1500659 - For "Edit Template" mode, replace [Send] button with [Use Template] button

Status: NEW

(Thunderbird :: Message Compose Window, defect)

Description

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

+++ This bug was initially created as a clone of Bug #1498097 +++

This bug seeks to fully disentangle "Edit Template" vs. "New Msg from Template" modes. It requires that we indicate "Edit Template" mode in title bar (bug 1417788).

PROPOSAL:
For "Edit Template" mode, replace [Send] button with [Use Template] button.
If there are unsaved edits to the template, show confirmation dialogue:

+------------------------------------------+
| Save Template?                           |
+------------------------------------------+ 
| Save the changes into this template?     |
|                                          |
| [Save] [Discard changes] [Cancel]        |
+------------------------------------------+

Button functionality:
Save -> Save edits into template, then use template (with edits)
Discard changes -> Discard edits, then use original template (without edits)
Cancel -> proceed without doing anything

"Use Template" is shorter string for
"New Message from Template" to avoid overlong button.
E.g. German locale:
"Vorlage verwenden" vs.
"Neue Nachricht von Vorlage"


STR

1) Be in "Edit Template" mode (draft > save as template OR "Edit Template" on existing template), body text: "Hello world"
2) Do template edits: "Hello NEW world"
3) Intend to send a customized message which deviates from the template: "Hello NEW world, today has been exciting"

Actual Result:

- "Edit Template" mode not indicated in title bar (bug 1417788)
- [Send] button available in "Edit Template" mode
- Hybrid workflow with uncertain states: When using [Send], given that we are in "Edit Template" mode, will TB save my latest (unsaved) edits into the template, or only into the sent message? In the same line, what is the effect/result of "Auto-Save"?

Expected Result:
- "Edit Template" mode must be indicated in title bar (bug 1417788)
- "Edit Template" mode must be fully separated from "New Msg from Template", to avoid uncertain states where it's not clear if latest edits go into the template or into the sent message only.
- Don't allow direct "Send" from "Edit Template", because sending inherently requires "New Msg from Template". Editing stable template is different from using template (with volatile adaptations).
- Provide shortcut into "New Msg from Template" mode:
Replace [Send] button with [Use Template] button, and show "Save Template" confirmation dialogue for unsaved edits.

Background:

In Bug 1389062, we introduced explicit "Edit Template" mode, distinct from "New Message from Template" mode. "Edit Template" is obviously conceptionally useful, e.g. to avoid clutter of outdated templates as in TB52 without "Edit Template" mode.

From a workflow perspective, "Edit Template" vs. "New Msg from Template" are fundamentally different: "Edit Template" is about creating a stable, reusable template, whereas "New Msg from Template" may involve individual, once-only/volatile deviations from the template, like changing addressee's name, dates, sales figures etc. in the message body text. For many workflows, saving the individual deviations into the template is undesired, but as long as we allow hybrid mode which mixes "Edit Template" and "New Msg from Template", it's very hard to tell where the "Edit Template" ends and the "New Msg..." starts.

Comment 1

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

I have created this bug in response to Jörg's needinfo from bug 1498097 comment #18, and Jörg has hinted several times that "Send" action isn't compatible with "Edit Template" mode. So we're addressing that here.

(In reply to Jorg K (GMT+2) from 1389062 comment #12)
> "Edit template" should overwrite the existing template. What should happen when sending?
> Or is there no send button?

(In reply to Jorg K (GMT+2) from bug 1498097 comment #18)
> Open a template with "Edit Template"
> Make modifications. Save.
> Then send.
> ===
> Frankly, we didn't imagine anyone using it like this. We wanted to
> distinguish "Edit Template" and "New Message from Template".

