Usability enhancement suggestions

by xairbusdriver in response to xairbusdriver's comment.

"Return should submit record (noted in other bugs)"
I'm not sure this would be appropriate. The reason is that either a 'return' or 'enter' can be used to move to the next entry field (currently, anyway).

I would support the 'return' key for submitting ONLY if there is validating going on as each field is completed. In other words, the 'return' (or enter) key should not work unless all fields are completed. And, even then, there should be the option to submit the data with some fields empty. I think that is currently possible by using the 'Skip this Field" button.

In fact, there is actually no visible "Submit" button in the UI.

Posted April 24, 2013 6:31 PM

The "Skip this Specimen" button should be much further away from the other entry and the "OK" button. Maybe even at the top of the entry screen. I might suggest placing a "Submit" button in the current location of the "Skip..." button.

The area with the record fields, the "OK" button, the "progress" indicator (pop up) and the "Skip..." button is too close crowded and doesn't encourage tabbing from one field to the "OK" and back. A momentary lack of concentration can result in losing the entire entry for the specimen! Oops!!! :haedbash: 😉

Posted April 24, 2013 6:38 PM

by xairbusdriver in response to xairbusdriver's comment.

It's so easy to complain... 😛

I would like to have the Forums/Discuss page(s) open in a new window automatically (I can do that with a right/control-click probably). I think the html anchor selector can control that. It would be nice to maintain the current Specimen page open while using the forums/discuss page(s). Additionally, since both sections seem to use the same login info, how about storing the fact that one is logged in when opening the two different areas? "Session" logging?

Posted April 24, 2013 6:42 PM

by acather96

It would be nice to be able to be able to give us a link to transcribe a record from it's discussion page to correct errors/redo etc., additionally maybe a list of all the users transcribed items?

Posted April 25, 2013 7:07 PM

by Zooniversekevyn.com in response to Rolli's comment.

Since my username and (handsome?) avatar seem to always show in the "Currently Online" list, why do I have to constantly sign in when I open a link (another thread, for example) in a new tab/window? I can partially understand needing to log in again when returning to transcribing. 😛

I have even added talk.notesfromnature.org to my 'Always accept cookies' list. AdBlock is disabled and Ghostery is reporting only Google Analyitics, which is also not blocked. I've even enabled javascript here! I've not looked at the raw page source, but it would appear that Session info is not being shared as it should. Fortunately, my password manager allows a single click to enter my sign in data, still it's something that should not be happening, in my opinion.

Posted April 26, 2013 12:10 AM

by Zooniversekevyn.com

Calbug: It would be nice if the individual states of #Mexico would come up in a drop down (pull up?) menu in the Province field, the same way they do for the United States. That would save transcribers from having to type the Mexican state names.

Posted April 26, 2013 7:56 AM

by robgur scientist, admin in response to rugenius's comment.

Yeah we need to do this better. Noted and pushing to our issue tracker!

Posted April 27, 2013 2:57 PM

by robgur scientist, admin in response to xairbusdriver's comment.

Yeah I have found this annoying too so adding to our issue tracker.

Posted April 27, 2013 2:58 PM

by Rolli

-a scroll menue for collectors, that apear frequently (MacSwain, Hurd, Powell ...)

-Year and Month being copied from 'beginning'-date to 'end'-date

-scroll menue for states, provinces, countys of Mexico and the other countrys

Posted April 27, 2013 7:38 PM

by Zooniversekevyn.com

The "Discuss" button really should open up the discussion page in a separate tab. As it is now, it opens in the same window, replacing the window of the record one is working on. And the browser's back button doesn't work to get back there; there's no apparent way to get back to a record after discussing it.

Posted April 28, 2013 6:07 PM

I agree completely. These would speed up transcription time.

Posted April 28, 2013 6:08 PM

by gc9

(1) Summary page before submit finished --- I'd like to see a final summary page before submit, maybe showing something like the 1/10 field list popup that shows each field and the value entered for it.

I often get through the last field and then remember a second or two afterword (too late) that I forgot to add something, like the altitude (which is usually not in order), or I forgot to add units to the altitude, or there are more details on a separate tag. A final summary page would encourage me to make a final check that I got everything.

(2) Different submit-finished-key --- I'd like the submit-insect-finished key to be different from the submit-field key. I suggest alt-return for submit-insect-finished.

