Improve block inserter

[brickbones]

If more options are available, changing the width of the .insert-block__menu feels like a better experience.

[jasmussen]

Interesting idea, thanks for sharing a mockup also 🌟

The design is definitely in need of further love. The most recent mockup looks like this:

Maybe it does need to be bigger, I know @melchoyce has some thoughts on this as well. Probably prudent to keep in mind though: there are many (once all is said and done it's likely there will be 50+ outside of plugins alone), so we can't possibly show them all (which is why there are emoji-like tabs in that mockup). The balance we need to find is between showing a big friendly insert dialog that's keyboard accessible (type / on a new line to invoke it, then type to search or use arrow keys + enter to insert), and not overwhelming people with choice.

[brickbones]

Here is my idea a little bit more elaborated. I will include the emoji-like tabs and darker icons.

[karmatosed]

I really like the idea this takes up more space. I feel the current implementation is a little small. I understand wanting it to be minimal and I'm not totally sold on it being full width either. I think exploring different sizes would be great. We probably also increase accessibility for users as we make larger.

[jasmussen]

This inserter will likely undergo iterations as well, hence this ticket is valuable. I know that both @melchoyce and @folletto have thoughts on how to improve this.

[brickbones]

Playing with different positions and sizes.

[folletto]

This inserter will likely undergo iterations as well, hence this ticket is valuable. I know that both melchoyce and folletto have thoughts on how to improve this.

I've a couple of hypothesis, but more in general I'd try to explore a set like:

1. Plus on the page: plus at the end (as is in the current prototype)
2. Plus on the page: plus on the side, always present regardless of which line one is on
3. Plus on the page: plus appearing on a blank line
4. Plus in a fixed part of the screen: top bar
5. Plus in a fixed part of the screen: inspector / sidebar
6. Plus in a fixed part of the screen: floating palette in a fixed position (the page scrolls but the palette doesn't).

I lean more toward 4-5-6 because:

• Would unclutter the page, moving it further away from text and giving more focus.
• An insertion point is already present: the cursor. Solving the problem of "how to add in the middle".
• Would open the possibility of options that don't cover text on wider screens.

[jasmussen]

Took the liberty of renaming the ticket to be the canonical "inserter improvements" ticket.

[jasmussen]

Please see also #323, as that will be the task ticket for the inserter. Edit: actually closing this one to keep all the conversation on a single ticket.