nextcloud / nextcloud/server

Make the "New" button more intuitive (uploads vs. creating documents within Nextcloud)

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0. Needs triage design enhancement feature: files papercut
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Description

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Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

When I use Nextcloud in the browser, most of the time I want to do stuff directly in Nextcloud like creating a new folder, a new document,...

The current "New" dialog looks like this:

Image

For example when I want to create a new folder I often click intuitively on "Upload folders". If I notice it early enough that it is the wrong button I always need 1-2 seconds to search the list below for the right actions. While the two actions at the top "Upload File" and "Upload folders" stick out visually the others look all the same more or less.

Describe the solution you'd like

Most of the time when you work in the browser I would argue that you want to do stuff directly in the browser, create new folders, documents,... So as a first step I would turn it around and move "Upload File" and "Upload folders" to the bottom of the list.

Maybe this would be already enough, maybe some more cleanup could be helpful to find quickly the right action because the list is quite long currently.

One Idea:

Create new

  • New Folder
  • New Document[1]
  • New File Request

Upload from device

  • Upload file
  • Upload folders

Separator line

  • Add folder description

This could make it way easier to directly spot and select the right action.

[1] "New Document" would lead to a sub-menu or pop-up which let the user select the document type (all the other things which are currently in the list). Maybe a popup would be nice because it could run you through all followup steps: (1) select the document type with a grid view and nice large icons, (2)select a name, (3)select a template -> create. From step (2) on we already have pop-ups these days, so this could lead to a nice unified workflow at the end.

Describe alternatives you've considered
A clear and concise description of any alternative solutions or features you've considered.

Additional context
Add any other context or screenshots about the feature request here.

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First steps

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  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

The issue does not name source files, tests, or a frontend entry point. Start by locating the browser's New dialog in the Nextcloud server frontend and compare its current actions with the proposed grouping; done would require an agreed design and implementation that makes creation actions easier to distinguish from uploads.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript
Domain
design, frontend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
32/100

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