What are the changes to the classic interface?

[chrisjj]

Is there a changelog or similar from the developers that details the recent changes to the classic interface? EDIT: Meaning (in the post-login web interface) the differences between the version that before the Halloween switch to the Opera-created AJAX interface appeared by default, and the version that Opera/Fastmail are now calling the classic interface, which now appears when the subsequently added "[x] Use classic interface" option is used.

EDIT: ...and to the homepage?

EDIT:
* "the classic interface" refers to the interface that prior to the changes was seen at www.fastmail.fm when logged in, and after the changes was seen at www.fastmail.fm when logged in with Use classic interface checkmarked (alternatively at https://classic.fastmail.fm , which automatically makes that checkmark, when logged in ). This is referred to as the "existing interface" by Fastmail/Opera at http://blog.fastmail.fm/ . It does not include the homepage.

*"the homepage" refers to the page seen at www.fastmail.fm and https://classic.fastmail.fm when not logged in.

* "the changes" refers to the changes that appeared on October 30, 2012 - near the time of the work notified here:

http://status.fastmail.fm/

Downtime for maintenance
October 30, 2012 3:04 am — rjlov
We have taken our web servers down for some brief maintenance work. We don’t expect this to take longer than 30 minutes.

IMAP may also experience a brief outage, but incoming mail will still be received.

Update: Service is restored, with no problems that we’re aware of. Still checking to make sure everything went smoothly.

Posted in Status. Comments Off

[ChinaLamb]

It may be helpful to list the changes we see. I doubt we'll get a changelog.

From interacting on these forums, this is what I see so far:

Settings screen has been re-arranged.
Addition of Account settings screen.
Sessions have been implemented (ability to log into two accounts at once)
Bookmarks: A user is complaining his old bookmarks won't work.
Stylesheets were temporarily unavailable. (Will they need editing for new interface?)

[chrisjj]

Thanks CL.

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

Sessions have been implemented (ability to log into two accounts at once)

This is not new. I had been using it for a long time before.

[ChinaLamb]

Originally Posted by chrisjj

Thanks CL.
This is not new. I had been using it for a long time before.

My Bad.

So here is the list:

Changes:
Settings screen has been re-arranged.
Addition of Account settings screen.
Bookmarks: A user is complaining his old bookmarks won't work.

I havn't seen anything missing or broken yet. Stylesheets are working so I took that off the list - unless someone finds a problem.

[horatio8]

Big ugly Fastmail branding in the upper left hand corner. Was that there before?

[ChinaLamb]

Originally Posted by horatio8

Big ugly Fastmail branding in the upper left hand corner. Was that there before?

so your complaint is that there is a larger logo now?

Seriously?

[Terry]

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

It may be helpful to list the changes we see. I doubt we'll get a changelog.

From interacting on these forums, this is what I see so far:

Settings screen has been re-arranged.
Addition of Account settings screen.
Sessions have been implemented (ability to log into two accounts at once)
Bookmarks: A user is complaining his old bookmarks won't work.
Stylesheets were temporarily unavailable. (Will they need editing for new interface?)

The internet cafe log in part is no longer secure
Not sure how the session time out works now

[BritTim]

To understand the real issue with the changes to the pre October 29 interface, you need to understand how people who live in email operate. I am talking, here, about very busy business people who spend 30-50% of their time in email dealing with hundreds of emails a day. (You will not meet them here on these forums: they have no time for this.) A reduction in workflow efficiency of 5% costs them real money.

For these people, an interface tailored to their workflow is important. They are looking for something that (among other things) displays the most important information they need to know along with as many messages as possible (consistent with easy readability) without scrollbars. Over a period of years, with the aid of the custom UI, they arrived at something that (while not perfect) allowed them to work with close to full efficiency.

The change in fonts and layout is no big deal for someone (like me) who handles maybe 30 important emails a day. I have not bothered to tailor my own email that much anyway, and, even if I did spend 5% longer dealing with email, this would not be a disaster. However, for really demanding email users, not being able to see as much information on the screen as before is a genuine problem.

[Prognathous]

Originally Posted by chrisjj

Is there a changelog or similar from the developers that details the recent changes to the classic interface?

You really expect a list of changes from a company that told users that the 30 min downtime is for routine maintenance? Not going to happen. Opera is not Fastmail (RIP). This is the way they do things now.

What I can tell you about the changes is that they result in something that's only slightly closer to what the 2nd gen interface was, but is still very different (and much worse). The most common task of opening my Inbox now takes many more steps, it takes much longer to perform and I'm greeted by an ugly interface which doesn't resemble the one I was using. In short - the Classic UI is a broken imitation of what Fastmail used to be.

Prog.

[ulmus]

I can see one inconvenience in 'new' 'clasic' ui: it is about saved advanced searches and its behavior with expanding and colapsing clicking 'hide saved' and 'show saved'. I often use that and it is annoying me a lot.

[horatio8]

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

so your complaint is that there is a larger logo now?

Seriously?

I can easily get used to it but I thought I would bring it up in the interest of putting together a complete list.
My custom style sheet looks slightly different, but close enough to what I had, so that a trade-off of a better underlying framework would be worth it for the slight changes in Classic. I'm not qualified to assessed the technical changes, and whether it's a more flexible and stable system.

[chrisjj]

Originally Posted by horatio8

I thought I would bring it up in the interest of putting together a complete list.

Thank you, H.

[Joe Green]

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

I havn't seen anything missing or broken yet. Stylesheets are working so I took that off the list - unless someone finds a problem.

Stylesheets have not been restored to their original form (well concise certainly hasn't).

This doesn't exactly count as missing or broken, but I used to have the fastmail home page as my browser's home page. It was neat and tidy and unassuming. I can't even bear to look at the new home page, it so reeks of meaningless corporate marketing hype.

[Quilleron]

This is the list of items I've found that are affecting me:

1) The custom styles I have are not being applied
2) [Mail] tab text not visible - this is true for whichever the currently selected tab is
3) [Options] tab is missing and I can't get to that page
4) E-mail address with which I am logged in is not shown - this is important as I have more than 1 fastmail account.
5) E-mail list headings (Att, Flag, To, Subject, Date/Time, Siz) not visible
6) Yellow of numerous buttons has been replaced by grey making them less prominent.
7) The red/green storage space indicator has been replaced by something far less visible
8) The messages and folders now take up about 50% more screen space than previously meaning I have to scroll down far more than I had to in the past
9) On the Account page the Account title and the word FastMail are on top of each other (this is also true on the Address Book and Files pages)

These lists would really be better created and maintained on a wiki page - sadly I don't have the time to set one up but would be happy to monitor one and contribute.

[chrisjj]

Thanks Q.

Originally Posted by Quilleron

This is the list of items I've found that are affecting me:

2) [Mail] tab text not visible - this is true for whichever the currently selected tab is
4) E-mail address with which I am logged in is not shown - this is important as I have more than 1 fastmail account.

On Chrome V16 I see both: http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/1...tedesktopk.png

Originally Posted by Quilleron

5) E-mail list headings (Att, Flag, To, Subject, Date/Time, Siz) not visible

I see headings "From Subject Sent ↓ Size"

Originally Posted by Quilleron

9) On the Account page the Account title and the word FastMail are on top of each other (this is also true on the Address Book and Files pages)

Not see here on Chrome V16. Perhaps it is browser specific.

Originally Posted by Quilleron

These lists would really be better created and maintained on a wiki page

Agreed!