(In reply to Jorg K (GMT+2) from bug 1498866 comment #2)
> Edit template
> wait, auto-save saves a draft, ...
> Send (which is not the intended action here)

Richard, for explicit "Edit Template" mode (after bug 1417788), OK to replace [Send] button with [Use Template] button aka "New Msg from Template", as fully explained in comment 0? This will clearly separate "Edit Template" vs. "New Msg from Template" and avoid undefined states of the template when "Edit Template" mode is misused for composing/sending a "New Msg from Template". I guess we can't have the cake and eat it... ;-)

Comment 2

[Richard Marti (:Paenglab)]

(In reply to Thomas D. (currently busy elsewhere) from comment #1)
> Richard, for explicit "Edit Template" mode (after bug 1417788), OK to
> replace [Send] button with [Use Template] button aka "New Msg from
> Template", as fully explained in comment 0? This will clearly separate "Edit
> Template" vs. "New Msg from Template" and avoid undefined states of the
> template when "Edit Template" mode is misused for composing/sending a "New
> Msg from Template". I guess we can't have the cake and eat it... ;-)

With the confirmation dialog the button change isn't needed. Maybe the dialog text could be extended to:

+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Save Template before sending?                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------+ 
| Save the changes into this template before sending? |
|                                                     |
| [Save] [Discard changes] [Cancel]                   |
+-----------------------------------------------------+

I repeated the "before sending" to be explicit that the template has changed and pressing send would not save the changes.

Comment 3

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

(In reply to Richard Marti (:Paenglab) from comment #2)
> With the confirmation dialog the button change isn't needed. Maybe the
> dialog text could be extended to:

Hmmm. In spite of somewhat improving the status quo, I think that's perpetuating a wrong and confusing workflow, with no benefit. You're saving exactly one click, but at a very high cognitive cost, unclear hybrid workflows, and highly error-prone.

> +-----------------------------------------------------+
> | Save Template before sending?                       |
> +-----------------------------------------------------+ 
> | Save the changes into this template before sending? |
> |                                                     |
> | [Save] [Discard changes] [Cancel]                   |
> +-----------------------------------------------------+

UX Problems of keeping the [Send] button in "Edit Template" mode

1) [Send] in "Edit Template" is misplaced. User has explicitly switched to "Edit Template" mode, either from template context, or by "Save as template" from a draft. Editing the stable template is conceptually much different from sending a new message based on that template, typically with once-only deviations from the template. Why blend the two? As Jörg said, [Send] is NOT an expected/intended action for the generic template.

2) High cognitive burden: Presence of [Send] button allows and seduces into soft transition from "Edit Template" mode into "New msg from template" mode at any time of editing. For the typical scenario of applying some once-only changes to the template, user must remember to click "Save" when he's done with template editing. Thereafter, the UI will still show "Edit Template", but in user's mind, it's now "Edit unique message" (which clearly violates ux-consistency), and he must also remember that to avoid getting into ux-mode-error: The hybrid UI makes it very easy to forget saving the template at exactly the right time before doing the message-related changes (violating ux-error-prevention); as a result of this ux-mode-error, intended updates to the template can get lost (dataloss). And worse:

3) Error-prone (ux-mode-error, dataloss): When user has decided in his mind that template is done and editing the new msg from template has started, it's easy to routinely press "Ctrl+S" with an intentino of saving the draft (not the template). I'm sure that I'm not the only one who does that automatically every 5 minutes or so, plain self-activating muscle memory. Alas, due to the mismatch of 2), whilst user in his mind is already in "edit draft" mode, UI is still in "edit template" mode, so Ctrl+S will NOT save to draft, but save to template - bang, per-message changes now in the template, which will be hard to recover, if possible at all.

4) The dialog actually makes the dataloss error of 3) even more likely, because it's quite counter-intuitive to press "discard changes" whilst I have just done deliberate changes to what in my mind was now the "new message" which I want to send (but TB irritatingly still in "Edit template" mode). Again, a lot of cognitive effort required to parse the meaning of the unexpected dialog at the time of sending, which normally just sends for any other draft.

Honestly, that's maximally confusing, and not helpful at all compared to the charming simplicity of having clear-cut and dedicated separate workflows (ux-userfeedback, ux-consistency, ux-control, ux-efficiency):

1) "Edit Template" mode (as indicated in title bar) will do just that - edit the stable template. When done with that step, press [Save], then [Use Template], or go straight to [Use Template], which will prompt to save.
2) Via [Use Template], we're now in "Write" mode (new msg from template), clearly and correctly indicated in title bar again, and will do just that: "Write" - no mental burden and uncertainties whether template has been saved at the right time, or whether saving will save to template or the unique draft. [Use Template] acts as a simple, clear-cut bridge to exit "Edit Template" mode and enter "New msg from Template" mode, as reflected in the change of window title.
3) [Send] will do just that - send without needless questions.

