Thread: The new workspace layout
Dear Hackers,
I have great respect for your efforts to continuously develop pgAdmin 4, and it has certainly come a long way since version 1.0. Not to mention, it’s free. Thank you for all your hard work.
All that said, I think making the new Workspace layout the default in v 9.0 was a regression and not an improvement, and already I see issues[1] raised[2] from users.
I use pgAdmin and DataGrip every day for writing queries, and I have a fundamental issue with the new layout. Having the object explorer in a pane to the left of the query editor is a standard setup, and rightly so — it’s hard to remember names of tables and columns, and drag-and-drop makes life easier. Having a layout that requires me to click another pane and disappear the query itself, then click back, is too many steps. Autocomplete doesn’t fill the need.
Yes, I understand I can switch to “Classic,” and I’ve done so. But I want to be an advocate for newer users and others who are upgrading and won’t really understand what’s going on, where in settings to change the layout, etc.
A more gentle user experience for this type of change would have been to have v 9.0 keep the “Classic” layout as the default and alert users upon first launch that a new workspace layout was available — and explain where in the settings to make the change. Small popups announcing new features are a standard UX feature these days.
That way, people can move on from the familiar to the new and know that they can switch back if they’d like. Trust me when I tell you that many, many pgAdmin users are students and people new to SQL who need hand-holding from time to time.
Thanks for listening,
Anthony
Hi Hackers,
Can providing accessibility keys be helpful for navigation between object explorer and other workspaces and opened tabs?
On Fri, Feb 7, 2025 at 5:08 PM Anthony DeBarros <anthonymdebarros@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Hackers,I have great respect for your efforts to continuously develop pgAdmin 4, and it has certainly come a long way since version 1.0. Not to mention, it’s free. Thank you for all your hard work.All that said, I think making the new Workspace layout the default in v 9.0 was a regression and not an improvement, and already I see issues[1] raised[2] from users.I use pgAdmin and DataGrip every day for writing queries, and I have a fundamental issue with the new layout. Having the object explorer in a pane to the left of the query editor is a standard setup, and rightly so — it’s hard to remember names of tables and columns, and drag-and-drop makes life easier. Having a layout that requires me to click another pane and disappear the query itself, then click back, is too many steps. Autocomplete doesn’t fill the need.Yes, I understand I can switch to “Classic,” and I’ve done so. But I want to be an advocate for newer users and others who are upgrading and won’t really understand what’s going on, where in settings to change the layout, etc.A more gentle user experience for this type of change would have been to have v 9.0 keep the “Classic” layout as the default and alert users upon first launch that a new workspace layout was available — and explain where in the settings to make the change. Small popups announcing new features are a standard UX feature these days.That way, people can move on from the familiar to the new and know that they can switch back if they’d like. Trust me when I tell you that many, many pgAdmin users are students and people new to SQL who need hand-holding from time to time.Thanks for listening,Anthony
+1
On Fri, 7 Feb, 2025, 17:38 Anthony DeBarros, <anthonymdebarros@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Hackers,I have great respect for your efforts to continuously develop pgAdmin 4, and it has certainly come a long way since version 1.0. Not to mention, it’s free. Thank you for all your hard work.All that said, I think making the new Workspace layout the default in v 9.0 was a regression and not an improvement, and already I see issues[1] raised[2] from users.I use pgAdmin and DataGrip every day for writing queries, and I have a fundamental issue with the new layout. Having the object explorer in a pane to the left of the query editor is a standard setup, and rightly so — it’s hard to remember names of tables and columns, and drag-and-drop makes life easier. Having a layout that requires me to click another pane and disappear the query itself, then click back, is too many steps. Autocomplete doesn’t fill the need.Yes, I understand I can switch to “Classic,” and I’ve done so. But I want to be an advocate for newer users and others who are upgrading and won’t really understand what’s going on, where in settings to change the layout, etc.A more gentle user experience for this type of change would have been to have v 9.0 keep the “Classic” layout as the default and alert users upon first launch that a new workspace layout was available — and explain where in the settings to make the change. Small popups announcing new features are a standard UX feature these days.That way, people can move on from the familiar to the new and know that they can switch back if they’d like. Trust me when I tell you that many, many pgAdmin users are students and people new to SQL who need hand-holding from time to time.Thanks for listening,Anthony
Thanks, Anthony
We will definitely consider your suggestions for the future v9.1 release
On Fri, Feb 7, 2025 at 5:38 PM Anthony DeBarros <anthonymdebarros@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Hackers,I have great respect for your efforts to continuously develop pgAdmin 4, and it has certainly come a long way since version 1.0. Not to mention, it’s free. Thank you for all your hard work.All that said, I think making the new Workspace layout the default in v 9.0 was a regression and not an improvement, and already I see issues[1] raised[2] from users.I use pgAdmin and DataGrip every day for writing queries, and I have a fundamental issue with the new layout. Having the object explorer in a pane to the left of the query editor is a standard setup, and rightly so — it’s hard to remember names of tables and columns, and drag-and-drop makes life easier. Having a layout that requires me to click another pane and disappear the query itself, then click back, is too many steps. Autocomplete doesn’t fill the need.Yes, I understand I can switch to “Classic,” and I’ve done so. But I want to be an advocate for newer users and others who are upgrading and won’t really understand what’s going on, where in settings to change the layout, etc.A more gentle user experience for this type of change would have been to have v 9.0 keep the “Classic” layout as the default and alert users upon first launch that a new workspace layout was available — and explain where in the settings to make the change. Small popups announcing new features are a standard UX feature these days.That way, people can move on from the familiar to the new and know that they can switch back if they’d like. Trust me when I tell you that many, many pgAdmin users are students and people new to SQL who need hand-holding from time to time.Thanks for listening,Anthony