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After #3356894: Make field selection less overwhelming by introducing groups the field type labels only appear after having previously selected a field type category. With this flow the current labels are awkwardly worded. For example, after just having chosen that you want to add a Number field, the two options you are presented with are Number (integer) and Number (decimal). The relevant information that you need to decide on in this step is the part in the parenthesis while the main word of the label is completely redundant at this point.
The field type labels for text and list fields are similarly awkward.
Proposed resolution
Update the field labels:
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Text (plain) | Short plain text |
| Text (plain, long) | Long plain text |
| Text (formatted) | Short formatted text |
| Text (formatted, long) | Long formatted text |
| Text (formatted, long, with summary) | Long formatted text with summary |
| Number (integer) | Integer |
| Number (decimal) | Decimal |
| Number (float) | Float |
| List (text) | Text list |
| List (integer) | Integer list |
| List (float) | Float list |
See below for screenshots.
Remaining tasks
User interface changes
Plain text fields
Before
After
Formatted text fields
Before
(See #3427095: [Meta] Deprecate text_with_summary about the related issue of deprecating the text with summary field type)
After
Number fields
Before
(Note that this screenshot was taken on Drupal 10.4. In Drupal 11 the float field type does not appear due to #2542760: Mark float and list (float) field types as no_ui)
After
Selection list fields
Before
(See above for the note regarding the float list.)
After
Introduced terminology
-
API changes
-
Data model changes
-
Release notes snippet
| Comment | File | Size | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| list-after.png | 228.15 KB | tstoeckler | |
| list-before.png | 230.04 KB | tstoeckler | |
| category-list.png | 323.51 KB | tstoeckler | |
| number-after.png | 303.54 KB | tstoeckler | |
| number-before.png | 308.27 KB | tstoeckler |
Issue fork drupal-3524141
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changes
Comments
Comment #3
tstoecklerUpdating proposed resolution
Comment #4
smustgrave commentedAs much of some of these would make sense I may be a -1 for such as change as it would be very disruptive
Comment #5
tstoecklerHmmm... can you elaborate? Not sure what you're getting at specifically.
Comment #6
smustgrave commentedI mean you had to alter tests for this to pass, which could break contrib modules.
Sure a lot of drupal docs, user manuals, and training will have to be written with these changes.
Comment #7
tstoecklerWell we "just" switched the entire form from a single massive select field to an elaborate multi-step workflow, so I'm a bit baffled why now adapting the labels to fit into that new workflow vs. the old select list is somehow disruptive in the context of the larger change.
Comment #8
rkollerI agree it is a disruptive change, but also a necessary one. There is actually already an issue where discussions and work happened over the course of the last few months: #3370326: Refine labels and descriptions for field types . The issue has a broader scope since we are also refining the descriptions as well. I've quickly skimmed through the suggestions in the issue summary, and they are mostly in line with the suggestions in the current draft. Sole difference, with #3386762: Use modals in field creation and field edit flow in and the field creation flow moving into a dialog modal, we wanted to make the dialog modal title more explicit for each step of the wizard. In consequence instead of something like
Long formatted text, the title would be called "Formatted text" (and maybe something like "Step 1 of 3:"prefixed) and the available fields would be called "Short text", "Long text", "Long text with summary" - we also disliked parenthesis within the labels which puts a toll on readability.A summary of the current state and the open to-dos can be found in #3370326-27: Refine labels and descriptions for field types. The issue itself contains a lot of information and discussion, and most of the initial thought process is contained in https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Lx7L40eRHotr5KQGn6au5WxQO3lFv19a... (there are also some more ideas for follow ups in the comments there).
If it would be ok with you @tstoeckler i would suggest, to invite you to join the discussion over in #3370326: Refine labels and descriptions for field types (would be really valuable to get some additional feedback there - the recent discussions were solely around the regular attendees of the ux meetings) - simply to focus the effort in a single issue if that would be ok with you?
Comment #9
tstoecklerThanks @rkoller, I wasn't aware of that issue. Yes, totally makes sense to focus efforts there. Will see if I have some time to try dig into the issue there. But yes, let's close this then. Thanks for the heads-up! 👍️