First let me start this off with some good news. The left-hand object bar has been further tweaked and reorganized. I previously commented that "process model / interface search results" being at the top of the list (as they are in 22.3 and lower) makes it harder to access the Smart Service Nodes we're after when that's what we're actually searching for. It looks like they listened! Yay!
But for the main point of this post: i've noticed that Grid Lines are now turned off by default and there is no way to undo this except by turning them on manually every single time you load a process model.
At first I was hoping this was a bug in my Community Edition instance, or some incomplete feature or temporary break. But other users are now posting screenshots from 22.4 versions around community and it seems like it may have been "intentional".
Hey Appian folks? This may have been intended to "look cleaner" or something - but to me, psychologically, it makes me think something hasn't loaded correctly. As far as I know, with as long as I've been looking at process models with grid lines, I anticipate this effect will last a long time.
I see they're still there. They're redesigned but I guess I don't have any major qualms with the newer, simplified grid lines (i'll paste an example below for everyone's reference). Can we just have them turned back on by default? Could it at least be given as an override in designer user-level preferences or something?
I know the product backlog is huge, lots of higher-priority stuff, etc. But I think this is something that wasn't necessary to change.
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Updating this to add (instead of cluttering community with another top-level post, though in this case i'm *sorely* tempted) - the 22.4 update's new Process Modeler nodes completely ruin the look of icons from Plug-in Smart Services. How did this pass testing?
Before:
Now:(note how bad the bottom-row node icons look...)
Hey Mike, We did end up hotfixing this (AN-218956) and removed support for GIF icons in the 22.4 process modeler due to how poorly the old icons looked with the new branding. If we don't detect a properly formatted SVG icon Appian will show the default plug-in icon. Plug-in Developers can follow the guidance our Appmarket team sent out if they want their icon to display.
Yup, I did see, thanks - it was much appreciated
Also I was hoping to get some feedback on the change I discussed in my top-level post: the unannounced and now-default "turned off" behavior of PM grid lines. One of my environments is now upgraded to 22.4 and I continue to find it ugly / kinda distracting every time I open a PM / instance in that environment. I don't see why this default had to change, unless the change was in error - I can't imagine anyone was asking for it, or that the upcoming process modeler roadmap requires "no more grid lines" as some sort of best practice?
I understand that not having the grid lines load can be jarring (especially when you are expecting them there). The primary driver for defaulting them off is due to the following reasons:
Thanks for replying to my concern. I wonder if anyone at the Appian design team actually inquired with any regular developers to validate these ideas?
Sam Wahbeh said:busy process models feel less cluttered and easier to read.
I'm doing a side-by-side comparison with one of the busier ones I have in my TEST environment. I don't exactly agree, though of course this is subjective.
Sam Wahbeh said:Modernized how the overall process modeler looked
I noticed previously that the grid lines have been simplified (no longer a lighter-colored "internal grid" in each grid element, for instance). I'd be curious why that would be done only to have grid lines now turned off by default. Personally I have a hard time accepting that this is a "modernization element", because I can't get around the feeling that a process model loaded with no grid feels like it didn't load completely. Maybe others feel differently.
I wish at least the setting would persist per designer preference and/or at least save with the state of the process model. For those of us who like / need the feature to be "on", we're now forced to manually switch it on for each and every PM / instance we open.
Any thoughts on the above from , Dave Lewis, Chris, ?
Mike Schmitt said:Any thoughts on the above from Stefan Helzle, Dave Lewis, Chris, Harshit Bumb?
I'll really have to start playing with the new version (upgrading soon here) to form my official opinion, but my gut tells me that I'll prefer to have the grid lines defaulted on for working, with the ability to turn off as needed. I would have never thought/needed to request the ability to remove them however.
There are other things I'd rather seen added/worked on, such as an OOTB Export CDT to Excel node with template-ability and no removal of formatting when utilized
Chris said:such as an OOTB Export CDT to Excel node with template-ability and no removal of formatting
For anyone curious, see my longstanding post on that here.
Chris said:There are other things I'd rather seen added/worked on
Yeah, I'd be fine to let this one go in exchange for, let's say, the fixing of the "single line expression editor box" issue
I agree that both of main driving points behind this change are subjective.
We did meet with Appian developers because we were concerned removing the grid lines would make aligning nodes harder (which didn't seem to be the case).
If I had to trade grid lines as they work in newest version permanently for one of the other things mentioned, I probably would make the trade.
If I had to trade no grid lines ever in exchange for most of this thread, I definitely would trade.
Sam Wahbeh said:We did meet with Appian developers
I'm curious for some insight into who you met with on this matter, and how they were selected - for instance, were any of the top contributors here included in that? I don't believe I was, but I can't speak for Stefan and Harshit among others.