reply message ui design

[violoncelloCH]

some ideas for displaying the in reply to <mx-reply> description and content in a (probably) nicer way:

• link the whole <mx-reply> to the original message so a tap on it scrolls up the message history (if necessary) and highlights the original message
• don't display nested replys (in longer discussions I don't wan't to have everything from above again in the new message, but just the last message the reply refers to; when I wan't to read preceding messages content I can scroll up / click on the reply to be scrolled up to the corresponding message)
• only display the first part of the quoted text (maybe also in a little bit smaller font size) to prevent reply messages to fill up a huge amount of space, only because the original message was a long one

[BillCarsonFr]

Thanks, yes RiotX need to implement 'Rich Reply'
https://matrix.org/docs/spec/client_server/r0.4.0.html#rich-replies

[tulir]

To be specific, the <mx-reply> tag shouldn't be rendered at all, it needs to be stripped away completely. The original message should be fetched from the server using the metadata in the event (m.relates_to) and that event should be rendered above the reply message appropriately.

[fbruetting]

I'm pro shortening the referred-to message via ellipsis, with the possibility to tap and show it fully, instead of shortening the message.

[tulir]

tap and show it fully

Isn't it better to have tapping jump to message? You see the whole message and the context, rather than just seeing the message and not having a convenient way to jump to context.

[fbruetting]

Well, both would be nice. Then you would not have to jump up and afterwards going down again (as the referencing message might not be at the very end of the conversation, and you then have to manually search).

[pioneer]

I'd add the following improvement: if the original message contains an image, show a small image preview (but not a full-sized image).

[bmarty]

I'd add the following improvement: if the original message contains an image, show a small image preview (but not a full-sized image).

FTR that PR implements that on Element Web

[ghost]

Just use the Telegram's approach

[bilfri]

Another suggestion:

• If a message is a reply to the latest message in the chat, don't show the quoted text.

It is nice to see the quoted text when the message that was replied to is off screen. However when the message that is replied to is shown just above the answer anyway, the quote text is redundant and fills up a lot of screen space with copies of the same text

---

Example of current behaviour:

@ Anna
Can anyone get broccoli for tonight?

@ Bob

In reply to: @ Anna
Can anyone get broccoli for tonight?

Yes

---

Example of desired behaviour:

@ Anna
Can anyone get broccoli for tonight?

@ Bob

In reply to: @ Anna

Yes

[pioneer]

The previous message is not redundant, it helps keeping and following the context. In contrast, showing only the name (@ Anna in the above example), will not add anything about how the reply is related to the original message. Most of the messengers show the original text, or a part of that text using a smaller font (so it doesn't consume much space), which is usually enough to follow the conversation (given that the original message can be a couple of screens above, so otherwise you must scroll back to understand why someone replied).

[pioneer]

Also, I'd suggest removing the explicit "In reply to" text, as it's anyway visually obvious from the UI that this is a reply, especially given the small amount of screen space on mobile. Looks very much like an old good email.

[bilfri]

@pioneer I actually agree with you, but I think you misunderstand my suggestion: It is only about the case where the reply is to the latest message in the chat. Such that the message which is replied to is visible just above the new message anyway. In cases where there have been other messages since the one that is being replied to I think that yes, the small quote/summary makes sense (which I tried to say in my suggestion as well). I will try to make this clear by editing my message above

As to the removing the "In reply to": yeah maybe that is unnecessary when we have eg. color coding. My suggestion is not related to anything else, only the quote text in the very narrow (but common) case that the newest message is a reply to the second newest.

[pioneer]

@bilfri well yes, missed that detail, sorry. Yes, I think if there are two consequent messages, that makes more sense.

[fbruetting]

I actually don't think that this makes sense. Think you wrote two questions via separate messages. Then you receive just a "yes". Which question was answered? Here you need the quote, even if it's the last message which gets quoted.

[bilfri]

@fbruetting I see how this special case is a bit different. Here are three and a half reasons why I don't think it ruins the idea:

• If you know the system, then in your example you would know that the reply was meant for the latter message (had it been for the first, the quote would have been included). We can't of course assume that people read the spec, but I think that when there is no quote text you will intuitively understand it as an answer to the latest message (like when people forget to use the reply function) and after having seen it a few times you will subconsciously recognize the pattern.
• As per OP's spec you will be able to tap the message and see which one it answers if you are in doubt
• People will answer more elaborately than "yes" in the case, because we're used to that from in person convos, and if not humans are pretty good at deducing what is meant from the context.
• you didn't seem to see the need for quote replying to my message 😉 (or maybe your answer was actually directed at pioneer and it was a trap? 😮 )

all this of course has some degree of guess work/gut feeling, but I think it's pretty solid