Problems with new interface

billfryer · 25 Feb 2011, 12:41 AM

When the old interface broke I started using the new one. I have spotted several errors/bugs/issues and thought I would detail them here. Maybe FM will take note - they do not seem to be contactable by opther means.

1. Cursor jumping to bottom of page
Sometimes when you are replying to an email every time you type the next letter of a word the cursor jumps to the very bottom of the text. It jumps over the original sender's message. The only way to overcome this is to completely delete the original sender's message.

2. Impossible to copy email addresses
If you want to copy and paste email addresses from a to or cc line into another email because it buttonises the email address you can only do one email at a time by first double clicking on it - not the whole lot.

3. Colour of ticked and hovered messages is the same
In say the inbox, if you have ticked several messages they go to a sandy colour. If your cursor is also hovering over a message it also goes to the same sandy colour - the colours need to be distinct, otherwise it is confusing.

4. Can't return to search results
If you have searched a folder and created a set of results, you used to be able to click on say "inbox" and it would return to the set of results, now it goes back to the unsearched mailbox contents. Other than using back button there seems to be no way round this.

One reason the old interface was faster was because little details like these made using it faster.

Please feel free to document other specific shortcomings here. Maybe the folk at FM will take notice, who knows.

Please avoid the temptation to cite general moans about the new interface here.

David · 25 Feb 2011, 12:58 AM

I am wondering what web browser you are using and guessing that it might be Opera

billfryer · 25 Feb 2011, 03:06 AM

It's Firefox on Windows 7

KevinW · 25 Feb 2011, 04:23 AM

2. Impossible to copy email addresses
The 'tokenization' of email addresses seems like a bad thing all around, well except for looking prettier, and is something I really believe Fastmail got wrong. It takes longer to edit, an extra click to reply, harder to move/copy, not as informative.

4. Can't return to search results
I don't think this is any different. If you use the "<< Return to Search Results" link then you get the search results. If you click the Mailbox tab, you return to the results. In the old interface clicking in the folder tree clears the search, same with the new interface. The only thing different is that now the folder tree is available during message view. I would say keeping the folder tree's function consistent is a good thing.

neilj · 25 Feb 2011, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billfryer

2. Impossible to copy email addresses
If you want to copy and paste email addresses from a to or cc line into another email because it buttonises the email address you can only do one email at a time by first double clicking on it - not the whole lot.

You can select multiple using the keyboard. Just hold down shift and press left/right. Ctrl-X/Ctrl-C will then work to cut/copy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by billfryer

3. Colour of ticked and hovered messages is the same
In say the inbox, if you have ticked several messages they go to a sandy colour. If your cursor is also hovering over a message it also goes to the same sandy colour - the colours need to be distinct, otherwise it is confusing.

You can turn this off with a CSS tweak or by selecting one of the new alternate stylesheets (which have this turned off by default).

billfryer · 25 Feb 2011, 04:14 PM

Neil,

I tried what you said and it does not work. It is because email addresses get turned into buttons you cannot copy a line of email addresses. You can double click on each one and laboriously do one at a time. It's nothing to do with mouse versus keyboard.

If FM removed the tokenising it would work.

Bill

billfryer · 25 Feb 2011, 04:23 PM

Difficulty selecting addresses
Another thing I have noticed is that sometimes when it comes up with its suggestions for addresses it is really difficult to actually select an address. It can take several clicks on various parts of the address before it drops in.

Slower selecting multiple addresses
On the original system - one way I liked to work was to put in say, "neil, Paula, becki," and then hit the suggest names button and they either dropped in or you got a tickbox list. With the current system you have to select each one as you go. This works well for a touch typist who looks at the screen but I am a two finger and having to look up at the screen and then take fingers off the kleyboard and onto the mouse and back - is slower

billfryer · 25 Feb 2011, 04:57 PM

email addresses in forwarded emails not hyperlinked
Today someone forwarded me an email - it contained the email address of someone I wanted to write to. With the old interface I could have just clicked on the address and it could have composed an email.

No such luck, with the new interface. I have to highlight the email address, copy, click on compose and paste. Four actions instead of the old one.

johanborg · 25 Feb 2011, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billfryer

No such luck, with the new interface. I have to highlight the email address, copy, click on compose and paste. Four actions instead of the old one.

I have a pretty standard setup of the new interface and clicking the address in a mail does bring up the compose screen with a single click.

Mystakill · 25 Feb 2011, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johanborg

I have a pretty standard setup of the new interface and clicking the address in a mail does bring up the compose screen with a single click.