I've made an error in the latitude/longitude field where I meant to type the ' (apostrophe/single quote) key and hit both ' and the enter key (they are adjacent on US keyboards), so the record got submitted though I wasn't done. (This is less important if #1 is implemented, but it might still be good in case some users have bad keyboards or mouse buttons that double trigger occasionally.)

(3) Home/End edit keys --- As an MSWindows user I find it annoying that the home (beginning of line) and end (end of line) keys are not implemented while editing fields.

(4) Two menu letters --- I like how (sometimes at least) the california county drop down menu accepts the second letter to jump to the first item with those letters. I wish the country drop down menu also did.

(5) Clear the menu letters --- I wish there was a way to clear the drop-down menu type-ahead from the keyboard after I type a mistake, maybe with the escape key. I tried the backspace key and the browser left the page. (Workaround: move focus to another field and come back.)

(6) Show menu letters --- Maybe the letters typed for the drop-down menu could appear in a titletip to make it less confusing how it is behaving when it stops working.

(7) minor: Consistent arrows in number fields --- I found it a little confusing that in the year menu the down arrow lowers the value and the up arrow increases the value, but in the day-of-month field the opposite is true.

Posted April 29, 2013 2:24 PM

by ghewson in response to gc9's comment.

(3) Home/End edit keys

Try combining these with the Ctrl key. That works for me with Firefox under Linux, but it's a bit clunky in that I then have to use the arrow keys to actually get the text to change.

Posted April 29, 2013 5:49 PM

I've done about 150 records in the Herbarium and I'm beginning to resent not being paid! Normally I love participating, but this is really hard work.
Anything that makes it easier to get through a record would be wonderful.

Posted April 29, 2013 8:38 PM

by Zooniversekevyn.com

Please put the United States & Mexico (and also add Costa Rica!) back at the top of the country pull-down menu. The vast majority of the Calbug collection is from these three countries.

Posted April 29, 2013 10:37 PM

YIPES!! Who changed that list? And WHY? Frankly, I'd have preferred to have "United States" above "Unknown Country" so typing 'un' would be all it would take to get there. Now, even typing the whole 'united' will still only get you to United Arab Emerates!!! I'm really not trying to be nationalistic, but the vast majority of these specimens are from the USofA, after all. In fact, after only 108 records, I can't remember more than two from Costa Rico and two from Jamaica!

Posted April 30, 2013 1:47 AM

by gc9 in response to xairbusdriver's comment.

I would have sworn that yesterday, the constant need to RE-sign in to every tabbed page had been fixed! Now, it's back to that extremely frustrating method; the server is not 'remembering' I've already signed in (multiple times, even)!

Somebody's messin' with the settings? And not for the better! 😭

Posted April 30, 2013 1:51 AM

by othersideoftheriver

It'd be great to have a notes field for us to explain assumptions we might have made:

"Plant covering specimen name, but ..."
"I typed the typo as written but put (sic) after it"

etc.

I'd really love a review field before a final submit, too.

Posted April 30, 2013 3:48 AM

I think typing the 'u' key 6 times in the country field currently selects United States of America

Posted April 30, 2013 1:35 PM

by gc9 in response to gc9's comment.

In the country field, typing cos now selects Costa Rica, so that helps, thanks!

Posted May 1, 2013 3:56 AM

by gc9 in response to gc9's comment.

Misleading gray background above/below pic scrollport --- On a 800px tall screen in Firefox, the picture is often cut off and the scroll bar is needed to scroll up and down. That is ok, however the gray background appears above and below the picture scroll viewport, so it looks like the whole picture is visible even though it is not. Several times I thought there was no tag but then I noticed the scrollbar and was able to scroll to find a tag. It would be clearer if the background above and below the scroll viewport did not match the background beside the pic inside the scroll viewport, or there was some sort of border at the edge of the scroll viewport.

Posted May 1, 2013 4:05 AM

Initial focus on Country - In Calbug, when you start a new record, the focus is on Country, so you can start typing. However, in Herbarium you have to click on the field before you can start typing. Could the initial focus in Herbarium be on Country as well?

Posted May 1, 2013 5:07 PM

Focus on End Date Collected in Calbug - could the focus be put on this field (the month), just as it is for Begin Date Collected?

Posted May 1, 2013 5:35 PM

by robgur scientist, admin

Yeah I have the same experience with "skip" button!

Posted May 1, 2013 9:15 PM

by SandersClan in response to xairbusdriver's comment.

