usability

First post here in this group, so a warm "Hi!" to everyone!

The background

I'm currently working on a project called "outline designer" for release into the Drupal community (5.x branch, out in the next few days as I'm cleaning up the initial release as we speak). What the outline designer does currently:
*Structure nodes in a book visually via drag and drop
*Right click to create, edit, delete, rename, duplicate any node of any allowed type
*Right click to change content type
*Everything is Ajax saved using standardized Drupal node_save architecture
*Ability to enable / disable the ability to create different content types

Hi,

I came across this web site and thought i would pass this along. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ one article jumped out at me - http://www.useit.com/alertbox/fancy-formatting.html shows eye tracking / heat map of users who were tasked with finding the population of a country -- and the 86% of users failed to find the information - i have not read the other articles but i will be reviewing them over the next couple of weeks to see if there is anything else that jumps out at me.

Smile
Sharon

I am looking of a way to increase stickness to my Drupal powered business index.
Light games seem like an interesting option.

Some ideas:
1. Random picture => identify the business.
2. Weekly Polls with Prizes.
3. Crossword / Puzzle module (e.g. like here).
4. Complete tasks to earn points.

Which modules do you recommend?
And do you have other game ideas which encourage stickness?

Thanks in advance,

Amnon

This idea came out of a conversation Bevan and I were having at DrupalCon -- maybe it's crazy talk, but maybe it'll work.

Identify and isolate admin features; for example, creating forums, which currently requires a few steps, and knowledge of containers, etc. Analyze the workflow/mouse clicks required to build this functionality. Then, create a wireframe of the admin functionality that simplifies the task. Then, create a helper module that builds the streamlined, more intuitive UI

I've modified logintoboggan to allow separate login and registration links for usability improvement. Please review the patch.

In order to draw attention to the biggest feature in Drupal 7, Usability, let's all collectively look through our resources for our best Usability links, tips, and tricks! Post them below in the comments, with commentary (pun intended) on how they could be implemented in Drupal. If you are feeling inspired, tackle one with a patch (or mentor a DROP task</shameless plug>).

Collecting discussions and patches for a better input format support in Drupal 7. My battle plan writeup is at http://hojtsy.hu/blog/2008-feb-04/supporting-wysiwyg-editing-better-drup... and there are groups post here about cutting through the format clutter (http://groups.drupal.org/node/8911) and format association observations (http://groups.drupal.org/node/9072). This list summarizes the patches in different states to improve input formats and support RTEs better.

• For review:
  • http://drupal.org/node/125315 - Add the #input_format Form API construct, so that additional form fields are not required, and metadata is captured for WYSIWYG editors and form altering in general
  • http://drupal.org/node/110242 - Make filter access first class permissions
  • http://drupal.org/node/240873 - Move custom help settings to blocks
• TODO:
  • http://groups.drupal.org/node/8911 - Limit available input filters by "type of widget" used (node type body, comment, block, etc)
  • http://groups.drupal.org/node/9072 - Bring consistency into how we apply formats and provide more format support where it is missing.
  • Move site mission and footer message to blocks / new block regions (in part to add format support).
• Done:
  • http://drupal.org/node/222183 - Make input formats reorderable (committed!)
  • http://drupal.org/node/240988 - Break out HTML escaping filter to make non-HTML input formats (instantly) recognizable (committed)

Supernav seems like a great idea and could well be part of solving part of the admin navigation and interface issue. It might be overload for most admins but is well worth checking out, at least the description and screenshot: http://drupal.org/project/supernav

Would something like this be useful as part of an admin theme?

With DrupalCon, moving house, and some other factors I have been struggling financially recently and have needed to focus on billable work in order to make ends meet. An influx of urgent client work also contributed to this. Such I haven't found or made time in the last couple of weeks to continue node-form development. This is a status update so that interested parties can keep up with the status of the Season of Usability project.