

Speaking for myself and in the context of one group that I work and play with on Loomio, the side bar is very useful, to locate items that we would otherwise have to spool through all messages to find

RG

Robert Guthrie Sun 30 Jan 2022 11:19PM

It was only a couple of months ago that this was completely redesigned from a proof of concept. The intended goals of the design, and the feedback from people who need the navigation support is successful, but it really is about time to do a second pass.

  • Label the sidebar ("Table of contents" or "Jump to")

  • Give clear identification of each title/section (they run together right now)

  • Limit length of very long titles

Any other clear design fixes you can see?

AH

Adam Hardy Mon 31 Jan 2022 11:42AM

How does it operate? Is it based on H1/ H2 / H3 etc?

Thanks for the offer of a call but I think that's premature - and considering my group's usage characteristics, probably not very useful for you!

RG

Robert Guthrie Mon 31 Jan 2022 10:52PM

Yes, that's right. If there is a H1,2,3 in a comment, then we'll pin the comment to the timeline. The other thing we look for is polls, so you can see what polls are running and which you have/have not voted on.

We also use the colour of the line to indicate where unread items are, so you can be sure you've read everything if you want.