Consistent placement of New/Create actions across related modules

[Dr4inder]

Hi Ed,

While testing FreeITSM 3.7.0, I keep having to look for the action to create a record when switching modules. I reviewed the 27 module entry pages and their main alternative views. There are several useful patterns already, but closely related modules often put this action in different places.

A few concrete examples:

Module	Current entry point
Tickets	A small plus icon in the ticket-list header; the action name is in its tooltip.
Assets	An outlined “Add” button below the search field in the left-hand list.
Software	A labelled “Add application” button at the top right.
Changes	“New change” below the status filters in the sidebar.
Knowledge	“New article” below the folders and tags, so its vertical position depends on the sidebar contents.
Tasks	A plus in each board column, without an equivalent general Create action visible in the table or timeline.

Switching views can make this harder: the asset, change and domain tables do not show the same direct Create entry point as their main views. On mobile, Knowledge's article action is inside the “Tags” panel, and Checklists' template action is inside the “Filters” panel. Those labels would not lead me to look there for creation.

Could we agree on a small set of consistent patterns for related modules?

• Inventory and registers: Assets, Software, CMDB, Domains and Contracts could use the same action position in the collection header, with an explicit object label such as “New asset” or “Add application”.
• Service work: Tickets, Changes, Problems and Tasks could share a predictable starting point across their list, table, board and calendar views. Board-column plus buttons could remain useful shortcuts with the status already selected.
• Content and editor workspaces: Where a sidebar is the natural home for creation, make it the fixed first action, above search, tags and filters. On mobile, keep creation visible outside the collapsed filter panel.

My preferred option for registers and work lists would be a shared action row just below the module navigation, with creation on the right. A smaller first step could keep the existing sidebar layouts and standardise the position within each family. Both would help; the important part is that the user can predict where to look.

Existing permissions and context requirements, such as selecting a CMDB class, should stay in place. Uploading a file, starting a direct message or planning maintenance should retain their own meaningful labels. Read-only overview modules do not need an artificial Create button.

Starting with Tickets, Assets and Software would already remove a noticeable bit of friction. Would this be a useful direction to agree on before splitting it into smaller implementation issues?

[edmozley]

Thanks @Dr4inder - a really useful review, and the table of current entry points made the problem obvious. I've gone with your preferred option: a shared action row just below the module navigation, with creation on the right.

It's built for the three modules you suggested starting with, so it can be tried before everything else moves:

• Tickets - "Inbox" on the left, New on the right. The small green plus in the ticket list header has gone.
• Assets - the "Assets - 633 found" heading moved up into the row beside New. The Table view now has New too, which opens the same form - it had no create action before.
• Software - the toolbar became the row: "Software inventory - 1,502 applications", the search box, then New.

On a phone the row stays outside every panel, so New is never inside a Filters or Tags sheet.

One deliberate difference from your suggestion: the button says just New, not "New asset" or "Add application". FreeITSM keeps buttons to one word where it can, and the page already tells you which module you're in. Hovering it, or a screen reader, still gives the full "New asset".

I've also started a proper style guide from this, covering buttons, the action row, full width, wording and the rollout order by module family:

UI style guide

It'll be in the next release. Once you've had a chance to try the three modules, I'd love to know whether the row works for you before the rest of the modules move over - section 7 of the guide has the order I'm planning.