Revision 1 as of 2010-06-08 13:20:29

Clear message

Suggestions for the new Mailman 3.0 UI

These are some suggestions mentioned what to think of when implementing the UI. Note: this was earlier a part of the Web Interface.

"Simple" versions of interfaces

From http://www.mail-archive.com/mailman-developers@python.org/msg11021.html 

List admin:
   Jason said:
   #1.  Manage subscriber list
       I think this needs bulk un/subscribe. Strong warnings about legal requirements should be present. Perhaps with localised links to guidance.
       Should also put individual moderation here. Perhaps some other options.
   #2.  Manage digest/non digest options
       I'm not sure this is absolutely required in a simple interface.
   #3.  Emergency moderation
       Yes!
   #4.  Archives (Public/private settings), navigate to archives, (maybe censor an archived message).

   Cristóbal added:
   #5 3 PRESETS:
       announce-only list vs.
       moderated discussion vs.
       open discussion
   #6 List Description
       web landing page description
       footer content

   I would add:
   #7 search for a list member.
   #8 Display/export entire membership list.
   #9 Add/remove a moderator
   #10 contact a system administrator to
       Request list removal,
       Request a new list, or
       Get help

Site admin:
----------
   site management (define lists, and list ownership, apply emergency moderation):
   #1 Display lists, with ownership and emergency moderation status.
       Perhaps sort/filter by owner or domain, style or moderation status, traffic.
   #2 Add a list with a preset style/change style.
   #3 Disable or Delete a list, and/or list archive.
   #4 Change a list owner or moderator.
   list management:
   #5 disable list features  (eg, to prevent the owner from changing footer content).
   #6 manage a list - with full feature set
   #7 become list owner - (so you can see the effect of disabling features)

Other Specific suggestions

Member/subscriber Interface

From http://www.mail-archive.com/mailman-users%40python.org/msg49681.html: 

It is not obvious from the list information page how one would obtain a password reminder.
You have to click the "Unsubscribe or edit options" button to get to the page with the
password reminder button. This really needs to be FAR more obvious. It really should be
an item on the very first page a user sees.

List Admin interface

From http://www.mail-archive.com/mailman-users%40python.org/msg49698.html 

I think the admin UI suffers from:

  1. Too many options.
  2. Weak categorization.
  3. Typographically bad, e.g. no visual cues about significance, related options, etc.
     and right-aligned labels make it difficult to skim down through a page.
  4. Labels are too verbose, contributing with noise to the overall view, and the "Details
     for «the_mailman_option_name»" under each label does not help in this regard.

From http://www.mail-archive.com/mailman-users%40python.org/msg49700.html (this is ~terri)

My solution (to the problem of there being so many options) would be to have an "expert" and a "simple" interface. Three reasons:

  1. Even as an expert, I'd love to have a small interface that met my most common needs.

  2. Choosing what options to keep and which to toss would likely slow down the process so much that we'd never get a new interface.
  3. Giving people access to files is more of a pain than letting them interact through a web UI. (eg - don't have to worry about shell access, bad file syntax, etc.)

Accessibility

To make the list usable for people with different disorders, such as blind or visually impaired, the UI must be designed with accessibility in mind. So far Christian Schoepplein has promised helping out with testing using a screen reader. Others who can help or have suggestions are most welcome to do so or make their suggestions here.