Johan,

I believe his issue might actually be with copying *multiple* addresses, rather than just one. Each tokenized address has to be clicked to turn it into text, at which point it can be copied and pasted. However, any other address which was previously untokenized is again tokenized, making it impossible to copy and paste more than one address at a time.

At the very least, any address which the user has untokenized should stay that way. Kind of like when you expand a group in Outlook; the addresses contained within are presented in their entirety for editing, copying and paste, etc.

Tokenized addresses look nice, but the current implementation is impractical.

(For the record, I prefer the new interface, with numerous tweaks)

johanborg · 25 Feb 2011, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billfryer

It's nothing to do with mouse versus keyboard.

It is in my case (Firefox 4, Opera 11) - Pressing Ctrl+A or following Neil's advice does indeed select multiple, while the same with mouse doesn't work (and yes, that's a separate concern).

johanborg · 25 Feb 2011, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mystakill

I believe his issue might actually be with copying *multiple* addresses, rather than just one. Each tokenized address has to be clicked to turn it into text, at which point it can be copied and pasted

I read it as if there were e-mail addresses in the forwarded message itself that you could click, and this is indeed still the case today.

And as mentioned above, just selecting one or all tokenized addresses allows you to copy it and when pasting it will paste both name and address, no need to click on each one to expand it.

hadaso · 25 Feb 2011, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billfryer

... I am a two finger and having to look up at the screen and then take fingers off the kleyboard and onto the mouse and back - is slower

and one hand? or perhaps one finger on each hand?

I am also sort of a "two fingered typist" but I often use two fingers on the left hand on the keyboard and the right hand on the mouse while navigating email (otherwise it's two left hand fingers and one right hand finger on the keyboard, with the left hand thumb on the space bar) I do have all other fingers but they seem to be quite passive at the keyboard.

I would not discuss other uses of fingers (or digits?) as this is a family friendly forum, but I would point out that having three hands and two heads can be beneficial to email users that watch the keyboard as they type! (like I do too)

erimess · 26 Feb 2011, 05:58 PM

Um, I've been complaining about some stuff just as vehemently as the next guy, but still... I really need to have my curiosity addressed here. When did the old interface break? I'm using it. (I'm only popping in and testing the new, but actually using the old.)

billfryer · 28 Feb 2011, 05:11 PM

Just to clarify it is impossible to copy and paste multiple addresses from one message to another. For example, let's say someone send me and a load of people an email. Sometime I will copy and paste the whole to line into another email. Because of the tokenisation I cannot do this now. I would have to do one email at a time. If you could turn off tokenisation the problem would be sorted.

Another issue - file attachments
In the original FM after I had attached a file I would press send, the email would upload and the email would be sent while I did something else. Now I have to wait for the file to attach before pressing send. I appreciate that in the original interface you had to wait if you were attaching more than five but this issue is another minor annoyance that makes working FM slower.

Search box in the wrong place ergonomically
Personally I find the search box in the top left to be just in the wrong place. It needs to be central or top right.

Why am I listing this minor niggles here?
A lot of the small things I am listing here might well be perceived as tiny niggles. But I find the difference between good products and great products is the detail. The original FM had a lot of the detail right. The new interface, although prettier, has a lot of the detail missing and needs to be refined in this area.

When I originally signed my various businesses up to FM about 4-5 years ago FM was truly fast, both in the way it was programmed and in the way you worked it.

Speed is FM's USP - so the programmers need to focus on making FM the fastest way to deal with email on the planet. I'm ok with the new interface if they can speed it up.

Also, FM managers would keep all the nay-sayers quiet by just creating a retro "original interface" skin - can't be too difficult.

25 Feb 2011, 12:41 AM	#1
billfryer Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 15	Problems with new interface When the old interface broke I started using the new one. I have spotted several errors/bugs/issues and thought I would detail them here. Maybe FM will take note - they do not seem to be contactable by opther means. 1. Cursor jumping to bottom of page Sometimes when you are replying to an email every time you type the next letter of a word the cursor jumps to the very bottom of the text. It jumps over the original sender's message. The only way to overcome this is to completely delete the original sender's message. 2. Impossible to copy email addresses If you want to copy and paste email addresses from a to or cc line into another email because it buttonises the email address you can only do one email at a time by first double clicking on it - not the whole lot. 3. Colour of ticked and hovered messages is the same In say the inbox, if you have ticked several messages they go to a sandy colour. If your cursor is also hovering over a message it also goes to the same sandy colour - the colours need to be distinct, otherwise it is confusing. 4. Can't return to search results If you have searched a folder and created a set of results, you used to be able to click on say "inbox" and it would return to the set of results, now it goes back to the unsearched mailbox contents. Other than using back button there seems to be no way round this. One reason the old interface was faster was because little details like these made using it faster. Please feel free to document other specific shortcomings here. Maybe the folk at FM will take notice, who knows. Please avoid the temptation to cite general moans about the new interface here.

