By Wolfey on

When dealing with the issue I had with updating from Drupal 5.1 to 5.2, one of the longest steps (aside from deleting and uploading files) was disabling - and later re-enabling after the update - all non-core modules. They had to be unchecked one by one, and even that had to be done in separate steps because certain modules (such as CCK and Views) couldn't be disabled until other modules that depended on them were disabled first.

Would there a way to disable/enable all non-core modules at once, such as with an SQL query or something like the "Check All" and "Uncheck All" links provided in phpMyAdmin?

If the above could be done, would it also be possible to somehow store a list of enabled/disabled modules at that point in time, so just that group of modules could be enabled/disabled during troubleshooting or updating?

⋅ Categories: Drupal 5.x

Comments

John Bryan’s picture

John Bryan commented

As part of the general Drupal form functionality it would be nice to have a "Check All"/"Uncheck All" generated at the top of checkbox collection and at the top of each sub-collection. Ideally generated for each column if applicable.

E.g. when a new user group is created the check all for that groups column could be used making it quicker and easier to add admin & power-user groups.

It would be simple then to have an exception for core modules when used in the modules admin screen, solving many birds at once.

Regards

John Bryan
www.ALT2.com
Application Integration Specialists
Tel: UK 08700 3456-31

Wolfey’s picture

Wolfey commented

That would be useful =)

Speaking of which: where else could Drupal benefit from having a "Check All"/"Uncheck All" feature added? I'm considering posting an issue for this, and it would help to know if there are other places where this would come in handy before I do so.

Anonymous’s picture

Anonymous (not verified) commented

How long dit it all take? 10 minutes? Once or twice per year?
This is a non issue, really.

-----------------------------------------
Joep
CompuBase, websites and webdesign

jgsack’s picture

jgsack commented

Usability suggestions *need* to be taken more seriously.

Admittedly, users don't always know exactly what they need or know how to express what they want, but the input --any such input-- should be welcomed.

Even if there are (current) obstacles to providing what seems to be asked for, or resource/schedule limitations, the idea should be regarded as very valuable feedback; even if there's now way to get there, the idea should be preserved for future consideration. Maybe even if there's confusion about what is wanted.

OK, programmers (and bug triage workers, ...) are always overworked, so I'm not demanding that they do _more_ work, but I am *begging* that UI suggestions be treated as gold, even when they don't look so shiny. Project honchos should find a way to capture those external inputs at the point of ingress (and make it easy for the overworked guys to do so).

And it would be nice if those who interact with users get some recognition for grabbing those ideas, as well as advice on how not to discourage users from making suggestions. An example of discouraging the user is to effectively sayi "you don't need that", or something in that category.

Please!

Regards,
..jim

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

the point is, that this is a rather easily addressed usability issue. Besides, maybe 10 minutes on ONE site once or twice a year for upgrades (which doesn't include fresh installs that might be needed periodically for whatever reason) isn't a big deal... but on multiple sites?

As a former HF/usability engineer, I can tell you that it is exactly this type of issue that differentiates good products from great products.

darumaki’s picture

darumaki commented

By not having such a simple much needed necessity (knock on wood), it gives you an idea where Drupal's brain is, it's certainly not on the user experience. There are many examples throughout the forums of "what where they thinking ?" It's time for Drupal to put the user experience first before the developer experience.

eclauset’s picture

eclauset commented

I agree, there are many places where a check all/uncheck all option would be very useful -- modules and permissions come to mind immediately.

darumaki’s picture

darumaki commented

I spend more wasted time by clicking and clicking and clicking again, would be great if there were more toggle on/off features, the admin menu module has speeded things up a little, the toggle button needs to be common place in drupal.

heather’s picture

heather commented

Thank you for your suggestion about improving the usability of Drupal! We look forward to more ideas, sketches and examples.

NB: Note this forum is deprecated. Please do not reply to this post.

I have added this thread as an issue to the queue:
http://drupal.org/node/302744

Now, you can follow up and track the progress of the suggestion.

Note the issues queue is being worked on as of 1 Sep 08. To review issues in the usability queue do an advanced search "Search issues for Drupal" here:
http://drupal.org/project/issues/search/drupal
Select the Drupal version; under Components: select 'usability'; and type in "Usability" into the title. There will be some confusion during this transition phase, and hopefully you can help out.

If you are interested in finding ways to make contributions to Drupal usability, please join the Drupal Usability Group:
http://groups.drupal.org/usability

Screenshots, sketches, research and examples of good practice are all welcome.

This forum has been deprecated, and is no longer supported. Please do not post in this forum, or reply to this post.

I am merely trying to trawl through and find good usability suggestions and add them to the issue queue where they can be tracked. Currently, there is no way for drupal.org maintainers to "lock" this forum. This is a stop-gap measure. Thanks for your patience!