Usability issue with mods on contents page

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bzt
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Usability issue with mods on contents page

by bzt » Post

Hi,

I've run into a small usability issue that you should know about. I went to the "Contents" page, and it showed that there are updates available, so I've pressed it as usual. Then it throw an error:

Code: Select all

Unable to install mod as game
Which is fine, except I have no clue which one is the faulty mod, because multiple mods were updated... I think it should print the name of the mod along with the error message, that would be very helpful, and it won't hurt with the other error messages either.

Okay, I've pressed the "Next" button to manually and visually check ALL the 238 pages looking for the failing mod. Unlucky for me, that was XaEnvironment, pretty much at the end of the list...

Anyway, here comes the second usability issue: I cannot remove the faulty mod, because there's no "X" button, only a "⟳" refresh button. However pressing the refresh produces the same error message as before. So here I am, with a broken mod which I cannot either update, nor remove using the UI.

(I can and have solved the issue using a file manager, but it would be great if the UI could handle this.)

I'd like the repeat myself, you did a magnificent job with the UI, it works just great! Frankly I almost forgot that there was a time when I had issues with it, this is the first problem I run into after more than a year! Keep up the good work!

Cheers,
bzt

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rubenwardy
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Re: Usability issue with mods on contents page

by rubenwardy » Post

This error is because the game has an init.lua file, which makes minerest think it's a game. I'll unpublish the game and double check the validation as this release shouldn't have been automatically accepted
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bzt
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Re: Usability issue with mods on contents page

by bzt » Post

rubenwardy wrote:
Fri Jul 15, 2022 16:06
This error is because the game has an init.lua file, which makes minerest think it's a game.
That makes no sense. All mods have an init.lua file. All of them.
rubenwardy wrote:
Fri Jul 15, 2022 16:06
I'll unpublish the game and double check the validation as this release shouldn't have been automatically accepted
Thanks, but my error report was about the Minetest engine's interface:
1. the error message does not say which mod was failing during update
2. when the update goes wrong, the user can't remove a known to be broken mod from the "Contents" page (there's only an "Update" button, which will fail again, and no "Remove" button)

Cheers,
bzt

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rubenwardy
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Re: Usability issue with mods on contents page

by rubenwardy » Post

bzt wrote:
Mon Aug 08, 2022 17:05
That makes no sense. All mods have an init.lua file. All of them.
Games are not mods and so should not have an init.lua file at the root level. Games do contain mods and those mods should have an init.lua file
bzt wrote:
Mon Aug 08, 2022 17:05
1. the error message does not say which mod was failing during update
Filed an issue here: https://github.com/minetest/minetest/issues/12671
bzt wrote:
Mon Aug 08, 2022 17:05
2. when the update goes wrong, the user can't remove a known to be broken mod from the "Contents" page (there's only an "Update" button, which will fail again, and no "Remove" button)
Filed an issue here: https://github.com/minetest/minetest/issues/12670

As a workaround, you can uninstall the game from the Content tab
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bzt
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Re: Usability issue with mods on contents page

by bzt » Post

rubenwardy wrote:
Mon Aug 08, 2022 17:31
bzt wrote:
Mon Aug 08, 2022 17:05
That makes no sense. All mods have an init.lua file. All of them.
Games are not mods and so should not have an init.lua file at the root level. Games do contain mods and those mods should have an init.lua file
Ah I see, then I misunderstood you, sorry! This makes lot more sense!
rubenwardy wrote:
Mon Aug 08, 2022 17:31
bzt wrote:
Mon Aug 08, 2022 17:05
1. the error message does not say which mod was failing during update
Filed an issue here: https://github.com/minetest/minetest/issues/12671
bzt wrote:
Mon Aug 08, 2022 17:05
2. when the update goes wrong, the user can't remove a known to be broken mod from the "Contents" page (there's only an "Update" button, which will fail again, and no "Remove" button)
Filed an issue here: https://github.com/minetest/minetest/issues/12670
And again, thanks!
rubenwardy wrote:
Mon Aug 08, 2022 17:31
As a workaround, you can uninstall the game from the Content tab
No, you can't, that's the problem. There's no uninstall button if the update failed.

Cheers,
bzt

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rubenwardy
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Re: Usability issue with mods on contents page

by rubenwardy » Post

bzt wrote:
Tue Aug 09, 2022 13:51
No, you can't, that's the problem. There's no uninstall button if the update failed.
This button is always visible even when there's an update:

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Re: Usability issue with mods on contents page

by bzt » Post

Oh, right, I mixed that up with the "online content" page. I always skip the first page and click on "Browse online content" button ASAP, so much so that I entirely forget about that.

My mistake, you're right, there is a way to delete a failing mod from the UI! Perfect! Thanks for maintaining and constantly fixing Minetest! I know very well how much work such a large project means, so you have my deepest respect! Please keep up the good work!

Cheers,
bzt

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