Jörg, you were indicating (see comment 1) that "Send" is not the intended action in "Edit Template" mode (which is in agreement with my proposal here), so what do you think?

Comment 4

[Jorg K (CEST = GMT+2)]

I wouldn't mess with the send button and I would also not do a "Save Template before sending?" prompt. If that were done, it would need to be:

+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Save Template before sending?                       |
+-----------------------------------------------------+ 
| Save the changes into this template before sending? |
|                                                     |
| [Save] [_______________] [Cancel]                   |
+-----------------------------------------------------+

where the middle options shouldn't be "Discard changes". That's highly confusing since the changes will be *sent* and not discarded. So perhaps just "Don't Save".

I would fix the "Save this message to your drafts folder (Drafts) and close the Write window?" when the user started to edit a template and aborts the edit. Sure, if they don't want a draft, they can press "Cancel" and then save it properly, but that message is really out of context.

Comment 5

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

(In reply to Jorg K (GMT+2) from comment #4)
> I wouldn't mess with the send button

That's surprising. Maybe you changed your mind? Because in all of your quotes of comment 1, you indicated that "Send" is NOT an intended action when we are explicitly in "Edit Template" mode (more so if that mode is finally clearly indicated in title bar), with "save-as-template" flavor preselected.

> and I would also not do a "Save Template before sending?" prompt.

Hmmm, interesting... really? We are in "Edit Template" mode, unsaved edits to the template have been done (and we have no way of telling them apart from edits to the message-to-be-sent, due to the undefined hybrid state which this bug seeks to eliminate), so when the user suddenly decides to send, then - without the dialogue - how do we know if those edits should or should not be saved in the template that's currently being edited? After all, editing the template is the main point of being in "Edit Template" mode, is it not?

We have three choices here:

1) Given that we are in "Edit Template" mode (as seen in window title after fixing the other bug), upon sending, we could just save unsaved edits into the template without asking. However, when user has decided in his mind that he is now editing the unique message to be sent (and no longer the template), we might break his template with undesired changes. Not good, as we really don't know.

2) Given that user chose "Send", we could just save unsaved edits only into the sent message without asking. However, when user in his mind was still editing the template (as "Edit Template" mode and window title clearly suggests), we might loose his changes which were intended for the template. Not good, as we really don't know.

3) We could finally walk the talk and make "Edit Template" a real mode in its own right, clearly separate from "New Message from Template", and take out all the cognitive burden for both the user and TB, of guessing and handling an undefined hybrid state where editing *might* be intended for the template OR the message-to-be-sent, which is impossible for us to tell (and hard for the user to keep track of, too, as we allow him to be in "Edit draft" mode in his mind, but the UI is still in "Edit Template" mode. Apart from all the possible user errors of saving stuff into the wrong spot. I maintain that the hybrid mode is ultimate confusion, and not helpful in any way.

> If that were done, it would need to be:
> 
> +-----------------------------------------------------+
> | Save Template before sending?                       |
> +-----------------------------------------------------+ 
> | Save the changes into this template before sending? |
> |                                                     |
> | [Save] [_______________] [Cancel]                   |
> +-----------------------------------------------------+
> 
> where the middle options shouldn't be "Discard changes". That's highly
> confusing since the changes will be *sent* and not discarded. So perhaps
> just "Don't Save".

Yes, [Don't Save] is much butter for this scenario. But getting the question upon sending is still odd, and could easily be avoided if this bug is implemented.

> I would fix the "Save this message to your drafts folder (Drafts) and close
> the Write window?" when the user started to edit a template and aborts the
> edit. Sure, if they don't want a draft, they can press "Cancel" and then
> save it properly, but that message is really out of context.

Interesting! WHY is that message "really out of context"? Because the window title indicates "Edit template", and Save-As-template flavor is preselected? Iow, because we're explicitly and decidedly in "Edit Template" mode so we shouldn't be about drafts which is for "Write" mode (aka "New message from template" aka "Use template")? But then, why do we still have a [Send] button which clearly suggests/allows "Write" mode?

Comment 6

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

Here's a comparison of workflows and UI states with and without the "Use Template" button proposed by this bug.

