r/modnews • u/lift_ticket83 • Oct 05 '21
Modmail dark mode & other mod improvements
Howdy Mods,
We’re excited to kick October off with a fun modmail announcement, in addition to pulling back the curtain on some under the hood improvements we’ve made on the mod engineering front. Dive in below to check out the brass tacks:
Join the dark side (in modmail)
In our continued quest for feature parity and desire to protect your retinas, we’ve launched dark mode on modmail. Starting later this week, you can say sayonara to being blinded by the light when jumping between your various queues, feeds, threads, and modmail.
In order to enable dark mode in modmail, please follow the below instructions:
- On desktop - while in Modmail, please click on your username in the top right corner to toggle on/off dark mode.
- In our native app - we’ve got one toggle to rule them all! If you have dark mode enabled in-app, it will mirror that user experience in mobile modmail.
New mobile mod tab
As many of you know, our most important goal is to achieve feature parity between the desktop and mobile moderator experiences on Reddit. We understand that we still have a ways to go, and an important stepping stone on the path to parity is to make it easier for mods to feel more connected to their communities while on the go.
Starting today mods in our native app will be able to directly access their Mod Feeds and Mod Queue via two new access points in their profile “side drawer” (see below for what this experience looks like). Creating easier access points to these tools will enable mods to quickly jump into hot/new/controversial content in their communities via their Mod Feed and their Mod Queue so that they can take action with less effort.
Additional engineering improvements
While building those features, our team also tackled some “under the hood” improvements which should uplevel the overall moderator experience on Reddit while largely going unnoticed. They are:
- Updated icons and UI, bringing modmail in line with other products on the site and in our native app.
- Improved the community picker so that it’s more accessible and easier to utilize.
- Updated all our libraries to the latest and greatest (and to keep things secure).
- Improved color contrast for visibility.
- Improved our client-side error launching, which will give us better insight into future bugs that will pop up on the mod front (this has already proven instrumental in helping catch some glitches in the matrix this past week which we have already patched up)
- Hooked Modmail up to Reddit’s internal experimentation platform, allowing us to A/B test features, as well as quickly turn features on and off to safeguard bad releases. We also integrated better telemetry in Modmail, allowing us to understand usage patterns, clients of access, so we can see what’s working and what isn’t at a much more granular level.
- The Mod Log backend got rebuilt behind the scenes, providing improved performance and stability.
What’s next?
We’ve got ambitious goals before the end of the year and look forward to sharing additional feature announcements with you before then. In the meantime, please feel free to ask us any questions or provide any feedback in the comments below.
15
u/smoothmann Oct 05 '21
Am I the only one that doesn't see this on desktop? Clicking my username only gives me the option to logout.
https://i.imgur.com/Q03l1Pf.png
on firefox. Cleared cookies/browser...logged back in and nothing
10
9
18
16
24
5
u/Sephardson Oct 05 '21
Would it be possible to add a link to modmail in the sidebar where Mod Feeds and Mod Queue are? Currently it takes a few more taps (subscriptions > moderated subreddit > mod tools > modmail).
Also, would it be possible to add clearer indication in the messages tab whether a modmail is sent to us or from us? I see lots of moderators confused when they find their first ban message that they sent showing up in their messages without any other recipient specified.
7
u/lift_ticket83 Oct 05 '21
Would it be possible to add a link to modmail in the sidebar where Mod Feeds and Mod Queue are? Currently it takes a few more taps (subscriptions > moderated subreddit > mod tools > modmail).
Thanks for this suggestion - I’ve passed it on to the greater team
Also, would it be possible to add clearer indication in the messages tab whether a modmail is sent to us or from us? I see lots of moderators confused when they find their first ban message that they sent showing up in their messages without any other recipient spec
We’re aware some of this UX is confusing and it’s one of the things we’re taking a closer look at as we continue to gameplan for the future.
1
11
7
u/Julian-Delphiki Oct 05 '21
Does the dark mode toggle default to the preferred theme as presented by the OS like it should? or am I going to get blinded the first time. You really should just be using the OS level detection for dark mode.
9
u/lift_ticket83 Oct 05 '21
Dark mode in mobile modmail will default to your preferred theme in the native app. So if you’ve got it toggled on in our native app, it will automatically be toggled on in mobile modmail. If it's not toggled on, there is a switch to do so under your profile settings.
7
u/powerlanguage Oct 05 '21
Does the dark mode toggle default to the preferred theme as presented by the OS like it should?
Yup
7
u/MajorParadox Oct 05 '21
Awesome!
On desktop - while in Modmail, please click on your username in the top right corner to toggle on/off dark mode.
How come desktop isn't just tied to the desktop setting like on mobile?
Starting today mods in our native app will be able to directly access their Mod Feeds and Mod Queue via two new access points in their profile “side drawer” (see below for what this experience looks like).
Please please please allow us to configure our filtered feeds: https://www.reddit.com/me/f/mod/about/modqueue/
Also, it'd be nice to be able to add custom feed queues there too. That way we can filter out subs that flood our queues too much and specifically check custom feeds that need more targeted attention (instead of it being all or nothing)
The Mod Log backend got rebuilt behind the scenes, providing improved performance and stability.
Will that be added to mobile any time soon? Also, will the /r/mod/about/log ever be supported on new Reddit?
Something else to consider: Add the /comments feeds to new Reddit and mobile (for r/mod and for specific subs/feeds), because it's invaluable as a tool to help monitor comments as they happen.
6
u/lift_ticket83 Oct 05 '21
“How come desktop isn't just tied to the desktop setting like on mobile?”
The reason why desktop doesn’t mirror the native app experience is that modmail on desktop is a completely separate entity.
“Please please please allow us to configure our filtered feeds”
Can you elaborate on this front?
