[Design] Re: [Proposal] Accounts dialog rework and workflows for Preview

[Brian Kirsch]

Hi Mimi,
Overall this looks like a good solution however, I do see a couple of  
issues.

First moving the testing of accounts to when the user hits the OK  
button is problematic as we
discussed yesterday since multiple accounts may have been added. This  
would mean if I created
two IMAP accounts and one SMTP Account all three would need to be  
tested when the user hits OK.
This is complicated from both a developer standpoint (I would need to  
store and resolve the errors for
each of the accounts) and the users standpoint (multiple account  
errors to resolve vs.  fixing one account).
In my opinion, we would be better served by limiting the testing to  
one account at a time. Also, even if the
test failed the user should be able to hit OK and keep the current  
settings. Perhaps, the server was
down or the user lost the internet connection. Theses are temporary  
situations that the user knows will be
resolved. We should not inhibit the ability to save the settings.

Also when the user selects the create IMAP folders check box, the  
testing account back-end functionality is expanded
 to actual login to the IMAP server scan for 'Chandler Task',  
'Chandler Event', and 'Chandler Mail' folders and if not present
create them and subscribe (IMAP term) to them. This further affirms  
my assertion that testing should only
be performed on one account at a time.

Also when we talked yesterday the placement of the Auto-configure  
button was based on the user entering
the server, username, and password and combining the actions of auto  
discover and testing. If we are separating
testing from auto configure then there is no need for the username  
and password to be supplied. Meaning the location
of the auto configure button could move. Also I think the auto  
configure button should be grayed out until the server
host name has been entered. Also what happens if the user has already  
filled in all the fields for an account
 including the port / security etc. and then hits the auto configure  
button. Does auto configure overwrite these values?


The other issue I see is with outgoing accounts. Right now with this  
model we are removing the ability to assign
a specific outgoing account to an incoming account since the drop  
down is going away. This is fine but what
happens if some one creates more than one outgoing account. In this  
design there really is only one outgoing
account which would apply to all incoming accounts. So if you agree  
we should allow only the modification of the
default outgoing account in the Account Preferences UI.

Regarding error / progress messages in the bottom half of the dialog  
they would mimic the current testing dialog
i.e. progress bar, verbiage. In the case of IMAP folder creation the  
verbiage would be "Configuring Chandler IMAP Folders'.
The error message would be "Unable to set up Chandler IMAP Folders:  
$REASON". The $REASON would be the
error response from the IMAP server.

-Brian

On Jan 9, 2007, at 10:39 PM, Mimi Yin wrote:

Hey, I sent this out to the list. I realized that we can't really  
conflate Auto-configure and Test account...but I think I figured  
out a way to conflate Test account... and Okay without running into  
the problems we discussed today. Anyhoo, let's discuss in the  
morning. Thx! Mimi

Begin forwarded message:

From: Mimi Yin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: January 9, 2007 10:38:24 PM PST
To: Chandler Design list <design@osafoundation.org>
Subject: [Proposal] Accounts dialog rework and workflows for Preview

bkirsch and I sat down to review the Accounts dialog in light of  
the Email functionality we're adding for Preview in Alpha5.

Below is a summary of the changes we're making and a new workflow  
we're implementing. Please review and respond with any questions  
and/or comments.

Mock-ups available at: http://wiki.osafoundation.org/bin/view/ 
Journal/AccountSetupWorkflow

I have also updated the email spec with this proposal: http:// 
svn.osafoundation.org/docs/trunk/docs/specs/rel0_7/Email-0.7.html

=====

PROPOSAL

Simple simplifications of the Account Dialog

Simplify the 'Create new account...' pulldown to only list the  
following 3 options:

   1. Incoming mail
   2. Outgoing mail
   3. Cosmo Sharing Service

The corresponding 'Account types' are:

   1. Incoming mail
   2. Outgoing mail
   3. Sharing

Add in Grant's handy-dandy 'Auto-configure' tool to try and guess  
the following settings for Incoming and Outgoing accounts:

   1. Account type: POP versus IMAP
   2. Secure connection: None versus TLS versus SSL
   3. Port:
   4. Authentication required?