I'm working with the Herbarium and wonder, every time I type in the country, if we need ALL those countries in that list? Could be two "u"s would get us to United States!
If the Herbarium shares the country list with CalBug, I can see that could be a problem. But maybe it doesn't.
Can I help in some way? Possibly send you a typed list of Mexican States? Oh-- Wikipedia probably has that all ready for copy and paste.

Note for mistakes: Click the x and redraw the window around the record. You start from the beginning with completed fields already filled in. It's relatively easy to get to where you want a correction.

Posted May 2, 2013 2:35 PM

Yes, please, to Xair's comment about opening discussions in another window, and also to acather's comment about being able to fix mistakes. Pretty please!

Posted May 2, 2013 6:12 PM

by xairbusdriver in response to SafariLiz's comment.

Thanks! I just noticed a change/improvement in the 'fields completed' list! It now shows part of what's entered there instead of just the field label. That's much nicer, makes it easier to see where to make corrections, additional info, etc.

Posted May 4, 2013 12:16 AM

by SafariLiz

When people have asked specific questions, it's almost impossible to work out what they've asked without clicking and reading through each thread.
Could there be a better way of showing previously asked questions, or else lots of us could be asking the same questions.
Also agree with what's been said above - it's annoying when you come to an issue, hit 'discuss' and can't get back to the same page if you get your question answered.

Posted May 6, 2013 2:28 PM

You might try using he "Search" function if you can think of a term that is unique (enough) to your concern and find a thread about it. OTOH, you may just be wasting your time! If your concern/bug is really unique (as opposed to "somewhat unique" ?), go ahead and create a new thread/discussion. And be sure to click the "Follow" button on that thread.

As for the loss of the specimen when you want to 'discuss' it, try right-clicking (control-clicking) the "Discuss" button. That should open either a new window or a new tab in your browser. If you are also holding your tongue just right, you will remain logged IN when you then make that new tab/window active. If you have also recently paid tribute(s) to the Zooniverse gods, you can then return to the page window / tab that you were previously on and resume transcri(b/p)tionings(sp?). DO NOT USE THE "Return to Classifying" button, no matter how many tributes you may have done!!! NO! :[ And I repeat, NO! At least not in this case. Doing so will guarantee losing any and all work you have done on that specimen 😭

Posted May 7, 2013 11:28 PM

by xairbusdriver in response to SafariLiz's comment.

Hey!!! The "Edit" function has started working! Thanks!! 8)

Posted May 7, 2013 11:32 PM

by riskingraisin in response to ghewson's comment.

While I agree that sticking to the keyboard is usually faster, sometimes if I type a whole sentence & then need to edit something back at the beginning I reach for the mouse to move the cursor (quicker than hitting the back arrow a bunch of times). However, you cannot position the cursor with the mouse, which is frustrating.

Posted May 9, 2013 4:49 PM

(3) Home/End edit keys

Try combining these with the Ctrl key. That works for me with Firefox
under Linux, but it's a bit clunky in that I then have to use the
arrow keys to actually get the text to change.

Good to know-I had been frustrated by this as well. It would still be nice if they just straight-up worked though.

Posted May 9, 2013 4:51 PM

by thala in response to xairbusdriver's comment.

I'll second that. I'm working primarily on the Herbarium, and now have to scroll down to the bottom of the list of countries each time (I've seen Costa Rica once, my other 80+ entries are all USA).
Might also be nice to have entries that come up most commonly (local to me) come up at the top of those lists if that's possible. The vast majority of my entries are USA, VA or FL. And allow my browser to remember my Collected By entries please! I've typed Kral and Godfrey's names enough times I think!

Posted May 9, 2013 7:02 PM

by Pict

I agree that it would be useful to have it remember names of collectors. I've typed "J. Powell" a couple hundred times now I think 😉

Posted May 9, 2013 7:49 PM

by ghewson in response to nosenabook's comment.

HEY! The "End" button is working in my Herbarium fields.

Thanks.

Posted May 18, 2013 11:28 PM

Ah, you're right. Weren't the admins going to notify us of bug fixes? 😦

Posted May 19, 2013 9:34 AM

Just discovered that the Home & End keys work normally, and that I can position the cursor with the mouse. Hurrah! Thank you admins.

Posted May 24, 2013 4:03 PM

I would love to be able to skip fields without having to use the mouse. I tried tabbing over to Skip & hitting Enter, but it doesn't work because of the little pop-up. While we're at it, can we get rid of the little pop-up box? I'm always sure when I want to skip something, and it seems unnecessary to go through that extra step.