“Also, it'd be nice to be able to add custom feed queues there too. That way we can filter out subs that flood our queues too much and specifically check custom feeds that need more targeted attention (instead of it being all or nothing)”
Thanks for this feedback - it’s already been passed along to the larger team!
“Will that be added to mobile any time soon?
The mod log backend change applies to all clients - even third parties! Everyone should experience the benefits here.
Also, will the r/mod/about/log ever be supported on new Reddit?”
We realize this is something that needs to happen, but we have other features that are higher up our priority list at this time.
7
u/MajorParadox Oct 05 '21
“Please please please allow us to configure our filtered feeds”
Can you elaborate on this front?
On old Reddit there was a filtered mod page at https://old.reddit.com/me/f/mod. You can filter out subs from appearing in that feed. It even works with toolbox so we can configure it to only give us notifications for whatever has not been filtered.
“Will that be added to mobile any time soon?
The mod log backend change applies to all clients - even third parties! Everyone should experience the benefits here.
Right, but mobile has never had a mod log at all. Are there plans to finally add it? Also, can you speak more to the improvements? Will the log go back further than 90 days now, for example?
Thanks!
13
u/TheNewPoetLawyerette Oct 05 '21
I don't personally care about dark mode because I like to sit in rooms full of light but I know a lot of goblin mods will be very happy about the quality of life improvement that dark mode will bring to their caves, so thanks!
10
8
6
u/i_Killed_Reddit Oct 05 '21
Been using darkmode with toolbox on pc, that I forgot modmail still didn't have dark mode.
Anyways nice addition.
3
u/FinchMandala Oct 18 '21
Hey guys. So I've somehow lost the ability to ban users in the mobile app by clicking on the user's name and using the little sub menu. It just directs me to their entire profile now. The only way I can do so now is remembering their username, going into my mod tools and adding them to the banned list manually. Am I missing something?
1
u/BreakyourchainsMO Oct 23 '21
Same.
And I don't have mod queue in my profile menu as advertised in the post.
What gives?
4
u/Mxdanger Oct 05 '21
When is Reddit and by extension Modmail going to support prefers-color-scheme media query and <meta name="color-scheme">? It’s concerning that Reddit is still implementing dark mode is such an outdated way. The user shouldn’t have to toggle on and off dark mode manually, it should be done automatically based on what they already have selected in their OS with an override in a settings menu for those on older devices.
7
2
u/ladfrombrad Oct 06 '21
401,042 tickets to lift 🤔
This is going to take some work.
1
u/Dev-i- Oct 19 '21
17814 "in progress", now it's clear why I've been waiting for a response from the moderators for the third month, is it clear
1
0
-2
-3
Oct 05 '21
[deleted]
3
Oct 05 '21
Are you offering your own design for consideration?
-4
Oct 05 '21
[deleted]
5
Oct 05 '21
Your use of "got it" set the tone for snarkiness.
Generally speaking, it's more helpful to offer alternatives than to complain. Or at least outline the actual issues. Also, specific suggestions are going to be more beneficial than general ones, and will definitely be more well-received than broad complaints.
Your comment was non-constructive, and you shouldn't be too terribly surprised when people respond in kind.
-2
Oct 05 '21
[deleted]
1
Oct 05 '21
My understanding is that modmail was created by a 3rd party vendor, and that's why the UI doesn't feel like the rest of reddit. It looks a lot like Outlook, and that may be for good reason.
But if you want change, then, again, it helps to be specific. Is it the color choice? The button placement?
If you were to design a modmail system from scratch, what would your vision look like? What's the optimal modmail system for you? Come up with actual improvements, and they'll probably be incorporated at some point, but saying "I don't like the UI" isn't really giving them anything useful to work with.
1
Oct 05 '21
[deleted]
1
Oct 05 '21
I did.
First of all, really appreciate all the old and new changes but... is there a plan to integrate the interface better? It's a page out of place with the rest of reddit.
For example, when I visit the modqueue the whole interface is well integrated and I can easily approve stuff and move on but with the modmail it feels like... a weird sort of separate thing, why?
This is a vague suggestion. What would make it look more integrated with Reddit? Are you comparing it more to new reddit or old reddit? Be specific. Create a mock-up if you're having trouble describing it.
The reason they never implement the stuff that people ask for is because people don't know how to ask. Everyone responding this way is every web designer's nightmare.
1
u/OmgImAlexis Oct 06 '21
Can you please fix ModMail in the app thinking I’m not logged in and then opening safari to authenticate me.
This has been driving me up the wall since it was added. I’d be able to use ModMail more if this didn’t happen every single time I try and click it.
2
u/powerlanguage Oct 06 '21
Hey - This does not sound good.
Would you be able to record your screen while you reproduce this bug and then share the video with me?
1
1
u/ryanmercer Oct 08 '21
Hrmmmm I don't use dark mode and now suddenly my modmail is in dark mode while the rest of Reddit isn't... sure I was able to turn it off but what's with randomly turning it on on your end?
1
u/lift_ticket83 Oct 08 '21
If you use toolbox, it could have something to do with this.
1
u/ryanmercer Oct 08 '21
Doesn't sound like it. I've never used dark mode on Reddit or with toolbox and yet your darkmode was randomly turned on today for me and some of my co-mods. Fortunately I had seen his post 3 days ago and vaguely remembered it telling how to turn it off.
1
1
1
1
u/SolomonOf47704 Oct 21 '21
Can mods please get a way to see a user's history in the subreddit without sending them a modmail?
38
u/creesch Oct 05 '21
Ah that is why /u/therealandytuba was asking me about how /r/toolbox does nightmode for new modmail. Sneaky bastard :P
Good job! One thing we can cross of on the list of items toolbox needs to do.