More editor blues: Link button (sorry Mike)

[Morgain]

I just discovered that when I want to paste in a link, there is now an unnecessary click barrier.

Before when I clicked the Link symbol, I immediately got the popup so I could paste. Job done.

Now I get a dropdown and I have to select Insert/ edit link.
The alternative is to select Unlink.

The old editor was better. I got an instant popup to insert my URL if I clicked the Link symbol after selecting text.
If my selected text was already linked, I got the same popup only it showed the link URL. I could either delete it (Unlink) or edit it.
Basically the software did the work of selecting what I needed based on context. Now I have to select it manually. This is regressive.

 

[Sheldon]

They combined 2 buttons into one, saving room on the bar (which in turn makes it more useful to have an editor on mobile).

 

[Morgain]

Ah I see, thanks Sheldon, yes it would be better for mobile design.

But I thought the mobile style RESPONDED to the user's mobile screen. I didn't expect it to interfere with standard users. I'm sure I've seen screenshots of the mobile view which actually change how the user sees it. So it's like having two style options always at the ready.

In this case it's sure going to be annoying to keep doing manually what used to be done automagically.

 

[cclaerhout]

It's not really more useful on mobile or for responsive design, it's just the official statement of Redactor developers which didn't implement a multiline mode.

To come back to the UI question, in the mce4 integration I added an option to the link button to display a menu interface with an unlink action. I found it visually better. The problem is after using it, I found this extra click and mouse move really annoying. Two direct separated buttons are far more comfortable.

Now even if the UI questions deserve to be notified, what's is currently being done is not only a Redactor integration but a rewrite of some major parts of Redactor. I've used a diplomatic language to say the default Redactor was a promising editor, which can be translated in a common language it is not grey, nor white, but bad. On the other side, what has already done Mike is impressive. I don't know if he will be able to fix all bugs before becoming mad, but what is sure is that all these UI questions will be considered at the very end, or maybe, they could help to make a break with the bugs. In other words, no need to spend pages and posts to ask for something related to the UI.