Move the ability to download email from the user's Inbox to the  
'Experimental' menu. For ease of implementation, email will be  
pulled down, starting with the oldest email.

Remove the "Use as default 'from' account" radio button and  
"Outgoing mail server (SMTP): pulldown from the Incoming mail  
account form. (From dogfood feedback, we've found that the default  
'from' account radio button has been confusing users. While this  
feature will certainly be useful in the future, it will require  
quite a bit more design work to get right and it's value in the  
Preview timeframe is questionable.)

Remove the 'Use as default account for sharing' radio button from  
the Sharing account pulldown. Instead, the 'Sharing account'  
pulldown in the 'Share' dialog should always display the first  
Sharing account as the default.

Change the 'Sign up for an account' button in the Sharing account  
form to text with a hyperlink.


Workflow steps: Adding a new Incoming mail account

   1. Go to File>>Accounts...
   2. Select 'Incoming email...' from 'Create new account...'  
pulldown
   3. Fill out Email address, Full name, Incoming mail server,  
User name, and Password fields
   4. User clicks the 'Auto-configure...' button

(Dialog expands to display progress information. bkirsch, I'm hand- 
waving here, please let me know what the appropriate messages are.)

   1. Contacting server: xxxxx.., etc
   2. Configuring account settings...
   3. Configuration complete... (Protocol, Secure connection and  
Port fields are automatically configured.)

{Auto-configuration fails...} (Display error message:)

   1. Error: Unable to auto-configure account. Please enter  
settings manually.

{If Protocol = IMAP...} ([ ] Set up special IMAP folders...'  
checkbox option appears)

   1. User checks: 'Set up special IMAP folders...' ('Learn more'  
link takes you to Preview end-user documentation.)
   2. User clicks Okay. (Okay button greys out while account is  
tested.)

(Display progress information:)

   1. Contacting server: xxx...
   2. Checking xxx...

{IMAP folder creation fails...}

   1. Error: Unable to add special Chandler IMAP folders to your  
account. ([ ] Set up sepcial IMAP folders... checkbox is  
automatically unchecked.)

   1. User clicks Okay. (Okay button greys out while account is  
tested.)

(Progress information:)

   1. Contacting server: xxx...
   2. Checking xxx...

{No errors.} (Done button appears.)

   1. User clicks Done.

Workflow steps: Adding a new Outgoing mail account:

   1. Go to File>>Accounts...
   2. Select 'Outgoing email...' from 'Create new account...'  
pulldown
   3. Fill out Email address and Outgoing mail server
   4. User clicks the 'Auto-configure...' button.

(Dialog expands to display progress information. bkirsch, I'm hand- 
waving here, please let me know what the appropriate messages are.)

   1. Contacting server: xxxxx.., etc
   2. Configuring account settings...
   3. Configuration complete... (Protocol, Secure connection and  
Port fields are automatically configured.)

{Auto-configuration fails...} (Display error message:)

   1. Error: Unable to auto-configure account. Please enter  
settings manually.

{Server requires Authentication...}

   1. xxx requires authentication. Please enter your User name and  
Password above.

   1. User enters User name and password.
   2. User clicks Okay. (Okay button greys out while account is  
tested.)

(Progress information:)

   1. Contacting server: xxx...
   2. Verifying...

{No errors.} (Done button appears.)

   1. User clicks Done.


Workflow steps: Adding a new Sharing account:

   1. Go to File>>Accounts...
   2. Select 'Outgoing email...' from 'Create new account...'  
pulldown
   3. Fill out fields
   4. User clicks Okay. (Okay button greys out while account is  
tested.)

(Dialog expands to display progress information. bkirsch, I'm hand- 
waving here, please let me know what the appropriate messages are.)

   1. Contacting server: xxxxx.., etc
   2. Verifying account settings.

{Account test fails...} (Display error message:)

   1. Error: Unable to verify account. Please check settings and  
try again.
   2. User fixes settings.
   3. User clicks Okay. (Okay button greys out while account is  
tested.)

(Progress information:)

   1. Contacting server: xxx...
   2. Verifying...

{No errors.} (Done button appears.)



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