[Users] Setup Host Network dialog - actions availability [ux][BZ#984737]

[René Koch (ovido)]

On Thu, 2013-08-22 at 13:04 -0400, Einav Cohen wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> This is about attempting to address the difficulty of finding the edit-action in 
> the Setup Host Network dialog, as documented in "Bug 984737 - usability: webadmin 
> difficulty in assigning client ip, no gateway possible" in bugzilla.
> We have a suggestion from Eldan (see attached "HostSetupNetworks-HoverPopUp.png") 
> which was described in the BZ (comment #3) and seemed acceptable by the reporter 
> (comment #4), however IIUC - one of the main pain points described in the BZ was 
> the fact that the user could not find the option to Edit the connection properties 
> since he was looking in the wrong place, and needed to hover on the correct place, 
> in order to find that option.
> So although the idea is somewhat helpful, my concern is that this solution is not 
> enough (comment #5).
> 
> Another proposal from Malini (comment #6) is to add an "actions" drop-down menu in 
> the form of a small "gear" icon-button - see attached "HostSetupNetworks-DropDownMenu.png".
> This proposal addresses my concern, however I have a question about another concern 
> with this solution:
> would the actions-drop-down menu-items panel be revealed appear upon click or upon 
> hover?


In my opinion this is the better solution but still not enough. Let me 
explain why:

There are 4 reasons (or did I forgot one?) why I want to change the network 
configuration:
1. Add new logical networks
2. Remove logical networks
3. Change ip addresses of 1 (or more) logical networks
4. Configure/change bonding options

Ad 1 and 2: In the Setup hosts networks dialog the behavior is ok - 
improvements should be done when creating new logical networks.
I think neutron integration will improve this...

Ad 3:
When changing (or adding) an ip address I first have to verify what's the
current ip configuration of this host.
If I don't use dns/static hosts entry I can see the current ip address
of ovirtmgmt host in hosts tab, but for all other networks or when
having hostnames configured I have to go to the "Network Interfaces"
subtab of each host. In this tab I can already see the address I (properly)
want to change or the interface where I want to add a new ip address.

So why not allowing to edit ip addresses here?
I don't mean going back to oVirt 3.0 style but just make existing ip
addresses changeable here already by making the existing ip address 
clickable and open the edit network window.

Bondings/logical networks should stay in setup host networks and there
should also be a gear icon to edit/remove logical networks like in the 
DropDownMenu.png screenshot which reveals when clicking on it. Then you
have the possibility to change the ip config wherever it's easier for you.

I also vote for removing the tooltip on logical networks and instead display
the ip address (and maybe MTU) below the logical network name.
e.g.
ovirtmgmt (VLAN 1)
IP: 192.168.0.1
---------
logical network 1
---------
logical network 2

As ip addresses will most likely be configured only for ovirtmgmt, display
network and storage network this dialog wouldn't get floated with too many
information...

Ad 4: Add a gear icon in the same way as for 3, but keep the ability to
change the configuration only in "Setup hosts networks" dialog, no need imho 
in "Network Interfaces" subtab...


Regards,
René


> 
> if it will be upon hover, it might seem weird/be conflicted/be somewhat confusing 
> with the hover functionality that reveals the logical-network details pop-up.
> 
> if it will be upon click, it means that in order to edit a logical network, two 
> clicks will be required in order to get to the edit dialog, as opposed to one click 
> in the current state and in Eldan's suggestion. 
> maybe having two clicks in order to get to the edit dialog is acceptable, however 
> there may be some solutions for that:
> 
> one possible solution would be to combine both attached suggestions, i.e. the actions 
> within the hover pop-up, as well as the actions drop-down menu, however it means that 
> there will be some redundancy of the actions availability.
> 
> another possible solution is to keep only the gear + down-arrow icon (or maybe only 
> the down-arrow icon), without the actual drop-down menu there, just in order to indicate 
> that there are some options available in that area, and have Eldan's pop-up appear when 
> hovering on that icon (or even on the entire logical-network area, as happens today with 
> the current details pop-up)
> 
> thoughts?
> 
> ----
> Regards, 
> Einav
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