Allow multiple replies to be drafted at the same time
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	Esanders
	Jul 7 2020, 11:33 AM

Description

There were two reasons not to do this initially:

Saving the first draft would re-render the page, so all other drafts would be lost. This isn't an issue anymore with auto-save.
The document-to-save is composed in the client, and there is only one copy (for memory efficiency), so there could be cases where a failed save, or two saves in quick succession could result in multiple changes being pushed in one edit. This would be resolved by using a server-side API that will process multiple saves in completely separate contexts: T252558

Testing details

(moved from T252558)

"Sequence" to test:
- Action: click [ Reply ] on many comments on a single page, write comments in each of the open Reply Tools and post one of them.
- Outcome: ensure said comment was posted correctly and upon the page being reloaded, the comments you had drafted are still intact.

Details

	Subject	Repo	Branch	Lines +/-
	Allow multiple replies to be open at once	mediawiki/extensions/DiscussionTools	master	+75 -57

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Related Objects
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		Status	Subtype	Assigned	Task
		Open		None	T273255 Define how the Reply and New Topic Tools relate to each other and the page they can be used on
		Open		None	T257305 Allow multiple replies to be drafted at the same time

Event Timeline

Esanders created this task.Jul 7 2020, 11:33 AM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: Aklapper. · View Herald TranscriptJul 7 2020, 11:33 AM

Change 609849 had a related patch set uploaded (by Esanders; owner: Esanders):
[mediawiki/extensions/DiscussionTools@master] Allow multiple replies to be open at once

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/609849

gerritbot added a project: Patch-For-Review.Jul 7 2020, 11:35 AM

ppelberg added a project: Editing-team (Kanban Board).Jul 11 2020, 1:01 AM

ppelberg moved this task from Incoming to Doing on the Editing-team (Kanban Board) board.

Esanders claimed this task.Jul 15 2020, 3:54 PM

JTannerWMF moved this task from Doing to Code Review on the Editing-team (Kanban Board) board.Jul 15 2020, 5:56 PM

JTannerWMF mentioned this in T257176: Make it clear one Reply tool can be open at a time.Jul 22 2020, 5:55 PM

matmarex updated the task description. (Show Details)Jul 27 2020, 11:14 PM

matmarex mentioned this in T252558: Create a low bandwidth reply API using parser.php/modifier.php.Jul 27 2020, 11:34 PM

ppelberg added a project: OWC2020 (Reply Tool Opt Out).Jul 27 2020, 11:52 PM

ppelberg moved this task from Needs Prioritization to Required after release on the OWC2020 (Reply Tool Opt Out) board.

@ppelberg will spin up a patch demo for this task.

JTannerWMF added a subscriber: • iamjessklein.Jul 29 2020, 5:42 PM

In T257305#6345974, @JTannerWMF wrote:

@ppelberg will spin up a patch demo for this task.

Patch demo is here: http://patchdemo.wmflabs.org/wikis/362d321be70b707e2711ee521927aae8/w/index.php/Talk:Main_Page

Next steps

@ppelberg to comment feedback and if necessary, file tickets for follow ons.

In T257305#6349168, @ppelberg wrote:

Next steps

@ppelberg to comment feedback and if necessary, file tickets for follow ons.

Ed, this works well. Two things below: a question for us to answer now and an issue for us to address later.

Now

Why is that the browser warning [i] is being shown to people when attempting to leave the talk page under the below conditions? This does not seem to be happening on beta.
- 1 or more Reply Tools are open
- Said Reply Tool(s) do NOT have any text entered into them

Later

I wonder whether it being possible to have multiple Reply Tools open in close proximity to one another will amplify the issue we documented earlier [ii]: It can be difficult for people understand the relationship between the Reply Tool and the comment they are responding to.
- I've filed a ticket specifically for this issue: T259834

Screen Shot 2020-08-06 at 12.39.29 PM.png (362×902 px, 108 KB)

ii. See T254208, "Issue #5"

ppelberg mentioned this in T259834: More clearly relate the Reply Tool to the comment being responded to.Aug 6 2020, 7:51 PM

Why is that the browser warning [i] is being shown to people when attempting to leave the talk page

If I open two widgets and hit reload I don't see the warning, even if I populate then clear them. If you can reproduce this can you provide more detailed reproduction steps?

Also can you reproduce here: http://patchdemo.wmflabs.org/wikis/21392cea89afbeac79083c171c1b12ff/w/index.php/Talk:Main_Page

I can open multiple widgets. When I save one of them widgets with text already entered remain open, and the text is retained. Widgets with no text in them are closed. I didn't expect the latter.

I can't reproduce this error.

Agree with @ppelberg re:

I wonder whether it being possible to have multiple Reply Tools open in close proximity to one another will amplify the issue we documented earlier [ii]: It can be difficult for people understand the relationship between the Reply Tool and the comment they are responding to.

Glad to address this later in the other ticket, just want to give a +1 and speculate the with some of the tweaks we are making to the page in conjunction with the visual refresh as well as the New Discussion, there will be a need to look into a systematic approach.

In T257305#6382393, @Esanders wrote:

If I open two widgets and hit reload I don't see the warning, even if I populate then clear them. If you can reproduce this can you provide more detailed reproduction steps?

