I had assumed long ago that Wix Studio implemented a side panel for the datasets because it “HAD TO”. It had never occurred to me that it was actually developed that way because of a “personal preference” not because of design “necessity”.
This new thought only entered my mind when the Classic Editor was just now updated with the same “DATASET SIDE PANEL” design.
It is sad to see that the developers failed to take into account a small matter of editor space and user efficiency when it came to making such a big change.
Yes, the dataset icons would get “IN THE WAY” of things inside of the editor because even though they were “invisible elements” they would still get in the way of other elements. For example, when hiding, collapsing or even repositioning other elements around the dataset icons ---- they would be in the way. Even in the simplest manner of covering up some other element while actively being in the editor, the datasets would be “in the way”.
And now? Is it better? Not really. It’s made editing even worse because now there is so much wasted space and reduces the editor size while working. What used to take up about 100 x 100 pixels now has an entire wasted spaces with a side panel that is over 2 inches in width across the entire side of my screen. (I can’t imagine how someone with a smaller screen feels about this change — and how they are able to edit and design efficiently on the Classic Editor)
If you wanted to remove the physical dataset icon from the page — why not keep everything else the same? Now to connect an element we are forced to use a very large side panel on the right side of the editor. If we want to edit a design of an element — a simple small pop-up is used. So why remove this pop up from making changes to the element connections? Why force everything to “happen” on a oversized side panel?
Efficient use of editor space? No. Not at all.
So WHERE could the dataset settings live instead of the new “page connections” side panel? Well, why not try the Page Settings? It is a simple side pop up that ONLY pops up when we need to edit an actual setting. The only time we need to actually access a datasets settings is when we need to configure it or modify existing settings. We NEVER needed to “access it” when we connected an element because a small simple pop up for connection would come up on the screen. So WHY create an entire side panel for the settings AND the connections when it is not necessary? Did you think we would be able to connect things faster? Because we can’t. It is the same amount of clicks to connect — but now our mouse has to move clear across the other side of the screen to configure the connection settings of each individual element. (Don’t even get me started on dropdown settings — because those are pretty bad as well)
Someone that has experience creating efficient solutions for user experiences on any type of software or program would surely come up with a solution like this suggestion. It has nothing to do with how much Wix experience a person has, but more to do with how to analyze a problem, and efficiently organize a solution within a space to make it BETTER … not worse.
By the way, the Wix Docs are not even updated yet. The instructions on how to edit and manage a dataset are displaying old information. So any user that did not have experience editing datasets using a side-panel in Wix Studio / Editor X ---- are going to be very confused on how to do it on Classic Editor now that Wix made this change without any notice. A simple in-editor notification or even updated Wix Help Docs could prevent unwanted support tickets or otherwise.
You make a lot of good points about efficiency, placement, and space. It’s of course essential to consider the needs and experiences of all users, and our teams do design with the user in mind. That being said, every point you made is valid and understandable, and feedback like yours is very valuable to influence the products and experiences! I’ve made note of this for the team. We really appreciate the time you took to write all this out!