A) Hybrid workflow with "Send" button in "Edit Template" mode
("Edit Template" AND "Write" conglomerate mode)

1) Start "Edit Template" from template context, or "Save as Template" from draft
2) Edit Template (window title "Edit Template"; save-as-template flavor preselected)
3) Save Template when done with editing template.
4) Do per-message edits (now mentally in "Write" mode; but window title: "Edit Template"; save-as-template still preselected)
5) When doing "Save" from muscle memory whilst mentally in "Write" mode: Per-message edits overwrite the template (dataloss).
6) Send
7) Respond to "Save changes to template" dialogue (required as user might still be mentally in "Edit Template" mode, but irritating and cumbersome when user is mentally in "Write" mode)

B) Dedicated, sequential workflow with "Use Template" button in "Edit Template mode
("Edit Template" mode, then: Use Template --> "Write" mode)

1) Start "Edit Template" from template context, or "Save as Template" from draft
2) Edit Template (window title "Edit Template"; save-as-template flavor preselected)
3) Save Template when done with editing template (or we'll ask you upon [Use Template])
4) Click [Use Template] to exit "Edit Template" mode and enter "Write" mode (we'll prompt in case of unsaved edits to the template)
5) Do per-message edits (now explicitly in "Write" mode: window title: "Write"; save-as-draft preselected)
6) When doing "Save" from muscle memory: Per-message edits correctly saved to draft
7) Send (no questions asked)

That's exactly the same number of steps, but with a clear and explicit transition from "Edit Template" mode into "Write" mode when user clicks [Use Template] button, clear UI states at any time, straight-forward and predictable behaviour, avoiding all the confusion of hybrid workflow and undefined UI states. We also avoid the potentially irritating "Save changes to template?" dialogue upon sending from hybrid mode.

Are there any disadvantages of having clear and dedicated workflows and UI states? If yes, please let me know...

Comment 7

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

(In reply to Thomas D. (currently busy elsewhere) from comment #6)
> B) Dedicated, sequential workflow with "Use Template" button in "Edit
> Template mode
> We also avoid the potentially irritating "Save changes
> to template?" dialogue upon sending from hybrid mode.

Sorry, that should read:
We also avoid the potentially irritating "Save template before sending?" dialogue upon sending from hybrid mode.
Iow, I agree with Jörg that getting this dialogue upon sending isn't nice. My proposal eliminates the need for it.

> Are there any disadvantages of having clear and dedicated workflows and UI
> states? If yes, please let me know...

Comment 8

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

In a nutshell:

When in "Edit template" mode, at a certain point in time, user must decide "Done with template editing, let me *save* the template and then *use* it, i.e. to start editing the individual message which I want to send out". At that point, logically "Edit Template" mode changes into "Write" mode. But our UI doesn't know nor reflect the change (title bar, save-button flavor, default save location), hence a high cognitive burden both for the user and TB to figure out the current "logical" state and act accordingly. This bug simply suggests to make that inevitable logical change of mode explicit and transparent for both the user and TB, thus avoiding unclear UI states, asking the wrong questions, and all sorts of potential user errors described in comment 3.

Also compare with other templates out there, e.g. MS Word .dotx files: It is impossible to both edit the template AND use it at the same time. When you're editing the template, it's just that - editing the template. You have to edit the template first, save and close, then start a new document based on the template. What I am proposing here actually reduces that logical sequence to a single, convenient shortcut click on [Use Template], so changing mode from "Edit Template" to "Use Template/Write new msg from template" becomes a snap.

Comment 9

[:aceman]

(In reply to Thomas D. (currently busy elsewhere) from comment #8)
> Also compare with other templates out there, e.g. MS Word .dotx files: It is
> impossible to both edit the template AND use it at the same time. When
> you're editing the template, it's just that - editing the template. You have
> to edit the template first, save and close, then start a new document based
> on the template.

Are you sure? When I do it and open a template it is automatically in the "use it" mode and it saves as a new document. You must explicitly save it as a template (and tediously under the same name) if you want to overwrite the original. But maybe some new Word versions behave differently.

Comment 10

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

(In reply to :aceman from comment #9)
> (In reply to Thomas D. (currently busy elsewhere) from comment #8)
> > Also compare with other templates out there, e.g. MS Word .dotx files: It is
> > impossible to both edit the template AND use it at the same time...
> Are you sure?

