Method to exit edit mode is unintuitive

[jameshfisher]

After posting a bug report on the iD project, @tyrasd informed me that this would be a better place.

As you'll see, I was unable to find how to exit edit mode. I'm now aware that I can "click the logo", but I'm suggesting that that isn't a good solution.

By having an "Edit" button while in "View" mode, and the same "Edit" button bolded while in "Edit" mode, the current UI tells me that the "Edit" button is something like a toggle button: I can click it to toggle in and out of edit mode.

When I saw that this wasn't the case, I then looked for a "close"/"cross" button in a corner, based on the intuition that I had been "dropped into" edit mode, and so I was looking for a way to "escape" it.

When I saw that this also wasn't the case, I gave up. and examined the URLs in order to manually construct it.

Since this process was entirely driven by web conventions/intuitions I've built up over time, I expect that an average web user would follow a similar process and get slightly frustrated like I did.

Normally, "clicking the logo" takes you to the homepage of whatever site you're on. The behavior I expected in the context of OSM is that the logo would take me to http://www.openstreetmap.org/, not to http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=A/B/C. The intuition here is that the logo usually acts like a "reset" button.

IMO, an explicit "exit edit mode" button would be more intuitive.

I wonder whether anyone has done any hallway testing on this?

[tomhughes]

Surely the "tab metaphor" that we're using is pretty well understood by now? Windows has been using for many, many years to start with.

[woodpeck]

Indeed we used to follow the tab metaphor, with a "view" tab and next to it an "edit" tab, and if you wanted to quit edit mode, you just switched back to the "view" tab. But there is no "view" tab any more, hence the confusion.

[samanpwbb]

History and Export both have 'x' buttons in the sidebars to exit mode. Edit does not. I think this is a valid usability issue.

Adding an 'x' button to the sidebar in id itself would be kind of weird. I think the more intuitive approach is to:

1. Remove 'x's from sidebars in history and export (for consistency).
2. Click active tab to deactivate it and return to default state.

[pnorman]

No answers, just thoughts

1. Click active tab to deactivate it and return to default state.

It's worth noting that the edit tab currently has an unusual status when it's active because it's really a submenu with a default choice, so you can go from edit in current editor to edit in another editor.

If we remove 'x's from sidebars, what do we do for object browse pages (/[node|way|relation]/id#)? Should we reintroduce the view tab as a way to get to just the map view? What about the map controls on the right (layers, key, share)?

[daganzdaanda]

I've noticed this, too. I think when I tried iD for the first time, I closed my browser tab or used the "back" button because I did not think of the logo... Now I know better, but this is still strange in terms of usability.

For me, iD feels like a program in a OSM-window. So I would look for an exit-button or X or some kind of option in a menu of iD. Most intuitive would be a button on the top right, but inside the iD window. It could be an X on a rounded rectangle.

If it has to be done outside of iD, maybe changing the name of the "edit" tab to "exit" would be another idea?
Adding an x in the same place as with the sidebars would also be sensible. But this would need empty space to the left of it (and maybe to the bottom), so iD would lose useful screen real estate.

[123MT]

I encountered the same frustration and had to google "osm id exit edit" to determine how to exit edit mode. Why not a "view" button that replaces the edit button+dropdown after edit mode is entered? This would follow same convention as the side menus which toggle menus on and off with subsequent clicks of the icon. I agree fully with the original poster that this is a very frustrating portion of the UI of an otherwise intuitive map editor.

I will now click on the logo to exit edit mode which makes no sense to me or anyone else except perhaps the original developer.

[pgirolami]

Googling "osm how to exit edit mode in id" because I was stuck too brought me here... that must mean something...

[timmc]

@tomhughes I think it's pretty clear from this thread that the current user interface is confusing. Clicking the logo of a site always means "go back to the home page, lose all navigation state".

Would you accept a PR adding a View tab? Or perhaps clicking on the Edit button could exit Edit mode. (That is one of the things I tried.)

[GuidoS]

I support the idea of adding 'end edit session' to the dropdown menu on the edit button.

[jidanni]

Yes I have several college degrees and I couldn't figure it out either.

User clicks "edit", arriving him at e.g.,
http://www.openstreetmap.org/edit#map=16/24.1640/120.8191 .

Sooner or later when the user wants to leave edit mode and return to
normal ( http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/24.1640/120.8191 ) mode...

[richlv]

i've mapped for quite a few years with various editors, tested iD when it was just unveiled and used it a bit. using josm mostly. (this isn't bragging, just to explain that existing users are struggling with this).

this is the first time ever i see that clicking the logo is supposed to exit the edit mode. that's a very well hidden easter egg :)

i recently spoke with another contributor in an osm meetup - they have done a lot of mapping, too, and mostly with iD. somebody new asked them "oh, how do you go back to the map ?". the experienced iD user just shrugged and said "i just always go back in the browser history".

another weirdness goes like this : i have josm set as the default editor. if i open iD, then click 'edit' again, it goes back to the map, URL has "edit#map", and it tries to edit in josm. quite confusing.

i'd propose to change the "Edit" label and operation to be something like "Exit edit mode", or "Back to map". that would be technically correct and understandable for new users.

[mcepl]

Before I open new ticket (possibly duplicate), let me ask here as it is a bit related: a very natural thing after I found some place is to ask for the route to it. So, I would expect that if after finding a place I click on the "Directions" button, it would be automatically selected as a target of new route. Is there a ticket for this functionality?

[tomhughes]

I'm not sure what you mean by "finding a place" or what it has to do with an iD related ticket... In general there are tickets about better integration of the routing though, mostly about being able to right click on the map I think.

[mcepl]

oh, shut ... I missed that although it is on openstreetmap-website repo, it is actually really iD. Sorry.

[mwtoews]

Jumping in here to say that I found exiting the Edit mode confusing. I was trying to click "Edit" to turn it off, or finding something in the drop down. However, thanks to this thread, I see how to exit: click the logo. I agree, this is not an intuitive way to toggle the edit mode.

[meskobalazs]

Sorry for the thread necromancy, but I had to do an online search to exit the edit mode. I found this issue in the results. This reminds me of vi :)