First of all, I really like the new node documentation icon feature in v4.1.0. Finally it makes sense to actually use the description tab and write down some hints or comments in more complex nodes.
To make this feature even better I’ve got two suggestions:
Also display this little icon if a group has a description (maybe behind the Group Name):
Change the behaviour when the icon is clicked. Instead of simply opening the description editor it would be better to display an overlay window (a relatively big one that covers like 3/4 of the editor screen area) where the pretty (formatted) version of the actual markdown description text is shown first (read only mode). This would also solve the issue, that the formatted markdown description text is currently only shown in the sidebar within a very tiny window where you have to scroll a lot. This overlay should have (at least) two buttons: a close button and a edit button. The function of these buttons should be self-explanatory.
The reason this isn't yet possible for groups is that it's still experimental; the team is waiting for feedback. Putting the icon as you suggest is not visible enough, I would keep the same place as on the node.
The initial idea is a popover. Hovering the mouse over the icon displays a dialog box with the content rendering, and clicking opens the description editor. From memory, we don't yet have a concrete concept for generating the popover's rendering. Making this popover editable seems complicated to me, but I'm no expert.
I agree, this little icon is a big step forward.
It is a shame it has not (so far) been added to groups and tabs with a description.
I think that for a group it would best be displayed at the top right corner of the group, similar to how it is on a node, only inside the group outline.
Would it be useful to apply a class to the Description button if there is a description for the group or node, so that the button can be highlighted via CSS? (For groups/tabs, the Environment Variables button too)
I would like it if clicking the icon opened a view of the description with markup and mermaids formatted.
This is possible at the moment, but you have to expand the node editor to full size and then click the eye button to see the formatted description alongside non-formatted. Not ideal for viewing one's carefully crafted documentation.
I agree, it would be more convenient if it opened in formatted mode initially. The prime purpose of documentation is for reading, not for writing, so it would, arguably, be better to default to view mode.
For what it’s worth, my feedback is - that the icon should be shown. I’m not too bothered where. Any of the suggested locations would be fine for me personally.
Popovers aren’t hard in HTML and even a switch between editable and display isn’t too hard. Presumably it wouldn’t be harder in Node-RED.
I’m not that convinced that a popover would be a very good user experience though. I would actually prefer another sidebar so that you get more vertical room and can easily adjust the width. But where the flow panel is not impacted or obscured. Clicking the icon would ideally show the output in the sidebar. An icon in the sidebar (or a tab similar to features in places like GitHub) to switch to editing - in the sidebar - would be welcome. As would a double-click and ctrl-click on the icon to open the group’s config panel to the input.
Is this notification for all documentation / notes or just node documentation? Because I used a plugin earlier which showed doc icon, but it also triggered for subflow documentation (as opposed to just node documentation). I always document subflow, so that just ended up noisy for me, I would like to see only when nodes have notes / comments.
It is hard to imagine useful documentation of a moderately complex function (say) which will comfortably fit into either the sidebar with scrollbar or popover, presumably without.
Please only show the documentation in the main part of the screen if requested - ie after a click.
Consider working on a new flow.
You know what the SQL query does because you just wrote and documented it. You might wish to read the docs next year, while modifying the flow, but not right now.
Windows that popup unprompted are intensely irritating.