25 Feb 2011, 03:06 AM	#3
billfryer Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 15	web browser It's Firefox on Windows 7

25 Feb 2011, 04:14 PM	#6
billfryer Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 15	still impossible to copy email addresses Neil, I tried what you said and it does not work. It is because email addresses get turned into buttons you cannot copy a line of email addresses. You can double click on each one and laboriously do one at a time. It's nothing to do with mouse versus keyboard. If FM removed the tokenising it would work. Bill Last edited by billfryer : 25 Feb 2011 at 04:58 PM.

25 Feb 2011, 04:23 PM	#7
billfryer Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 15	another bug and an annoyance Difficulty selecting addresses Another thing I have noticed is that sometimes when it comes up with its suggestions for addresses it is really difficult to actually select an address. It can take several clicks on various parts of the address before it drops in. Slower selecting multiple addresses On the original system - one way I liked to work was to put in say, "neil, Paula, becki," and then hit the suggest names button and they either dropped in or you got a tickbox list. With the current system you have to select each one as you go. This works well for a touch typist who looks at the screen but I am a two finger and having to look up at the screen and then take fingers off the kleyboard and onto the mouse and back - is slower Last edited by billfryer : 25 Feb 2011 at 04:57 PM.

25 Feb 2011, 04:57 PM	#8
billfryer Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 15	another one email addresses in forwarded emails not hyperlinked Today someone forwarded me an email - it contained the email address of someone I wanted to write to. With the old interface I could have just clicked on the address and it could have composed an email. No such luck, with the new interface. I have to highlight the email address, copy, click on compose and paste. Four actions instead of the old one.

25 Feb 2011, 12:58 AM	#2
David Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Canada. Posts: 10,355	I am wondering what web browser you are using and guessing that it might be Opera

25 Feb 2011, 04:23 AM	#4
KevinW Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 53	2. Impossible to copy email addresses The 'tokenization' of email addresses seems like a bad thing all around, well except for looking prettier, and is something I really believe Fastmail got wrong. It takes longer to edit, an extra click to reply, harder to move/copy, not as informative. 4. Can't return to search results I don't think this is any different. If you use the "<< Return to Search Results" link then you get the search results. If you click the Mailbox tab, you return to the results. In the old interface clicking in the folder tree clears the search, same with the new interface. The only thing different is that now the folder tree is available during message view. I would say keeping the folder tree's function consistent is a good thing.

26 Feb 2011, 05:58 PM	#14
erimess Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: U.S. Posts: 163	Um, I've been complaining about some stuff just as vehemently as the next guy, but still... I really need to have my curiosity addressed here. When did the old interface break? I'm using it. (I'm only popping in and testing the new, but actually using the old.)

28 Feb 2011, 05:11 PM	#15
billfryer Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 15	multiple addresses Just to clarify it is impossible to copy and paste multiple addresses from one message to another. For example, let's say someone send me and a load of people an email. Sometime I will copy and paste the whole to line into another email. Because of the tokenisation I cannot do this now. I would have to do one email at a time. If you could turn off tokenisation the problem would be sorted. Another issue - file attachments In the original FM after I had attached a file I would press send, the email would upload and the email would be sent while I did something else. Now I have to wait for the file to attach before pressing send. I appreciate that in the original interface you had to wait if you were attaching more than five but this issue is another minor annoyance that makes working FM slower. Search box in the wrong place ergonomically Personally I find the search box in the top left to be just in the wrong place. It needs to be central or top right. Why am I listing this minor niggles here? A lot of the small things I am listing here might well be perceived as tiny niggles. But I find the difference between good products and great products is the detail. The original FM had a lot of the detail right. The new interface, although prettier, has a lot of the detail missing and needs to be refined in this area. When I originally signed my various businesses up to FM about 4-5 years ago FM was truly fast, both in the way it was programmed and in the way you worked it. Speed is FM's USP - so the programmers need to focus on making FM the fastest way to deal with email on the planet. I'm ok with the new interface if they can speed it up. Also, FM managers would keep all the nay-sayers quiet by just creating a retro "original interface" skin - can't be too difficult.