Slack’s new WYSIWYG input box is terrible • Hacker News Board

Re: Slack’s new WYSIWYG input box is terrible

#601

Post by gsich » Thu, Nov 21, 2019, 11:52 AM UTC

jsjohnst wrote: post #598

pmlnr wrote: post #559

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because Slack killed their XMPP and IRC bridges, so the only way to connect to is via the official interface.

> so the only way to connect to is via the official interface. Not true. There’s several alternative clients.

They all use the same "interface". XMPP/IRC would be different interfaces. I can use whatever client I want, not some client that is specifically coded for Slack.

I don't need ANY changes in my XMPP/IRC client to connect to a server.

But the reason why Slack discontinued XMPP/IRC is clear. They want people to use their shitty app/website.

Re: Slack’s new WYSIWYG input box is terrible

#602

Post by clarry » Thu, Nov 21, 2019, 11:53 AM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #591

clarry wrote: post #589

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also use Zulip at work. It's better than the other fancy chat applications I've tried, but still can't hold a candle to IRC.

What?! What does IRC do that Zulip doesn't? I consider the latter far superior.

User interface, information density. Zulip is very verbose and cluttered and after a while it becomes difficult to find information from past conversations, things scroll out of screen very quickly, etc.. And there doesn't seem to be much of a way to customize it, short of going for the source code. For IRC there's a ton of customizability around in the form of various clients, scripts, plugins, etc.

Re: Slack’s new WYSIWYG input box is terrible

#603

Post by fr33k3y » Thu, Nov 21, 2019, 11:54 AM UTC

pmlnr wrote: post #559

josteink wrote: post #521

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I want to immediately stop using this software but have no choice As someone who never got into slack, and never found it appealing... How so?

Because Slack killed their XMPP and IRC bridges, so the only way to connect to is via the official interface.

Not really. You can use their API and implement a client like the ones already mentioned: wee-slack, ripcord, ...

Re: Slack’s new WYSIWYG input box is terrible

#604

Post by tehabe » Thu, Nov 21, 2019, 11:58 AM UTC

I guess, for non-tech people this is better, for tech people the markdown input was better. That is why I don't understand why Slack doesn't give you the option to switch between the two …

Re: Slack’s new WYSIWYG input box is terrible

#605

Post by emlun » Thu, Nov 21, 2019, 11:59 AM UTC

Someone made a bookmarklet to disable it: https://github.com/kfahy/slack-disable-wysiwyg-bookmarklet

Re: Slack’s new WYSIWYG input box is terrible

#606

Post by caoilte » Thu, Nov 21, 2019, 11:59 AM UTC

rmsaksida wrote: post #568

mattacular wrote: post #535

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with that is Slack no longer needs a small segment of vocal users. They used to, but now they're a huge established company with plenty of service contracts across tons of industries.

That's true, but it can change. Just as tech users were vocal about getting people in, they can be vocal about getting people out.

The exact same thing (WYSIWYG editor) happened with JIRA over ten years ago. And here we are...

Re: Slack’s new WYSIWYG input box is terrible

#607

Post by workthrowaway » Thu, Nov 21, 2019, 11:59 AM UTC

vailripper wrote: post #99

nerdponx wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know what else has a terrible WYSIWYG editor? Microsoft Teams. It's kind of sort of like Markdown, except when it isn't, or when it breaks. At least it's a step up from Lync.

Sounds like Atlassians approach with Jira - "it supports markdown, except when it doesn't!"

why atlassian is so successful with management but not with people who actually use their product is a great unsolved mystery.

Re: Slack’s new WYSIWYG input box is terrible

#608

Post by bishalb » Thu, Nov 21, 2019, 12:00 PM UTC

sambe wrote: post #495

This is not one of those "oh, that's annoying, i'll have to remember that and learn to work around it" issues. It's more like "I want to immediately stop using this software but have no choice". Its driving me crazy - Slack is all text input. Don't break text input dummy!

While I understand why this change can be annoying to the tech savvy folks of hackernews, it can be quite helpful for those who aren't that tech savvy and want easy ways to bold, italicize texts (that make up majority of the slack user base). Heck I am sure most of the slack users wouldn't even know it was possible to bold, italicize on slack using markdown.

Re: Slack’s new WYSIWYG input box is terrible

#609

Post by catalogia » Thu, Nov 21, 2019, 12:00 PM UTC

rmsaksida wrote: post #568

mattacular wrote: post #535

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with that is Slack no longer needs a small segment of vocal users. They used to, but now they're a huge established company with plenty of service contracts across tons of industries.

That's true, but it can change. Just as tech users were vocal about getting people in, they can be vocal about getting people out.

I'm not sure how Oracle really squares with that theory. From what I've seen, courting executives can work pretty well for companies widely hated by users.

Re: Slack’s new WYSIWYG input box is terrible

#610

Post by jsjohnst » Thu, Nov 21, 2019, 12:01 PM UTC

randunel wrote: post #498

kdeldycke wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HiPPO stands for HIghest Paid Person's Opinion , a trait of dysfunctional culture, in which power politics trumps data. The concept seems to originate from Netscape's CEO and the acronym exists since 2006, according HiPPO FAQ: http://bitly.com/HIPPOExplained

Why are you trying to track us? Please post non-tracking links https://exp-platform.com/Pages/HiPPO_explained.aspx

Any time I see a bitly link like that, I always copy rather than click and add a + to the end. I should make an extension to do it on hover I guess.