[development] Best practices: Config settings

[Greg Knaddison]

On Jan 2, 2008 12:59 AM, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
> On Jan 1, 2008 6:49 PM, Gerhard Killesreiter <gerhard at killesreiter.de>
> The module could simple list all content types under admin/settings/MYMODULE
>  with a check box next to each. One page to visit, and much better
> usability.
>
>  Also, admin/settings/MYMODULE is the most obvious place to find settings
>  for MYMODULE.

For this specific case I think you are right, but we also have a real
problem of "too many menu entries and pages" in the admin/ area.
People look at that jumble and (still) get overwhelmed.  Re-using
existing forms reduces that problem.

For some more concrete evidence - I have never seen an issue for a
module that uses admin/settings/MODULE that said "I just installed
your module and can't find the settings page."  I _have_ seen issues
where core forms are form_altered that say "I can't find the module
settings - this module is broken" (e.g. http://drupal.org/node/198015
)

We are choosing between the lesser of two evils (busy admin area, easy
to find/control settings).

I like the idea of presenting some one-time-help-text in a
drupal_set_message right after install as long as it is truly helpful
like instructions on where to find the module settings for modules
that alter existing forms.  I know "making me read" is bad, but
neither of our alternatives are great either.

In this specific case, it seems like a pretty specific thing to expose
to the user. Given your past comments I'm surprised you agreed to make
it an admin option.  I think this is a case where the hidden variable
idea I brought up after FactoryJoe's review could work well.

Regards,
Greg



-- 
Greg Knaddison
Denver, CO | http://knaddison.com
World Spanish Tour | http://wanderlusting.org/user/greg