[Phpmyadmin-devel] Usability problems in SVN trunk

[Garvin Hicking]

Hi!

The first time for maybe 2 years I am in need of using phpMyAdmin intensively
again, and now had a closer look on the current SVN trunk (3.2.0-dev), where I
was surprised to see some common usage cases changed in a way, that makes my
life harder to use phpMyAdmin.

I would like to put some work into that, but first ask for the reasoning behind
if, and if my work on that is appreciated. Mind me that I have not yet read the
sourcecode on these issues, so I might not be aware of any hidden config options
that toggle this changed behaviour.


* On the table structure page, the indices have been hidden by default. For me
and for many others, Indexes are REALLY important for MySQL administration.
Having an additional click on "+ Details" (which needs some specific
designing/icon for the future) to expand those details is slowing things down.

I suggest to either add a config option to be able to turn on the Details by
default again, with the values "Yes, No, Cookie". When choosing Cookie, a
per-table cookie would be created that indicates if the indices are shown by
default or not.

Also, the "Details" link appears below the repeated navigation for tables with
many keys. I suggest to have Details BEFORE the repeated navigation.

Plus, when clicking on "Details" on tables with many keys, the browser jumps to
the top of the page, and I need to scroll down again to see the actual indexes.


* Much more problematic for my own work is that when I browse tables, the
"FULLTEXT" icon was removed. What was formerly one click to reveal larger table
contents is now three clicks, and needs to be performed for every pagination
resultset. That really curbs down easy access to table contents.

I suggest to re-add the Fulltext toggle icon. The other content of "+ Options"
when browsing can stay how it is can stay, I think those options are used fairly
rarely.

Plus, when expanding the "+Options", the browser cuts of the last 2-3 pixels of
the box, so no ending border remains and it makes the whole dropout appear a bit
ugly. ;)


* The actions for browsing a table and viewing the structure from the left frame
has been reversed. What is the reasoning behind this? I think many users got
accustomed to that, so switching it is hard to understand, as I also see no real
benefit to the change other than creating confusion?


I'm eager to hear your feedback on this. :-)

Best regards,
Garvin

-- 
++ Garvin Hicking | Web-Entwickler [PHP]    | www.garv.in | ICQ 21392242
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