[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #31133: Distraction-free writing is anything but when editing and reviewing

[WordPress Trac]

#31133: Distraction-free writing is anything but when editing and reviewing
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 Reporter:  stringfold          |      Owner:
     Type:  defect (bug)        |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal              |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Editor              |    Version:  4.1
 Severity:  normal              |   Keywords:
  Focuses:  ui, administration  |
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 As a frequent user of the older version of distraction-free writing mode,
 I was dismayed to find it had been replaced by far more distracting
 functionality that seems to have ignored the fact that much of the work
 involved in creating new posts and pages involves as much editing and
 reviewing as it does writing.

 I can understand the utility of the feature if all you are doing is
 writing a post. As long as you keep typing in the editor, the rest of the
 controls remain hidden. However, once you start reviewing and editing your
 work, which often involves frequent use of the scroll bar and Page Up and
 Page Down buttons, the way the menus and sidebars pop in and out all the
 time is extremely distracting, as is the fact that you don't go back into
 distraction-free mode until you actually type something into the editor
 (i.e. clicking into the editor doesn't hide the controls).

 Here is the list of regressions from the old functionality seen in the new
 distraction-free mode:

 * Use of the scroll bar while in distraction-free mode now causes a major
 distraction since it is impossible to reach it without causing the menus
 to slide in from the left (HCI-experts will tell you how distracting this
 movement is) and the controls on the right to appear. This happens even if
 you still want to be entirely focused on the piece you are writing and
 have no need to use the menus or controls. Perhaps you just want to review
 what you just wrote, or maybe you want to go back and move text around.

 * The fact that the menus and controls remain visible until you actually
 start typing again compounds the problem. If you're in the middle of
 reviewing a long piece, you may only be fixing the occasional grammatical
 error or spelling mistake. The rest of the time you're just reading and
 scrolling, so the menus and controls will remain visible the vast majority
 of the time, making distraction-free mode virtually useless. This behavior
 is also counter-intuitive, since it is asymmetric in nature. Moving the
 mouse away from editor reveals the controls and menus, but moving it back
 does not. Surely the assumption must be that you want to see the controls
 and menus as infrequently as possible?

 * Even if you stick to the page up and page down buttons, you can find
 yourself being distracted by the menus and controls appearing for no good
 reason. The problem happens when you scroll to the bottom of the piece
 using page down. When you reach the bottom of your post, the editor window
 may only extend part way down the page, and if your mouse pointer is below
 that (i.e. over an invisible control) the menus and controls will pop into
 view unexpectedly, and you can't get rid of them again until you type
 something into the editor window.

 * Finally, the new version of the mode requires that space is reserved for
 the menus and controls to appear no matter how narrow the browser window.
 Therefore, the browser window's minimum width has to be almost 50% wider
 than it used to be when using the old distraction-free mode if you want to
 edit your work at the standard width. I would also consider this a major
 regression from the old version of the mode.

 The bottom line is that the new distraction-free mode actually causes more
 distractions, especially when you are reviewing and editing posts (which
 is a lot of the time). Something as simple as accessing the scroll bar or
 even just moving the pointer away from the editor (you might be wanting to
 click on something outside the browser) should not cause animations and
 fade-ins to occur.

 I have raised these issues as a bug report and not an enhancement request
 because the changes to distraction-free mode have causes major regressions
 to an existing feature. I only wish I had been aware of the proposed
 changes before they were added to WordPress.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/31133>
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