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Disable new Slack WYSIWYG editor with this bookmarklet

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41–50 of 110 posts

Re: Disable new Slack WYSIWYG editor with this bookmarklet

#41

I don't use slack so the issue isn't on my radar, but if this has made it to the top of HN.... I guess Slack reeeealy effed up.

I think it's the product of popularity and the impact of the bug. Slack is exceedingly popular, so any change is going to come under a lot of scrutiny.

It is not clear to me how many new features Slack needs. Clearly people were able to successfully use the old text-entry UI; there was no shortage of Slack messages.

I feel like it would be better for them to focus on things that will add value to their platform without affecting people that are already using the core product. Meeting scheduling, corporate directory, video conferencing... nobody is in a better position to do that than them. And you can add those things, charge extra money for them, and not upset your existing customers.

Sometimes software is "done". The core of Slack is done.

Re: Disable new Slack WYSIWYG editor with this bookmarklet

#42
post #36
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well, they can use the browser version and have this snippet working without any extra steps

I don't understand the point of electron for applications whose functionality is entirely dependent on being online anyway. At that point, just use a browser as it's one fewer item to install. Is the Electron version of Slack capable of anything beyond the browser version?

You can include native code in Electron apps. I am not sure it is actually needed in any of the messaging Electron apps (Slack, Discord), but the capability is there.

My favorite Electron app is Balena Etcher. It is "dd" but uses 200MB of RAM. It is AMAZING.

Re: Disable new Slack WYSIWYG editor with this bookmarklet

#43
post #20

You can do it in the desktop app as well. If you run it with SLACK_DEVELOPER_MENU=true in env vars, it'll enable you to right click to Inspect Element, open devtools and run this code snippet there

I set the env variable but I can't seem to get the access to devtools? Only regular menu appears on right-click.

Same for me on macOS.

Re: Disable new Slack WYSIWYG editor with this bookmarklet

#44
post #39
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the point of electron for applications whose functionality is entirely dependent on being online anyway. At that point, just use a browser as it's one fewer item to install. Is the Electron version of Slack capable of anything beyond the browser version?

Some users prefer having a separate app with its own icon and window instead of another tab in a browser. It keeps things Separate

Specifically it makes it easier to get straight to the chat app.

I suppose I could use Hammerspoon to script hotkeys that jump straight to a Chrome tab with the right title, but that sounds like a lot more work than just binding a key combo to focus "Slack.app" (which is what I currently do).

Re: Disable new Slack WYSIWYG editor with this bookmarklet

#45
post #34

I've been struggling with the new editor for the past week or so. I finally sent this feedback to Slack today: Hi there, when the WYSIWYG editor rolled out, I was pleased to see it could be disabled with the "Aa" button in the bottom right. I quickly realized it's not disabled, the toolbar is just hidden. Here are the problems I run into: 1. Typing ``` and then pasting and typing it again (force of habit from *every…

Maybe if they start getting enough emails/tweets they will reconsider this...emailing them now...

Re: Disable new Slack WYSIWYG editor with this bookmarklet

#47
post #20

You can do it in the desktop app as well. If you run it with SLACK_DEVELOPER_MENU=true in env vars, it'll enable you to right click to Inspect Element, open devtools and run this code snippet there

I set the env variable but I can't seem to get the access to devtools? Only regular menu appears on right-click.

slack tends to keep a process in the background that needs to be killed and restarted when you "close" it. did you run `pkill slack` or similar and then restart?

Re: Disable new Slack WYSIWYG editor with this bookmarklet

#48
post #39
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the point of electron for applications whose functionality is entirely dependent on being online anyway. At that point, just use a browser as it's one fewer item to install. Is the Electron version of Slack capable of anything beyond the browser version?

Some users prefer having a separate app with its own icon and window instead of another tab in a browser. It keeps things Separate

This is all I want from an electron app, and is basically the main reason I really want PWAs to take off.

Re: Disable new Slack WYSIWYG editor with this bookmarklet

#49
post #39
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the point of electron for applications whose functionality is entirely dependent on being online anyway. At that point, just use a browser as it's one fewer item to install. Is the Electron version of Slack capable of anything beyond the browser version?

Some users prefer having a separate app with its own icon and window instead of another tab in a browser. It keeps things Separate

You can just create a shortcut with a custom icon that opens slack in a new browser window then.

Re: Disable new Slack WYSIWYG editor with this bookmarklet

#50
post #34

I've been struggling with the new editor for the past week or so. I finally sent this feedback to Slack today: Hi there, when the WYSIWYG editor rolled out, I was pleased to see it could be disabled with the "Aa" button in the bottom right. I quickly realized it's not disabled, the toolbar is just hidden. Here are the problems I run into: 1. Typing ``` and then pasting and typing it again (force of habit from *every…

For mobile users:

>Hi there, when the WYSIWYG editor rolled out, I was pleased to see it could be disabled with the "Aa" button in the bottom right. I quickly realized it's not disabled, the toolbar is just hidden.

>Here are the problems I run into:

>1. Typing ``` and then pasting and typing it again (force of habit from every other service that uses Markdown including Slack up until this point), leaving me with an extra ``` inside my code block.

>2. Typing >, pasting, and hitting enter too quickly that it doesn't seem to register. Or it registers for one line, but not the rest. Then I have to fix the rest. I'd prefer the old method of simply typing > in front of each line, consistently. But even when I try this, sometimes > doesn't get converted to quotes.

>3. Typing :emoji_name: often times results in me typing the name too quickly, and, similar to the bad auto-selection of @-names, it chooses an emoji whose name I didn't type (even though I typed an emoji name exactly). Please just don't touch it until the full thing is parsed on send.

>4. foo, _foo_, etc. -- again, I type very quickly (~158wpm when going my fastest) and these aren't getting converted. I'd expect if they don't get converted when I type it, they'd at least get converted on send. They don't. >Please give me a way to opt out of this or drastically improve it. Thank you.

I was disheartened to hear that Slack is adamant they will not allow this to be disabled:

>Thank you for taking the time to write in and provide this feedback. 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.

>We are committed to doing what we can to improve the new experience for you, and will continue to make improvements to the new editor. Thank you for sharing these specific examples as we're carefully reviewing all feedback and passing it over to our product team.

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