Forums » Suggestions & Development Discussion » Suggestion: Manage Folders "Back to Inbox" button

This may just be me being easily confused, but:

Every time I end up on the "Manage Mail Folders" page, I stare at the screen for a little bit trying to remember how to return to the inbox. I know I could just... like... click on the "Inbox" up at the very top of the page, or on the "Inbox" in the list of folders to the side... But it just feels very counter-intuitive to me. It really does take me a little while of "wait... where am I? How did I get here?" to remember that I'm supposed to be finding my way back to the inbox.

When I'm looking through my folders, there's always that big fat "Inbox > sub-folder" up at the top that makes it so easy for me to keep track of where I am. But then I end up on the "Manage Mail Folders" page, whose link is only pixels away from the folders themselves, and I feel all disoriented because it just feels like it's supposed to work like the links right beside it. Not to mention that other places where I edit/manage things (User profile, Character profiles) do have a link that will take me back to see the fruits of my labors (the "Visit Public Profile" link).

So, I don't know, some link or button that'll take me back to my inbox when I'm done dealing with the folders seems to make sense.

I'm not entirely sure I understand the problem. On almost every page of the site, including the folder management page, there is at least one link (if not multiple) going back to your inbox. There's also always text at the top of the manage folder page saying "Manage Mail Folders". How exactly does this confuse you about where you are on that section of the site?

I get the feeling that the list on the right doesn't feel like an actively used list to you, but more like a live preview of what the "real" list looks like to you. Is that right?

Adding a "Back to inbox" button seems a bit overkill to me because the inbox is already listed twice on the management pages. Maybe the list on the right is just confusing overall to more people and is better left out, or could use some redefinition as being the live folder list instead?

Not sure, it's never been particularly confusing for me.

Edit: I just realized that the PM sidebar looks different on the management page than on the regular inbox. Is the bulleted list that which confuses you because it's not the same as the normal list?

You know, I'm not totally sure I understand it either hahaha. Maybe it is that the list doesn't feel "real"... It's never my first instinct to go click on it. Instead, for some reason, I look over by the main content of the page (the title and folder-managing tools) for my Inbox button.

Really, the effect is kind of like when you walk into a new room and forget what you went there for. That's pretty much exactly what it feels like for me. I'm probably the only one haha.

Edit: The difference in appearance may be contributing to it, yeah. It makes me feel as if I've gone somewhere else, even though I'm still right there with all the rest of the PM system.

OH! That's an interesting observation. There are a few other edits I need to make to the appearance of the inbox and its related screens now that I've watched people use it and get confused by it for a bit -- when I get the time to make those, I'll take a peek at this issue and see if there's anything quick I can do to make it feel more related and intuitive.

I kind of feel this way too. It never really confused me much because I'm used to clicking on "Inbox" below my username 95% of the time as it is, but it did take me a few times to realize the list on the right was the same list as on the main inbox page.


I honestly feel like a uniform sidebar for all pages inside the PM system would be the least confusing. You're basically already doing it, but it's more of a slimmed down version with a slightly different look, right? (I'm not including the sidebars inside PMs, since they obviously have a different purpose.)

I noticed that the folder management page is the only page that doesn't really have it. Everywhere else it's the same sidebar for as far as I can tell. It makes sense that this particular page then confuses people.

I've made a few changes to make the manage folders page a little more uniform with the other inbox pages.

I love it!

Thanks Kim!