[TYPO3-hci] The Constant Triptichon

[Christopher]

Alex Heizer wrote:
> Christopher wrote:
>> Alex Heizer wrote:

<snip>

> My question to you is: with the FE editing, what is the benefit of 
> making the BE representative of the website layout? Ripping out a 
> standard BE that we can create documentation for, just so that we can 
> make two versions of the same interface (both FE and BE), would be a 
> very bad idea in the usability department.

<snip>

I've snipped a longish point down to this paragraph--please let me know 
if you think I miss anything pertinent.

As I see it, there are two points to your argument:


1. There is no /benefit/ to making the BE able to reflect the layout of 
the FE, and

2. There is the opportunity for considerable /harm/ in doing so (i.e. 
because it will be impossible to document a 'non-standardized' interface)


I think I addressed point 1 adequately in my previous post--essentially, 
to make the 'columns' section of the Page module reflect the FE layout 
provides some degree of self-documentation for users in the BE. I think 
you greatly underestimate how beneficial this could be to users, though 
I'm not sure what I could do to convince you...

For the second point, again, I just think that you're framing the issue 
incorrectly. I'll see if I can put it very succinctly:

A /standardized/ interface is not necessarily an interface that looks 
/identical/ in every case. A good illustration of this--though at a bit 
higher level than what we're discussing here--is the set of controls for 
opening, closing and resizing windows in various different operating 
systems...

I don't want to draw too strong a parallel between BE and FE, but this 
is precisely why FE editing is easy to learn for users of different 
sites in spite of the fact that the elements of the TYPO3 UI do not 
necessarily occur in remotely similar contexts.

Having said that, there are obviously extremely good reasons for keeping 
the BE more standardized than is possible for FE editing. But this 
simply does /not/ have to mean keeping one small (though very important) 
component of a single module of the BE the same in thousands of 
installations. We are really only talking about a small part of the Page 
module. Again, my experience learning and training others to use 
software is that it is the /elements/ of the interface that really matter.

Provided that users are adequately instructed in the ins and outs of the 
various tools available to them in the UI (such as the millions of tiny 
icons), I don't see why it should cause any particular problems if a 
relatively small area of the interface varies from site to site. And if, 
as in this case, the variance occurs for a reason known to and 
understood by the user (training again), I see even less opportunity for 
trouble.

In any case, I doubt I will convince you in the first place, and in the 
second place, TYPO3 is famous for maintaining backwards compatibility; 
given these facts, I suggest one or both of the following two options to 
keep everyone happy:


1. A TSconfig option for switching to/from the standard 'column' layout, 
and/or,

2. A checkbox (or other form control) that switches between standard and 
FE-like views (provided a FE-like view is available) in the Page module.



-Christopher