processing / processing/processing4

Opening Examples: confusing ux

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enhancement
Dominant language
Java
Stars
494
Forks
183
Avg merge
4h 39m
Merged PRs (30d)
3

Description

Most relevant area for this enhancement?

PDE

Feature to enhance

Examples List / Loader

Enhancement details

Hello, I am a new Processing user (but I have been using p5.js and doing web development.)
Here is an issue I am having during my first time using the latest Processing Editor.

TLDR
The interface with the button at the bottom makes it look like form selection and unexpected that double click is required.

What Happened:
I want to open an example.
I click File > Examples.
The list of examples opens in a window.
I click a category. It just highlights, but I expected it to show submenu on click or hover
I click the little icon to unfold a category.
I click a specific. It just highlights, but I expected it to open.
The only thing left to click was the "Add to Examples" Button at the bottom.
Clicking "Add to Examples" opens the Contribution manager examples tab.
I couldn't tell why the example I highlighted in the list was not present in that list, or why the lists were different.

After a couple rounds of trying the same thing and reopening the project, I finally understand that I need to double click to open, and that the "Add to Examples" is a way to load in from the Contributed examples.

Impact:
Makes new users who don't catch on may easily give up or be embarrassed to ask for help.

Enhacement Ideas:
The example list should function similar to other programs so new users can easily catch on.
Option 1: Either having single click so it's like the menu item is an action being executed.
Option 2: Another option is to have a button that can open the example so you are acting upon your selection.
Option 3: Style it more like a file-explorer grid so double-clicking is more expected.
Option 4: Any ideas?

Image
Would you like to help implement this enhancement?

I’m not sure yet

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the File > Examples workflow in the PDE, including category selection, example selection, double-clicking, and the “Add to Examples” button. Review the Examples List / Loader behavior and agree on one interaction model; done means new users can discover how to open an example without confusing it with contributed-example loading.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java
Domain
design, desktop
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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