Magna CRM has a lot of lists. Actually the main interface consists of tabs (Accounts, Contacts etc) that take you to corresponding lists. These lists can be navigated using filters, a letter index (All, A, B, C, …) and paging.
I implemented state saving for these lists. So, if you e.g. set some filters, go to page 4, click another tab (or insert a record or close the browser) and then return to the same list, you will be at the exact same point (same filters, same page). This was applied to all lists in the application.
While it’s a very nice feature in general, it has a small problem: you sometimes get surprised when a list comes up with preset filters and all, because you have forgotten when you did it. I can’t think of any clever way to avoid this (timing out the state information is not a good solution), not that it’s a big deal.
Interesting. When you get to beta I’ll be curious for you to update us on how that feature was received. I did this with the queues in HelpSpot very early in development, but it just didn’t work. Often because you wouldn’t run a filter for days and when you came back to it the view seemed to be wrong, because it wasn’t in the default order.
Comment by Ian Landsman — November 10, 2005 @ 21:33
I am not sure either if people will like it. At least I can turn this on or off through a single flag, so I’m prepared to ditch it if it’s ill received.
Comment by Dimitris Giannitsaros — November 10, 2005 @ 22:20
How about a small info box (or even something more elegant, using DHTML) informing the user that “these are the filters you chose last time you were here, 13.9.2005 15:10. If you do not want “state saving” click here to disable it”.
Comment by Panayotis Vryonis — November 11, 2005 @ 12:06
I think the info box is a good solution! I’ll probably do it and see how it feels!
Comment by Dimitris Giannitsaros — November 11, 2005 @ 12:44
BTW: I implemented the warning message (”Your last filters are active. Click clear to reset them.”) and it gives a much better feel for what’s going on.
Comment by Dimitris Giannitsaros — November 12, 2005 @ 21:16