Add 'Help' icon for sync conflict

[david-allison]

This is a major point of confusion for users, and could be massively improved with a help icon

Ref: https://www.reddit.com/r/Anki/comments/1h69d98/ankidroid_sync_success/

Needs

1. Figure out a good page to link to

   • Hopefully something in the Anki Manual/FAQ on sync conflicts

2. Update the code in the following PR, so we can have all 3 of:

   • A dialog icon
   • A title
   • A 'help' icon

• https://github.com/ankidroid/Anki-Android/pull/17532

The help icon should look like this:

[Giyutomioka-SS]

working on this!

[brishtibheja]

This is the best topic to link to if you want Anki Manual: https://docs.ankiweb.net/syncing.html#conflicts

Uses desktop specific terms (for now).

[david-allison]

We probably want our own, given the dialog is different

[Aditya13s]

@Giyutomioka-SS Are you working on this? If not, can I?

[Giyutomioka-SS]

@Giyutomioka-SS Are you working on this? If not, can I?

Yes, i m working.

[snowtimeglass]

The link location also needs to be improved to be AnkiDroid specific

Originally posted by @david-allison in https://github.com/ankidroid/Anki-Android/issues/17580#issuecomment-2529356893

What do you think about the idea of opening an additional dialog box or an in-app page?

(The mental load may be high for common users to open a page outside the app, and especially for non-native English users to read the contents even if they can use automatic translation.)

[david-allison]

@snowtimeglass Yes, once we figure out the messaging which we want.

I suspect there's going to be a lot of discussion over the best way to phrase this, and I don't want to burden translators with work which will be wasted

[Shukla007]

I would be happy to work on this issue if no one else is.

[Haz3-jolt]

I would be happy to work on this issue if no one else is.

Hey! the fix for this is quite simple, issue is the exact phrasing and deciding with webpage link vs dialog. If you have a solution, discuss it here before picking it up, since your solution might not be accepted at a later point.

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[sakesane]

Hi @david-allison , I’d like to take on this issue (#17544) and propose the following approach, which aims to address the concerns raised in the discussion:

UI Structure: A dialog icon as it originally has on the left of title, A title, A help icon, consistent with the pattern in PR #17532. Help Behavior: Tapping the help icon will open a simple in-app dialog. This dialog will contain: A concise, AnkiDroid-specific explanation of what a sync conflict is and how to resolve it. A link to the official manual (https://docs.ankiweb.net/syncing.html#conflicts) at the bottom. Example draft wording (to be refined with feedback): “A sync conflict occurs when you’ve made different changes to the same card on multiple devices. Anki can’t merge these automatically, so you must choose whether to keep the version from this device (Upload) or from AnkiWeb (Download). If you’re unsure, choosing Download is usually safer.”

If this direction looks good, I’ll prepare a PR. Happy to iterate on the wording or UI based on your feedback!

[david-allison]

Sounds good to start.

Look into what Anki Desktop does. I feel just adding the icon and linking to the web page would be sufficient to close this.

[sakesane]

@david-allison thanks for your reply. I’ve tested Anki Desktop — its sync dialog has no clickable help icon (see screenshot).

My proposed solution:

1. Keep the existing dialog icon.
2. Add a clickable help icon (?) that links to the web page.

Should I change ankidroid's dialog text according to the desktop version (which is more clear i think)?

[ZornHadNoChoice]

A sync conflict occurs when you’ve made different changes to the same card on multiple devices.

I don't think the user needs to know this, and is it even accurate? What about the "full upload of the database" or the "one way sync"?

If you’re unsure, choosing Download is usually safer.

Is it? I bet some users wil be angry after pressing "Download" (and losing progress) blaming the dialog.

I personally think a visual approach would be better, something like this (maybe with icons instead of text):

[Haz3-jolt]

I personally think a visual approach would be better, something like this (maybe with icons instead of text):

I disagree, visual approaches often create more confusion and aren't friendly to those who use screen readers or other accessibility measures.

[sakesane]

@ZornHadNoChoice Thank you for the correction, I'm a beginner so there may be quite a few mistakes. Do you think it would be better to copy the dialog text from anki desktop to ankidroid, or should I just keep the ankidroid sync dialog text as it is? Also, would changing text cause unecessary extra work for translators? If it's more trouble than it's worth, maybe we should just add the icons&links and leave the text untouched, just as david-allison suggested..

[ZornHadNoChoice]

I disagree, visual approaches often create more confusion and aren't friendly to those who use screen readers or other accessibility measures.

There can still be text, but the buttons would be under the diagrams representing their function.

Do you think it would be better to copy the dialog text from anki desktop to ankidroid, or should I just keep the ankidroid sync dialog text as it is?

The Anki Desktop dialog is clearer in my opinion.

Also, would changing text cause unecessary extra work for translators?

I personally wouldn't mind (as long as it's on Cowdin instead of Pontoon), but I can't speak for other translators.

[david-allison]

I feel discussions on the dialog content should be moved to another issue so we can move forwards with this

• EDIT: https://github.com/ankidroid/Anki-Android/issues/19340

For now:

• https://github.com/ankidroid/Anki-Android/labels/Blocked%20by%20dependency Improve our conflict page https://github.com/ankidroid/ankidroiddocs/issues/166
  • https://docs.ankidroid.org/#AnkiWebConflicts
  • This should be a very quick change to approve, if anything is required.
• Add the help icon + link the above page

---

Context: Current Dialog Strings

We took the current string based on feedback from a UX designer, but I feel we can do better, both with visuals, potentially exposing more data from the AnkiWeb collection (mod?), and closer text to Anki Desktop, if not matching it.

[sakesane]

@david-allison Since the dependency blocking this issue is fixed, would it be ok that I move forward with this issue? If so, I will keep the existing dialog content and add the help icon & the link.

[david-allison]

Sounds good, cheers!