Posted May 24, 2013 6:47 PM

I've found that entering a space and pressing Enter works to skip a field.

Hmm, I was going to say that If you go back and "look" with the cursor keys, the space has been removed, but this seems to be true only for some fields.

Posted May 25, 2013 9:27 AM

by xairbusdriver in response to riskingraisin's comment.

Focus on End Date Collected in Calbug

When I get to Begin Date Collected, the focus is on the Month, so I can enter it using the keyboard. However, when I get to End Date Collected, the focus is on the Year. OK, I could enter the date in Year-Day-Month order, but backtabbing with Shift-Tab is awkward compared to forward tab. In practice, I click on Month to get the focus, and it would be much more convenient if the focus were there automatically.

Posted May 25, 2013 6:13 PM

by robgur scientist, admin in response to thala's comment.

I have been thinking about this too! We should maybe have a collection identifier and know where the (vast majority) of the images might come from. Will suggest this to the rest of the team.

Posted May 25, 2013 10:47 PM

by robgur scientist, admin in response to ghewson's comment.

Good suggestion. Going to suggest this to the team as well.

Posted May 25, 2013 10:48 PM

I think the key word there is "always". If a button/link/action can be accidentally selected and it is critical to the app/program/data collection, it is then important to double-check its selection is purposeful. In other words, software doesn't know your intentions or thoughts nor should it assume them. In even more words, you just can't make software idiot proof! :+0

Posted May 25, 2013 11:12 PM

by Pict in response to ghewson's comment.

When you get to the End Date Collected, hit tab twice (or is it three times) to have focus on the Month. Quite easier than having to shift-tab IMO 😃

Posted May 26, 2013 1:47 AM

by sestuds

I wish when you had a record that you were confused about, you could submit it to somone more experienced or maybe flag it somehow so that you don't just have to skip it when it's data may not be complete. I see people post this kind of issue to "discuss" but there isn't a way to go back to the organism later on. (that I know of)

Posted May 26, 2013 2:03 AM

by robgur scientist, admin in response to sestuds's comment.

Sestuds, having a way to skip a record was a ticket we opened a long time back and in the rush to fix other things, it got lost in the shuffle. I am going to ask that this gets repriortized -- makes a lot of sense!

Posted May 26, 2013 2:58 AM

I would like to have a way to see recent object comments only for the herbarium collections. I know that some folks work in both collections and probably like to see all the recent comments together, but I stick to the herbarium side & so all the recent object comments on insect specimens just clutter up my top 12 & I often have to "Load more." It would be nice if you could see comments for both collections or choose to filter by collection. I realize that tweaks to the discussion board are probably lower priority than the data entry interface, but I just thought I'd put it out there.

Posted May 30, 2013 3:01 AM

by ghewson in response to Pict's comment.

Someone said this a while back, but I would like to repeat it (my most-desired usability enhancement): it would be great if the "Country" field were selected by default when you start transcribing a record. Being primarily a keyboard user, I resent having to click on it before I start typing.

Posted June 6, 2013 5:33 PM

by Pict

Tab key.

Posted June 6, 2013 6:42 PM

It takes 25 presses of the Tab key to get to the Country field. (This is Herbarium records; in Calbug records, the focus is already on the Country field.)

Posted June 6, 2013 9:20 PM

by ghewson in response to Pict's comment.

I'd like it to be possible to open recent Object comments in a new browser tab. Presently, to see several comments, it's necessary to display a comment in the current browser window, then use the browser Back button to go back to the Recent Object Comments page.

Posted June 6, 2013 9:26 PM

by riskingraisin in response to Pict's comment.

Works great for me in herbarium records; thanks!

Posted June 6, 2013 10:17 PM

by Pict in response to ghewson's comment.

shift+tab?

Posted June 6, 2013 11:09 PM

by ghewson in response to Pict's comment.

shift+tab?

How about trying it? Actually, it takes 5 shift+tab presses (I counted last night just after counting forwards tab). It's currently easier to use the mouse to get the focus, hence my original suggestion.

Posted June 7, 2013 6:17 AM

by ghewson in response to ghewson's comment.

OK, it's just one shift+tab press for the Country field. The point is that it shouldn't be necessary. It shouldn't be necessary, either, to have to manually get the focus on the month of the End date in Calbug.

Posted June 7, 2013 6:34 AM