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The latest version of Slack has a setting to disable the WYSIWYG editor

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Re: The latest version of Slack has a setting to disable the WYSIWYG editor

#61

Post by lilyball »

coryfklein wrote: post #57
saltcured wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha, I wish I could disable "threads" so nobody else can use them...

We have a culturally enforced strict rule of moving literally ALL new conversations into a subthread and I absolutely LOVE it. This means that if you want to respond to a comment, you never do it in the channel but in the subthread of _that_ comment. This means that when you browse the channel itself, each individual line represents a conversation on a specific topic. You can essentially browse the "headlines" of the…

That would be easier to do if Slack had better support for threading. But you can only have one thread open at a time, and if you're in the overall "Threads" view you have to click every single time a new comment comes in before it will show the comment.

Re: The latest version of Slack has a setting to disable the WYSIWYG editor

#62

Post by lilyball »

Looks like this doesn't bring back the markup help text in the lower-right corner, which is a shame.

I really wish they'd just highlight your markup in the appropriate style while leaving the markup intact. That would solve the "I want to see what the markup I just typed will do" without any of the problems of the WYSIWYG approach. Basically just syntax highlighting for markup.

Re: The latest version of Slack has a setting to disable the WYSIWYG editor

#63

Post by BurningFrog »

Someone1234 wrote: post #51
tempsy wrote: post #11

Amazing to see how Slack turned from something everyone raved about to something everyone is sort of annoyed with and critical of. Maybe that isn't that surprising for most products as they age/mature but it seems particularly acute with Slack.

“There are only two kinds of languages: the ones people complain about and the ones nobody uses.” -- Bjarne Stroustrup I've found this quote extremely true, but not just with programming language but with all things. People complain about Slack because they use Slack a lot, so minor quibbles become a daily frustration. It is when people go quiet about a product that you should really worry. They're either extremely h…

The turning point is when tools go from something enthusiasts choose to being mandated by management.

Re: The latest version of Slack has a setting to disable the WYSIWYG editor

#64

Post by jmcqk6 »

soneca wrote: post #48

It is interesting to me that the rant post about Slack's WYSIWYG editor was the 18th most upvoted HN post of all time. No idea what conclusion should I draw from it, if any at all, but surprising for me at least.

I don't think there is anything strange about that. Slack is a widespread used tool, which introduced a feature that made it very difficult and frustrating to use.

Re: The latest version of Slack has a setting to disable the WYSIWYG editor

#66

Post by WrtCdEvrydy »

beatgammit wrote: post #44
saltcured wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha, I wish I could disable "threads" so nobody else can use them...

I'm glad it's not just me. Threads are terrible and hide potentially important information.

Threads are fine, but I would love if they defaulted to post to channel.

Re: The latest version of Slack has a setting to disable the WYSIWYG editor

#67

Post by cygned »

wst_ wrote: post #60
cygned wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What Slack needs is a proper way to respond to messages like Telegram/WhatsApp has it.

I'm not really sure I follow. What does the WhatsApp has which is missing in Slack?

You can answer and the original post is shown below your answer. You can do the same with Slack by sharing the post, but other solutions make it way simpler, basically just one click.

Re: The latest version of Slack has a setting to disable the WYSIWYG editor

#68

Post by ajnin »

mdszy wrote: post #12

"I apologize for the disruption to your existing workflows. Our aim is to build an editor that works for all Slack users to better format their messages and clearly communicate in channels, regardless of their technical expertise. While we are taking all feedback on board, disabling the new formatting tool isn't an option that we will be offering."

> an editor that works for all Slack users

That's a common pitfall many companies, including Google, seem to be falling into. Everyone uses tools a bit differently. Imagine that each feature is an axis in the space of all the ways to use the tool. Every person will be a different point somewhere in that space. If you try to enforce only one way to use the feature, you carve a slice in the useful space of your tool. And the more features you have, the smaller is the space defined by the intersection of all those "works for all" features, and the fewer users it actually helps !

The "one tool that works for everyone" simply does not exist. Thankfully they realized that this time, but it's more often not the case.

Re: The latest version of Slack has a setting to disable the WYSIWYG editor

#69

Post by atombender »

coryfklein wrote: post #57
saltcured wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha, I wish I could disable "threads" so nobody else can use them...

We have a culturally enforced strict rule of moving literally ALL new conversations into a subthread and I absolutely LOVE it. This means that if you want to respond to a comment, you never do it in the channel but in the subthread of _that_ comment. This means that when you browse the channel itself, each individual line represents a conversation on a specific topic. You can essentially browse the "headlines" of the…

We do this, too, but I really dislike the thread UX.

Threads should behave like nested channels. Today, that works okay if you click on the "5 replies" link under a message, though it opens up a cramped sidebar instead of taking you to something that feels "nested".

But when there are multiple threads, the only way to juggle them is that "Threads" entry in the man sidebar. It leads to a weird page that doesn't behave like a regular channel. For one, new messages don't come in automatically; it just shows "1 unread reply" or whatever which has to be clicked. Secondly, if you have multiple threads active at once, the view crams all of them into a single scrollable pane.

Threads should, in my opinion, show up as separate entries in the sidebar. And Slack should support having multiple windows open for separate threads and channels, which would make it easier to have multiple conversations going on at the same time.

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