[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #31770: Shiny Updates: User may get no visual feedback when bulk updating plugins

[WordPress Trac]

#31770: Shiny Updates: User may get no visual feedback when bulk updating plugins
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 Reporter:  johnbillion              |       Owner:  johnbillion
     Type:  enhancement              |      Status:  reviewing
 Priority:  normal                   |   Milestone:  4.2
Component:  Upgrade/Install          |     Version:  trunk
 Severity:  normal                   |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  ux-feedback has-patch    |     Focuses:  javascript,
  dev-feedback                       |  administration
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Comment (by ericlewis):

 Let's review where we've come on bulk plugin updates in the 4.2 dev cycle
 from a user experience perspective.

 attachment:bulk-updates-pre-4.2.mp4 is a screen recording of what bulk
 updates look like pre-4.2 (or for users without JavaScript enabled). There
 is a very clear user workflow - you click the bulk action "Apply" button,
 and are taken to a new page that is giving you feedback about the updates.
 There's verbose logs a user can drill down into to see "Oh, that plugin I
 selected to bulk update was at its current version so it didn't need an
 update. Got it."

 attachment:31770.2.mp4 is a screen recording of what bulk updates look
 like with the patch attachment:31770.2.diff applied. In this worst-case
 scenario, a user will click the Apply button, and nothing will happen
 immediately. The page will start to jump down curiously. If the user
 scrolls up they will see admin notifications with brief notes on the
 update process for each plugin. All plugins that were up-to-date and
 didn't need an update will report the update "failed".

 If a user is updating just one plugin, making that update via AJAX (i.e.
 "Shiny") is an improved user experience. The user doesn't get pushed into
 to another page to see the feedback log for one update, List Table context
 is retained, and the user can continue operating in the Plugins page.

 In AJAX-ifying the bulk update process, I don't think there's a clear user
 experience gain. Bulk updates can be a hefty process and comes with an
 unknown quantity of feedback / logging data for a user to sift through
 (e.g. 100 plugin updates). Forcing a document-reload to a log page is a
 tried-and-true user experience. Unless we're introducing something that is
 at least as good (if not better), let's not do it.

 Relatedly, our update notifications UI is firmly rooted in document-
 reloading form submissions (showing the user a message at the top of the
 page).

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/31770#comment:15>
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