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Android app: tables in main text should not collapse by default
Closed, DeclinedPublicBUG REPORT

Description

Steps to replicate the issue (include links if applicable):

What happens?:
In the Android app, the table is exhibited collapsed by default.

What should have happened instead?:
The table should have appeared open, as in the browser.

Software version (skip for WMF-hosted wikis like Wikipedia):

Other information (browser name/version, screenshots, etc.):

Screenshot_20230123-022218.png (2×1 px, 333 KB)

Screenshot_20230123-022204.png (2×1 px, 287 KB)

Event Timeline

Hi, why should long tables on small screens not be collapsed by default? What's the incentive? I don't see a bug here...

Hi, why should long tables on small screens not be collapsed by default? What's the incentive? I don't see a bug here...

as per MOS:DONTHIDE:

"Collapsible templates should not conceal article content by default upon page loading."

Hi, why should long tables on small screens not be collapsed by default? What's the incentive? I don't see a bug here...

This table is 5 rows and a caption tall. I think the question is reasonable, but this is not the first question I would think to ask regarding that table. :)

MOS:DONTHIDE

This was a rule written when collapsing was broken by default (way way back, like 15 years ago) when inline styles were added to hide the table using display: none and then Javascript removed those, so the reason for it was "don't break pages for people who have no-Javascript environments like screen readers". Even after that issue was fixed, not everyone had access to Javascript of a sufficient version that was reasonably cross-compatible.

We're in a different world now where the implementation of collapsing respects no-Javascript environments and MediaWiki has a policy of supporting only certain versions of Javascript, as defined at MediaWiki wiki. The rule has not been so much as adjusted or updated, and that's even if it weren't specific to English Wikipedia. I don't see a large issue here with the app choosing to collapse content at its leisure not least because it does not have the same concerns at all, much as mobile web collapses its sections by default.

The only fundamental thing this breaks today is Ctrl + F or equivalent in the device of interest. I don't know what support the apps provide for in-page search but for a table that isn't hard to uncollapse, that seems like a reasonable price regardless.

I'm afraid such inconsistency in display across app vs. browser might drive editors away from tables, recasting important information in the form of lists, for example.

plus, the visual editor becomes somewhat misleading, when it offer toggles for "collapsible" and "collapsed initially":

image.png (338×644 px, 29 KB)

JTannerWMF closed this task as Declined.EditedJan 30 2023, 1:45 PM
JTannerWMF added a subscriber: JTannerWMF.

Thanks for filing this task. This actually isn't a bug, as in it is working as designed. Tables are collapsed by default for readability on small devices. When we build on apps we do have to let the platform guide our design so everything won't always be exactly as it is on Desktop, although we do create parity where we can. However, if tables being expanded at all times is your preference, you can go to Settings and choose the option to show tables expanded at all times.

Understood, thank you for the clarification. For the record, the display discrepancy does not involve the desktop version, it's actually between the website mobile version and the native mobile app. Maybe the website mobile version needs to follow the same design principle, for consistency.

This is a great recommendation @Fgnievinski . I will share this with the Mobile Web team. Thank you again!!