Oftentimes we add "useful" descriptions directly on nodes in the editor. It would be nice if there was a special indication whenever a node contains a description. Something like this:
Else these notes are kinda hidden and stay unnoticed.
10 Likes
Nice idea!
I think this feature would encourage more users to put some documentation on their nodes in the first place. 
1 Like
Useful idea.
And if it were hover-able (with a rich tooltip) or even just clickable (to show the docs) that would be even better.
Ps, the idea for rich tooltip is something that has been discussed/attempted iirc - but knowing what I know about the editor, it is not a simple task. But even just a static tooltip of "this node has user documentation, click here to see it" would be a big improvement for discoverability
6 Likes
I agree. And maybe lets not overthink it 
The description already shows up in the info sidebar so just having the indicator is sufficient I think. All it needs is something adding to the Editor such that when "Done" is clicked, a check is made on the length of the description field and if it is >0 then the class on the icon is changed from hidden to visible.
if the sidebar is open and if the right panel is selected.
I disagree. If you were new to node-red, you might see this but have no idea what it means. You and I have the luxury of knowing there is a possibility of user documentation.
And what if you were a view only guy or a reviewer?
Or actually think it through from improving UX for new users PoV?
Just for info tool tips are great for disabled users.
OK, so just add a standard tooltip to the icon. What I meant was that there is no point in trying to add a complex process to render Markdown into HTML in a tooltip - indeed, who would have the time to even program that into Node-RED? A static tooltip that says "Description available - see the info sidebar" or something like that would be more than enough surely?
Are you saying that the existing UX of the Editor isn't good for beginners? That is surely a different issue and if every minor improvement turns into something major, we will never be able to get improvements done.
I've recently started to move to using aria-label with some CSS to make the label visible as a tooltip. This works well from an accessibility and general usability sense. But mostly standard tooltips should also work fine. The label method allows you to stop the browser showing the default tooltip so that a formatted one can be shown instead. But is again, overkill for this I believe.
No, this new feature would benefit from more than JUST an icon.
That is what I stated in my OP
It would save a click (if implimented) or a mouse move to the sidebar followed by a click on a header
Every click saved is a UX improvement 
Good idea. But just having an icon with no interaction is horrible.
The icon should function the same as the new "Show help" button at the bottom of node config screens.
ie Click to open the sidebar and switch to the Info tab.
2 Likes
Ineed, took me a while to figure out what the meaning of this little 1 is, when I started to use Node-RED:
However, starting with an icon is better than nothing. I really need this, haha. Additional functionality could be added later, no?
Exactly.
1 Like
The inject node already has two possible icons - inject at startup and repeat, but only one of them is ever shown.
Should "has description" be shown as well, or instead of the current icons?
Perhaps instead the "has description" icon (fa-book?) could be added to the node name, with a tooltip.
cf # of messages and + on Batch & Join nodes?
Seems like a quick and easy implementation. Although, I think it could lead to problems when a node developer overrides the name at times the core would not expect it. I'm sure an expert can answer this question.
However, I would rather implement this separately, not on the already existing node name.
It is just HTML so having it as a separate element really shouldn't be an issue in any way.
Well it has to be taken into account in the calculations for the node width etc so can’t be totally separate
By separate I meant, not as part of the node name. Could it maybe be part of the little icons of the top right corner?
Once a node has no "syntax errors" and the flow is deployed, the "has description" icon would be the only one which remains.
4 Likes
Does anyone know if this feature is moving forward in Node-RED v4?
If not, what can we do to make it happen? Is there a URL format that would bring the node's info panel to the front? Or a function that could be called?
I've had a quick check of the code for when you click on an entry in the info panel list but it is too complex for me to get my head around easily.
Would love to see a PR 
Yes. RED.sidebar.show('info')
Any one who is up for implementing this would pull node-red and work on the dev branch (as this targets v4).
I think a first iteration would add an indicator (a notepad icon? or something that signifies documentation) with a tooltip that initially just states "This node has additional documentation, click here to see it in the Information Sidebar" - or similar)
I will add a feature request Issue (and link back to it here) for tracking purposes.
Issue for tracking: FR: Node indicator that informs user a node has custom/additional documentation · Issue #4375 · node-red/node-red · GitHub
1 Like
Me too
But I'm not familiar enough with the core. If someone can highlight the part of the core that puts each node visual together, that would be a help.
I that is issued from a node on the Editor, will it automatically select the node type's info? If not, how would it be selected?
Having thought about it somewhat, if we can work out the above, it would be as easy to add a link to the icon. There must be some function that does this since it is done in the Editor - question is whether that is accessible?
