T10349 has a similar use case, where a user would like to select an existing file for use as a cover image.

My current workflow in both these cases is to drag the image to my desktop, then use it from there. I think this is faster than any selector UI we could conceivably build, if you're coming from the "select a file" side of the worklfow.

In the "macro" use case described here, you can start from the file (instead of starting from the "select a file" screen), so there could just be a "turn this into a macro" button (say, in the lightbox view) which would be slightly faster than dragging stuff to the desktop. But this seems like a paltry savings.

Can you describe the problem you're encountering with macros in more detail? In particular, why is this a bad solution?

• Drag the file to your desktop.
• Upload it as a macro.

Cases I can come up with are:

• This is legitimately a huge hassle and/or impossible if you're on mobile.
• For weird Linuxes with no drag-and-drop, it's probably still fine, since you can right-click-save-as or equivalent?
• A "make a macro" button in the Lightbox could definitely save a second or two, maybe this adds up if you're making thousands of macros?
• If you have very slow internet, maybe the download itself is slow? But if an image downloads slowly enough that you don't want to download it, it's probably bigger than a macro should be?

For anyone else with other use cases in this vein (roughly "select an existing file from Phabricator" as an alternative to "select a file from the filesystem"), can you run through the scenarios in which you'd want to use this, and why it's preferable to just downloading the file first?

In T10374#161140, @epriestley wrote:

For anyone else with other use cases in this vein (roughly "select an existing file from Phabricator" as an alternative to "select a file from the filesystem"), can you run through the scenarios in which you'd want to use this, and why it's preferable to just downloading the file first?

I use a fancy tiling window manger and getting a space to flop around with my mouse on the desktop is surprisingly hard (because haskell programs are trying to optimize real estate, or arrange all windows like nautilus shell or something). I would be very surprised if this is a common case though.

In general I find drag and drop workflows to be slow and annoying (with rare exceptions, such as workboards). In addition my browser is full screen so the actual workflow involves opening Downloads, finding the file among the hundreds of files, and reuploading it.

Ah, interesting. I have F1 bound to "Expose: All Windows" so the flow for me is "Click > F1 > Drop Anywhere" to save, then "F1 > Drag > F1 > Drop" to load. I'm pretty sure I can get through that faster than I could copy-paste/type-select a file by Fxxx or from a browser UI.

also, on Firefox, on our instance, I can't seem to upload a file by drag&dropping it. I can't test on this instance due to policy.

also, on Firefox, on our instance, I can't seem to upload a file by drag&dropping it.

where specifically? The homepage or somewhere else? I can drag and drop on FF fine.

From the create-a-macro page. Uploading from the home page just creates a file (which would be helpful if this task were complete :-p)

We don't offer drag and drop upload on the Macro page. :(

ah, I misunderstood @epriestley's comments above.

Oh, sorry, yeah -- for macros, you'd currently have to pick the file off your desktop with the file picker thing. I'm thinking more about a general "select some existing file" feature for other cases like cover images, where you can drag-and-drop.