[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #51419: Reconsider the UX impact of up/down arrows on meta boxes

[WordPress Trac]

#51419: Reconsider the UX impact of up/down arrows on meta boxes
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 Reporter:  johnbillion    |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect (bug)   |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal         |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Editor         |    Version:  5.5
 Severity:  normal         |   Keywords:  needs-design
  Focuses:  accessibility  |
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 In #39074 an accessibility problem was fixed whereby it was not possible
 to reorder meta boxes using only the keyboard. This is an important fix
 because it allows a keyboard-only user to reorder boxes in order to
 improve the tab order of these boxes.

 Unfortunately this created a side-effect where it's now easy to
 accidentally reorder a meta box by clicking on one of the up/down arrows,
 whereas previously you had to drag the meta box to another position to
 reorder it.

 There are a few UX issues related to this on the post editing screen:

 * Accidentally clicking the "up" arrow on the topmost sidebar meta box
 will cause it to move below the main post editing panel, which makes it
 easy to miss as it will commonly move well below the fold. I've just been
 dealing with reports from two separate users who did this and were unable
 to find the meta box.
 * Clicking anywhere on the meta box title expands/collapses it, but now
 there is also an up/down button that causes it to move position instead,
 in addition to the dedicated expand/collapse button. Users who are used to
 clicking the title now have to be careful where they click.
 * It's not possible to move block editor meta boxes (which are React
 components). This causes a significant visual discrepancy between
 "classic" meta boxes and block editor meta boxes, and causes especially
 strange behaviour when a user moves a meta box "up" and it doesn't
 actually move up to within the block editor meta boxes.

 "Classic" meta boxes aren't going away any time soon, so I think the last
 point is an important one.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/51419>
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