Add option to auto-scroll to latest message

[exxosuk]

I either cannot cannot find such a setting or simply does not exist ?

Most messengers have the option of the auto scrolling down to the last message rather than having to manually scroll down each time. Normal behaviour is if you scroll up, the auto scrolling simply turns off. And if you scroll down to the bottom manually, it then automatically turns the scrolling back on. So if you want to go back and read messages then you are not fighting against the auto scroll.

I may be the only one who thinks its annoying, but if someone is talking faster than I am reading stuff then they deserve not to have their messages read IMHO :) At the very least it should be allowed to the user to enable or disable that option.

[alya]

Related issue: #23298 / PR #23539.

[talheim-it]

@alya what kind of feedback do you need for this? An option to have this feature enabled would be nice.

[exxosuk]

I have no idea how to make code changes to the thing. It's all klingon to me. So I can't offer any feedback to anything.

[alya]

The "feedback wanted" tag just means that additional feedback from users (e.g., "yes, I would love to have scrolling work differently -- here's what I'm looking for") is helpful.

[timabbott]

#29398 was integrated; I'm not sure whether this issue is worth keeping open following those changes.

[alya]

I think there's still a feature request here: add an option to auto-scroll to the latest message, unless the user has explicitly scrolled their view up.

[zulipbot]

Hello @zulip/server-message-view members, this issue was labeled with the "area: message view" label, so you may want to check it out!

[panosda]

I think there's still a feature request here: add an option to auto-scroll to the latest message, unless the user has explicitly scrolled their view up.

Just wanted to +1 this. I'd still like to be able to set zulip so that it takes me to the end of the discussion when I post a reply, even if it's further up in the discussion and the end of it is not visible. I know there is a "Go to the message you just posted" button, but perhaps the opposite could happen: If you choose to always scroll down to the sent message, and you were not already seeing the bottom of the feed, then a button could appear offering to take you back to the message you replied to. It could stay visible for a few seconds and then it would probably be safe to make it disappear (if you want to continue reading the rest of the feed from where you left it, you will probably do it right after posting and being scrolled down).
Edit: After re-reading, what I describe here doesn't seem to be the same as in the first post. But my next post seems more relevant. I think the main difference with the PR that was merged is that this is about all messages, not only the ones you send.

[panosda]

Actually I came to this issue from a PR, where @alya made this comment that made me think: #29398 (comment)
So, indeed the blank space at the end of feeds looks weird sometimes. You can scroll down until you have half of the screen blank. Now, I understand that this helps when you're at the end of the feed and you get new messages. BUT, if this request is implemented (always auto-scrolling to last message, as an option), then there is no reason for this blank space to exist at all. So all new messages (even the first one - or only new messages after the first page is filled), can go to the bottom of the page so that no blank space is visible - just like in other chat apps. So these could both be parts of the same option: autoscroll to the last message, and do not allow blank space at the end of the feed, since it's no longer useful. And it would be great if the default behaviour was adjustable by admins, for all members of the organization, and then they can also change it in their personal settings. Workspaces should probably stick with the current design, but more casual online communities would probably prefer a more familiar chat app behaviour as their default.

[panosda]

Feel free to ignore my first comment - I mean what I describe would be an extra option that I wouldn't mind having, but I think there's really an important suggestion here, which should be brought to the spotlight. So, to describe the idea as simple as I can, the way I understand it: When you are viewing a topic, with this option enabled (which could even be called something like "Classic chat behaviour"), new messages always appear at the bottom of the page, right above the posting form - which should probably be always expanded in this case (only when you view a specific topic) - maybe it gets collapsed to the usual single line when you scroll up to view older messages, and re-expands when you scroll back down to the end of the topic. If the last message is visible, then all new messages (from you or from anyone) automatically appear at the end of the feed, always in contact with the posting form at the end of the page. So no "blank space" between the end of the feed and the posting form is possible in this mode. Practically, this is the expected chat behaviour since IRC. So I just wanted to emphasize how important this feature I think is for casual chat use of the platform. Sorry for the three consecutive comments, I am still getting familiar with some aspects of the UX. This is still a legit issue that I think is very worth prioritizing, as it offers an optional behaviour that is basically the universal chat app standard, and it's indeed not covered by #29398 - but it would actually compliment it in a great way.

[alya]

And it would be great if the default behaviour was adjustable by admins, for all members of the organization, and then they can also change it in their personal settings.

Yeah, this is the standard approach we take for preference options.