Also can you reproduce here: http://patchdemo.wmflabs.org/wikis/21392cea89afbeac79083c171c1b12ff/w/index.php/Talk:Main_Page

Huh, I'm no longer able to reproduce this. Let's let this go.

In T257305#6382494, @AdHuikeshoven wrote:

I can open multiple widgets. When I save one of them widgets with text already entered remain open, and the text is retained. Widgets with no text in them are closed. I didn't expect the latter.

This is helpful, @AdHuikeshoven. A follow up question for you: Can you think of a situation in which you'd encounter the scenario you described [i]?

In asking the above, I'm trying to better understand where the expectation you shared might be coming from.

For context, here's how I'm currently thinking about it:

The Reply Tool should do it's best to preserve peoples' effort/progress
"Effort"/"progress" in this context means they've typed something into the Reply Tool for it is a strong proxy for them having invested some amount of time/energy into posting a comment to the talk page

[i]. Scenario:

Open multiple Reply Tools on the same page (call them "RT-1" and "RT-2")
Draft a comment in RT-1, RT-2 remains "empty"
Post the comment you drafted in RT-1
Upon the page reloading, notice: the comment you drafted in RT-1 has been published to the page AND RT-2 is closed

Decided

Before implementing multiple Reply Tools being open at once, we need to first make it so people can clearly understand the relationship between the comment they are writing [in the Reply Tool] and the comment they are responding to. This work will happen in this task: T259834
- Reason: were we to implement what this task is suggesting, we increase the likelihood of peoples' comments being posted in a position within the conversation they did not expect. This could lead people to lose trust and confidence in the Reply Tool.

Resulting action

Move this task – T257305 – to the backlog and prioritize T259834.

matmarex mentioned this in T262461: Review Reply Tool test protocol.Sep 10 2020, 7:39 PM

Demo moved to https://patchdemo.wmflabs.org/wikis/4ebaea9bde9bb59d4c88ec2e217d8f11/w/index.php/Talk:Main_Page

matmarex mentioned this in T272545: New Discussion Tool does not open if you have Reply Tool open from before. .Jan 20 2021, 11:22 PM

ppelberg mentioned this in T273255: Define how the Reply and New Topic Tools relate to each other and the page they can be used on.Jan 29 2021, 1:03 AM

ppelberg added a parent task: T273255: Define how the Reply and New Topic Tools relate to each other and the page they can be used on.

ppelberg moved this task from Backlog to Triaged on the DiscussionTools board.Feb 10 2021, 6:14 PM

ppelberg edited projects, added Editing-team (Tracking); removed OWC2020 (Reply Tool Opt Out), Editing-team (Kanban Board).

ppelberg moved this task from Backlog to FY2020-21 on the Editing-team (Tracking) board.

ppelberg mentioned this in T278249: Save accesskey should work in DiscussionTools.Mar 25 2021, 3:25 PM

ppelberg moved this task from Triaged to Existing Feature Improvements on the DiscussionTools board.Jun 14 2022, 12:54 AM

ppelberg removed a project: Editing-team (Tracking).Aug 30 2022, 9:12 PM

@ppelberg I heard a similar request from the Czech community: to make it possible to answer a couple of comments within a single edit. In other words, if I want to answer User:A and User:B, I want to be able to do that within one edit. Not 100% sure if this falls within this task, or whether I should fill a second task for this. Let me know!

In T257305#8227242, @Urbanecm wrote:

@ppelberg I heard a similar request from the Czech community: to make it possible to answer a couple of comments within a single edit. In other words, if I want to answer User:A and User:B, I want to be able to do that within one edit. Not 100% sure if this falls within this task, or whether I should fill a second task for this. Let me know!

hi @Urbanecm! Yes, could you please file a second task for the functionality you're describing above?

Thinking: we'll use this task to track the thinking/work that would enable people to open Reply Tool "instances" simultaneously while saving the comments they drafted within these instances serially. Whereas the task you're thinking about filing would be about enabling people to save multiple comments simultaneously./

In T257305#8229863, @ppelberg wrote:

In T257305#8227242, @Urbanecm wrote:

@ppelberg I heard a similar request from the Czech community: to make it possible to answer a couple of comments within a single edit. In other words, if I want to answer User:A and User:B, I want to be able to do that within one edit. Not 100% sure if this falls within this task, or whether I should fill a second task for this. Let me know!

hi @Urbanecm! Yes, could you please file a second task for the functionality you're describing above?

Sure thing. Filled as T317875. Feel free to make a subtask of this one if you think that's warranted.

Aklapper edited projects, added Patch-Needs-Improvement; removed Patch-For-Review.Feb 21 2023, 10:16 PM

Aklapper removed a subscriber: • iamjessklein.

@Esanders: Removing task assignee as this open task has been assigned for more than two years - See the email sent to task assignee on Feburary 22nd, 2023.
Please assign this task to yourself again if you still realistically [plan to] work on this task - it would be welcome! :)
If this task has been resolved in the meantime, or should not be worked on by anybody ("declined"), please update its task status via "Add Action… 🡒 Change Status".
Also see https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Bug_management/Assignee_cleanup for tips how to best manage your individual work in Phabricator. Thanks!

	F31973478: Screen Shot 2020-08-06 at 12.39.29 PM.png
	Aug 6 2020, 7:50 PM

Allow multiple replies to be drafted at the same timeOpen, Needs TriagePublicActions