Topic on VisualEditor/Feedback

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Using the Visual Editor (in Portuguese Wikipédia), when adding a template you need to click the mouse button 5 times, in addition to typing at least the start of the template name you want, which is a pain and can be optimized. The steps are (in portuguese): click "Inserir", click "Predefinição", type the first letters, click the correct one in the search list, click "Adicionar predefinição", click "Inserir".

I suggest 3 changes to improve the user experience:

• Put a template button in the top bar outside of the "Inserir" (insert) menu, as there's plenty unused space there and it would eliminate one click;
• When the pop-up appears, show a list of last-used template, or of common ones, before the user starts typing. With that we eliminate the typing AND another click in most cases;
• When typing is needed (if it's not in the proposed list or if that suggestion is not accepted), clicking the correct one in the search list should automatically go to the next page (the one showing the template description) and skipping the need to click the "Adicionar predefinição" (add template) button. That is a completely useless, and the most annoying, step.

If this is implemented, it would reduce the process to just 3 clicks in the best case (if the template wanted appears in the suggestion list), or to 3 clicks + some typing in the worst case. In addition, it would help the user if he doesn't remember the name of the template, making it much more user-friendly.

You can do all of this from the keyboard:

1. Type {{ to open the Insert template dialog.
2. Start typing the name of your template. Use arrows and the ↵ Enter or Return key to select the one you want, and press it again to add the template.
3. If you need to fill in parameters, use the Tab ↹ button to navigate to the correct box(es) and type the parameter contents.
4. Press ⇧ Shift+↵ Enter to insert the template into the article.

The only "click" I made in that entire edit, including saving the page, was to put the cursor on the line that I wanted to edit.

For your specific suggestions:

• There is plenty of unused space in the toolbar – if you have a wide screen and good eyesight, which is not true for all editors. If you have a smaller computer screen or zoom in, then there is no available space in the toolbar. Multiple editors have told me that the toolbar wraps onto a second fat line on their computers.
• T96710 proposes a separate, manually curated list of common templates, which would be very handy at wikis that use only a few templates heavily (e.g., Wikivoyages). However, unless it wins the m:Community Wishlist (starts Monday), I don't expect that to be prioritized during the next year.
• If the template is automatically added, then you will have no opportunity to notice that you have accidentally clicked the wrong template. But if you are confident, you could just press the ↵ Enter key.

I really appreciate and am impressed by the way you have analyzed this workflow. Thank you for posting it.

Thanks for the appreciation.

I didn't know about the "{{" shortcut. I now see it is in the help dialogue, but I guess I never checked the shortcuts. And for me, the 4th step is different, using Ctrl instead of Shift key (different systems, I guess).

Regarding your points:

• I see 2 solutions (ideally, both implemented, but only 1 would be enough): check the screen size and zoom level, and only show it if it fits (better for basic users); or simply let the user customize the toolbar (better for advanced users).
• Yeah, that is exactly one of the suggestions I thought. The other (better, in my opinion) is similar to T109253, either recording the last 5 (unique) templates used, and showing them in reverse chronological order, or recording the last 100 used and showing the 5 most common ones. The numbers are just examples, but I believe a per user customization is better than a per project one (and perhaps is easier to achieve than having a project consensus). Here's an example of the proposed design: File:Frlara-1.png
• I didn't say adding the template automatically, but making the click confirm the selection and go directly to the next step where the information are inputted (skipping the "Add template" button, but not the "Insert" button at the next page). If that is still not acceptable, a "Back" button besides the "Insert" one could be added to let the user correct that mistake.

Thank you for your work.