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[joho68 (Joaquim Homrighausen)]

I’m game, bring it on. I do C, C++, PHP, 808xx ASM, Pascal, Object Pascal, and a few other languages, but I’m afraid I don’t do “GoLang”. But I’ll be happy to contribute in any which way I can. And of course, feel free to share the idea with anyone else. If someone finds a hole in the logic, the idea will end up that much better in the end.

[joho68 (Joaquim Homrighausen)]

Any news on this? It’d be nice to get it going.

[jasonblais]

Sorry @joho68 for keeping you “in the dark”.

I’ve been thinking about this some more and have discussed with a few people on the Mattermost side. In general the feedback is receptive and people are open to the idea.

However, the key question that comes up is “why not use slash commands”, which is already readily available and widely used in other services like HipChat, Slack, etc.

For controlling everyday actions like replying and deleting posts will be slightly less obvious using the META key (e.g. which post is it deleting? Or replying to?)

I still do think this could be a great improvement, but I suppose I’m not 100% convinced it’s the “better” way to go over slash commands.

Any thoughts? Would love to hear your feedback

[joho68 (Joaquim Homrighausen)]

In my opinion, the META key, IMHO, can replace or be used alongside keyboard commands. The original idea is to “not run out of shortcuts”, but still provide keyboard shortcuts. The reason an initial key is used is to “not run into trouble with OS and browsers”. The reason we split it up is to allow for “command families”. With slash commands I don’t see this “streamlined logic”. Everything you do with a META command should have the current input box as the logical starting point. If it has no function in the input box, then it can / should never affect another message.So META m r replies to the current message / post. Always. No exception. I really do not wish to type /reply to accomplish that. And at all costs, “clicking on sh*t” should be avoided!

[DarckCrystale]

About existing up shortcut

@VertigoRay

I did know about slack and knew you were mirroring them, but doesn’t mean I agree. Too each their own though. Best to follow suit with the other major players imho.

@jasonblais

UP is also more familiar with users coming from other apps like Slack…

I disagree with @VertigoRay and @joho68 on this point: I’m from an old Slack (we choose Mattermost after some months using Slack and we migrate), and I really like to use up to edit my previous message (it’s really useful to correct typos). If Mattermost change this shortcut, I think there is a risk that you can lost users coming from Slack.

@joho68

UP makes more sense to “repeat” previous message

@jasonblais

Although that’s true, most of our end users aren’t familiar with a CLI prompt and hence wouldn’t expect UP to “repeat” the previous message.

I think it’s a Linux user’s habit, because with up in a terminal, you can reach the previous commands. I’m not sure that casual users would use up to repeat what they was saying So here, for me, the question is: what type of users are targeted with Mattermost?

About “meta-mode”

@joho68

I think the META key should be used to develop a “complete” set of keyboard shortcuts to control/handle everyday actions

Exactly!

@joho68

And, perhaps the most important reason of all, using this “system” will help us avoid running into conflicts with the web browser

Yep, it would avoid a lot of conflict and “Hey, you could do this!” “Awh no, in Chrome on Windows, this shortcut is taken…”.

About which key to trigger the “meta mode”

I agree with @VertigoRay and @joho68 about the esc key.

@jasonblais

I think that’s actually used by JIRA, where clicking “.” brings up an action menu.

I also like this option!

About behavior of “meta mode”

@jasonblais

what would be your thoughts on having [ESC] open the META-command, which then lists the different options. You could then search for them + choose the action you want to perform.

I think it’s a good idea!

@joho68

I think the timer handling should be implemented to allow for less “screen noise” (pop-up) for those that have learned META commands. So if I press ESC G H in rapid succession, I don’t get to see the menu pop up at all. But if I wait for, say, 0.7s between ESC and G, I would get the full META menu, if the input timer expires between the G and the H, I would get the menu, and have the selection bar be positioned on the Group commands.

I agree, that sounds great!

About / commands

“Meta mode” for me is not here to “replace” / commands but to make it quicker to do something than tap /a long command with a lot of parameters.

I think that if an action is available at “meta mode”, it should have a dedicated command. It will allow mobile users to do it
But I think the reverse doesn’t have to be: if a command exists, it doesn’t have to be present in the “meta mode”.

About /r command suggestion

@VertigoRay

/r1 second to last reply

I think that /r <id of the message -like its hyperlink-> <answer> would be nice. The id could be automatically added in the following scenario:

1. user write /r

• Mattermost displays a combo-box containing previous posts
• user use mouse or up / down then enter keys to select the message her/him want to answer
• Mattermost write the id of the message right after the /r in the text box
• user can write the answer and tap enter to send it.

About the existing

@VertigoRay

The other main thing I would suggest; which is pretty obvious imo: don’t change existing functionality. Just give us another way to do cool things and let users pick their favorite way.

I agree with that!

[jasonblais]

Thanks all!

@joho68 @VertigoRay @DarckCrystale I’ve added a proposal for the META-key in a Google doc that I’ve been working on for keyboard shortcuts and slash commands:

Mattermost: Keyboard Shortcuts and Slash Commands

The doc should be open to everyone so feel free to add notes and comments.

I’m planning to post the spec for review tomorrow in our Spec Reviews channel.

[joho68 (Joaquim Homrighausen)]

I’ve added some comments. I didn’t see the “Comments” functionality until I had started editing the text, my apologies. I’ve prefixed my changes with @joho68.

[jasonblais]

Thanks @joho68! Posted for review, we should get some feedback on it later this week (most are out today for a statutory holiday): https://pre-release.mattermost.com/core/pl/su473qkswiy8jpe7ypmnoxmx5y