Yes ;-)

> When I do it and open a template it is automatically in the
> "use it" mode and it saves as a new document.

Yes, that's a different workflow which is not discussed here: "New document/message from template". Obviously, that's the default action for templates, both in Word and in TB. We're keeping templates to reuse them, well, as a template, not to change them every day. This bug is about the rare case where you explicitly create or change the master template.

> You must explicitly save it as a template (and tediously under the same name)
> if you want to overwrite the original. But maybe some new Word versions behave differently.

No, here you're doing the wrong thing, for any version of Word, and that's exactly where we are getting into the territory of this bug:
You must first decide what you want:
a) Use the template aka "New document from template" (i.e. to work on a unique clone copy of the master for consumption) vs.
b) Edit the template (i.e. to change the master for all future clones)

For Word 2010

For a) Using template aka "New document from template"
- From Word, New > then you pick a template from the list
- From Explorer: double-click on template (well, that's after finding it, not easy)

For b) Editing a template
- From Word: Open > Microsoft Word (special entry from folder pane) > Templates > your template.dotx > Open
- From Explorer: Find your template (e.g. C:\Users\You\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates\), then right-click, open.
  Then you'll be editing the actual master template.

What I am saying is, you are EITHER doing a) or b) but you can never do both at the same time from the same UI (only in TB...). In Word, when you are actually editing the master template (Fax.dotx), you can't from the same UI state edit an individual clone copy - that's logically and practically impossible.
So in Word, editing vs. using the master template are two entirely distinct workflows. In TB, we're conglomerating them, with a lot of bad consequences.

> You must explicitly save it as a template (and tediously under the same name)
That's how TB used to work - the only way of "updating" a template was to create a new message from that template first, and then to save that as a new template (overwriting the existing template not even possible, hence creating duplicates). That's exactly the type of complicated procedure which we have eliminated by having a dedicated "Edit Template" mode.

But here's the key point in support of this bug:
In Word, when you DO decide to convert the current regular document (mydoc.doc) and save it as a template (mytemplate.dotx), what happens next?
The very moment you have saved it as a template, Word closes mydoc.doc without saving changes there, saves your changes into mytemplate.dotx, and you are now editing the mytemplate.dotx itself, i.e. the master ONLY. When you press Save, changes go into the mytemplate.dotx (master) which you are editing. That's a completely distinct workflow from editing a clone.doc. And whilst you are editing the master.dotx, you don't just decide in your mind "oh, now let me take it as a clone" and henceforth your edits to the master magically end up in a clone without a clear-cut change of mode (well it's possible but only on explicit "save-as" request, also for TB). Such confusion is only in TB.

Comment 11

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

(In reply to :aceman from comment #9)
For the avoidance of doubt, what aceman was doing in Word (saving a custom.doc as a template.dotx, and then edit the template) is the REVERSE CASE of what we're discussing here: we're explicitly editing the template message, then suddenly sending the template message as a custom.message, without any clear-cut transition between the two modes. In Word, you can use Save-As to change modes, but you'll only edit either the custom.doc OR template.dotx, never both at the same time with unclear and error-prone transitions.

Comment 12

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

(In reply to Jorg K (GMT+2) from comment #4)
> +-----------------------------------------------------+
> | Save Template before sending?                       |
> +-----------------------------------------------------+ 
> | Save the changes into this template before sending? |
> |                                                     |
> | [Save] [_______________] [Cancel]                   |
> +-----------------------------------------------------+
> 
> where the middle options shouldn't be "Discard changes". That's highly
> confusing since the changes will be *sent* and not discarded. So perhaps
> just "Don't Save".

The confusion isn't in the string, it's in the hybrid workflow which I'm trying to disentangle here. The confusion described by Jörg is that when allowing "Send" directly from "Edit Template" mode, we have to finish off "Edit Template" first before sending, but the answer for the template ("discard changes") might be different than the answer for sending ("send changes"). So the confusion originates from combining two inherently different workflows, editing vs. using template, into one. This bug.
Discard changes is perfectly OK for "Edit Template" mode, but the entire question isn't needed for sending, because sending inherently presupposes "new message from template", and obviously always wants all changes sent as they are seen on screen.