[thelist] stupid user interface usability question: how to design a parallel set of pages that users with to click 'save' before going on

[Zhang Weiwu]

在 2006-07-19三的 12:41 +0100，Lee kowalkowski写道：
> On 19/07/06, 张|武 <zhangweiwu at realss.com> wrote:
> > Hello. I have designed my user interface this way:
> >
> > gopher://sdf.lonestar.org/g/users/weiwu/interface_example_01.png
> 
> Wow, gopher!  Cannot see it.  :(

Firefox ... should do it.

sdf.lonestar.org provided both html space and gopher space for some 20
years, now I already used my html space for other purpose.

It might be good if they also make the gopher space part available to be
accessed by HTTP protocol. gopher is the good-old stuff, glad Firefox
still support it. The bad thing about all good-old stuff (including
gopher and ftp protocol) is lack of charset information in protocol.

> 
> > This user interface turns to be a bad design, the top row of 'tabs'
> > gives users impression that they could just click the other tab without
> > saving the content and later click 'save' to save changes made on all
> > tabs, but actually, each page of content must be saved separately,
> > because the 'tabs' are simply anchors graphiced to be like tabs. If you
> > click on second tab, you get prompted if you wish to navigate away from
> > this page *without* saving, this again create usability trouble, some
> > user click 'OK' thinking the modification is then saved, but actually
> > the modification is discarded.
> 
> Why?  Just make the tabs save the data automatically.  I.e: make them
> form submit buttons.

Perhaps the solution could be: add a hidden input element in the form
'redirect_to', fill it with the URI of the tab user wish to go to, ask
if the user wish to save the data.
yes => submit, server-end script deal with 'redirect_to', handle POST
and gives URI redirect;
no  => don't submit, location.href = URI user just clicked.

I take this if there are no better ideas. This is not bad.