[UI] switch UI labels to conventional names
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	brylie
	Nov 19 2014, 9:06 AM

Description

Story

As a new user
I would like for Phabricator applications to be primarily labeled with their conventional names
So it is easier for me to navigate the system

Problem statement

While learnig about Phabricator, I am continually struggling to remember the purpose of various sections of the application. When scanning names (Maniphest, Phriction, etc.) it is not apparent the purpose of any given section. This causes friction in my ability to navigate the system.

Requested solution

Keep the creative name for each of the components, but display the commonly accepted terminology to the end-user. E.g. Wiki, Projects, Tasks, Code Review, etc. are already commonly understood, and labelling components with these common concepts will make it easier to navigate the UI.

Event Timeline

brylie created this task.Nov 19 2014, 9:06 AM

brylie raised the priority of this task from to Needs Triage.

brylie updated the task description. (Show Details)

brylie added a project: Phabricator.

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brylie added a subscriber: brylie.

brylie updated the task description. (Show Details)Nov 19 2014, 9:08 AM

This request comes in every few months. The vast majority software in the world is 'creatively named' and it presents no actual problem (Chrome, Wordpress, Powerpoint, Photoshop, etc). There is a lot to learn to become proficient with any productivity software, and learning the names is very, very minor. Not to mention we already have issues with "Projects" which confuses people since the term covers more than just 'software projects', but also teams and policy containers.

Differential doesn't stand out any more difficult to learn than Gerrit, Crucible, Pull Request, Kiln, Collaborator... the list goes on. I don't actually know of any product just named "Code Review".

We already give the name and description of each app on the sidebar and feel this is sufficient. We don't believe this is any more than an onboarding issue that goes away after a short time period.

Keep the names, they are great, it is the UI and onboarding process that is confusing. This amounts to repeated struggle while each new user has to grasp the idiosyncratic naming conventions.

I am simply asking that the primary UI elemnts show straightforward, commonly accepted names for the components.

This can easily be solved by a simple compromise. When disabling the 'UI levity', also switch the primary interface labels to show generally understandable counterparts such as Tasks, Wiki, Code Review, Continuous Integration, UI Mockups, etc. :-)

We are not interested in this solution in the upstream. Onboarding is an issue that will get resolved separately. We don't like to build things that support issues found at only one or two installs, and prefer to solve the bigger issue that affects everyone, which is most likely onboarding and understanding all that Phabricator has to offer.

Please also read https://secure.phabricator.com/book/phabcontrib/article/feature_requests/ to get a better sense of what we accept into the upstream.

If you are unhappy with text labels of certain elements, you can change the english translation file to provide alternate language. You can also maintain a fork or local patches.