Contrib.social

[meta] Less confusing and more consistent wording needed in module/theme add/install/update

Open on Drupal.org →
Created on 23 June 2017, almost 8 years ago
Updated 28 May 2025, 9 days ago

Problem/Motivation

We have about 10 related Usability issues (see Child issues in the sidebar) around the area of the functionality that lets you add a new contrib or custom module/theme from the UI, and the wording on the screens/buttons for this process. Here's how it works currently for modules (themes are similar):

  1. (this item is currently on #2577407: Action of uploading module/theme files should consistently be called "Add", not "Install" → )
    The Extend page (admin/modules) -- this page has two buttons that both say "Install" that do different things:
    • At the top: Install new module section downloads a module from outside the site and makes it available for installing
    • At the bottom, Install installs the modules that were selected on the form
  2. (this item is currently on ✨ Move instruction and button for loading contributed modules or themes next to each other Closed: outdated )
    The order of text/buttons at the top of admin/modules is not too good. It currently says:

    Download additional contributed modules to extend your site's functionality.

    Regularly review and install available updates to maintain a secure and current site. Always run the update script each time a module is updated.

    +Install new module (button)

    (see previous top screenshot)

  3. (this item is currently on ✨ Improve added module instructions Closed: outdated )
    The wording at the top (see previous item) says you can download contributed modules, but if you click through you find you can also add custom modules.
  4. (this item is currently on both #976232: "Install" button at admin/*/install should be labeled "Continue" → and #2839586: Make the wording on the "Install new modules" page more clear → )
    After clicking Install new module, you get to a page that lets you enter a URL or upload a zip archive, and then click another button that says Install:
  5. (this item is currently on #2839586: Make the wording on the "Install new modules" page more clear → and 🐛 Link to enable a new module after adding it via the Update Manager is confusing - allow users to enable it directly from that screen instead Closed: duplicate and #3158126: Change text to "You must manually enable newly added modules, here. Steps here." → )
    After clicking this Install button, if the files are successfully uploaded, you get messages saying:

    Installation was completed successfully.
    Installed [module name] successfully
    Enable newly added modules
    Install another module

    All of these messages are confusing. When you click the Enable link, it doesn't enable the module, but only takes you back to admin/modules (where you can find the module in the list and Install it, not Enable it), and as noted above, using the word "install" for what just happened is confusing anyway.

  6. (this item is currently on #2856038: Confusing instructions when installing a theme in D8 → and ✨ After installing a theme, display a link to "install another theme" Closed: outdated )
    For themes, after uploading files, the message says "Install newly added themes", which is probably even worse. Also, unlike the module page, there is no link to upload another theme.
  7. (this item is currently on 📌 [Meta] Use Install/Uninstall consistently for turning modules/themes on/off (not Enable) Fixed
    After clicking the "Enable newly added modules" button and returning to admin/modules [or just in general if you start on admin/modules], you find your module in the list and click Install at the bottom. You get a message saying

    Module [module name] has been enabled.
    (emphasis added). You just clicked Install so it should say Installed.

  8. (this item is currently on #2888654: URLs for module/theme actions are inconsistent with UI text → )
    The URLs and tab names for these pages are also confusing and inconsistent. The theme tab names don't match the URL suffixes, and when you get to the page that lets you upload from a URL, the same exact page can be accessed through multiple URLs.

Related issues out of scope

There are some other usability issues on the Extend and Appearance pages that are probably out of scope for this issue, but are somewhat related:

Proposed resolution

From comment #23 and #3178030: Drupal Usability Meeting 2020-11-13 → :

We can fix up the wording in the UI for module/theme add/install/uninstall as follows, divided up into 5 phases of fixes that we could actually get done, each in its own issue. Here is a list of what we decided should be done now, with anything else currently listed in the Problem section above being out of scope for this meta issue:

  1. There is a UI that lets you upload the files either from a URL or a tarball. The UI for this should consistently use the verb "Add" (currently uses "Install", see item 1 in the issue summary here), and if there is any mention of removing files from the disk, that should use the verb "Remove". This can be done in a minor release, as it is only UI text changing.
    Child issue: #2577407: Action of uploading module/theme files should consistently be called "Add", not "Install" →

    We also noted that at the Composer command line, the verb for this action is "require", but we don't want to use that in the UI inside Drupal. There is no Drush command for doing this.

  2. There is a UI that lets you turn a module/theme on/off. Turning it on adds configuration and often database tables. Turning it off removes content, configuration, and/or database tables. The UI for this should consistently use the verbs "Install" and "Uninstall". Currently it mostly does use these verbs, but it says "Enable" in a few places. This can be fixed in a minor release, as it is only UI text changes.
    Child issue: 📌 [Meta] Use Install/Uninstall consistently for turning modules/themes on/off (not Enable) Fixed

    We also noted that the Drush commands use the verbs "enable"/"uninstall"; we should probably see if we can get Drush to be more consistent in its use of these verbs too. Created issue:
    https://github.com/drush-ops/drush/issues/4588

  3. We should not use the verbs Install/Uninstall for other actions in the module/theme space. For instance, there is currently UI that talks about "installing updates", which should use the verb "Update" instead of "Install". This can be done in a minor release, as it is only UI text changing.
    Child issue: 🐛 Do not use verb "Install" for things other than turning on modules/themes Fixed
  4. Make the URLs for each of these actions consistent with the UI text. This should be postponed until the first 3 issues are done (or at least the first two). This could be done in a minor release with a BC layer that redirects the old to new URLs; the BC layer would be removed in the next major release.
    Child issue: #2888654: URLs for module/theme actions are inconsistent with UI text →
  5. Make the API function names for these actions consistent with the UI text. This should be postponed until the firsts 3 issues are done. This could be done in a minor release with a BC layer or deprecations; the BC layer or deprecated functions would be removed in the next major release.
    Child issue: #3182408: [meta] API function names in module/theme install/uninstall space should match UI →

Remaining tasks

a) [Done!]
b) Fix each child issue.

User interface changes

Better and less confusing UI for adding a new module/theme to the system, turning it on, and/or updating it (on child issues).

API changes

API function names will change to match the UI (on a child issue).

Data model changes

None.

Release notes snippet

Not on this meta issue.

🌱 Plan
Status

Fixed

Version

11.0 🔥

Component

user interface text

Created by

🇺🇸United States charles belov San Francisco, CA, US

Live updates comments and jobs are added and updated live.
  • Usability

    Makes Drupal easier to use. Preferred over UX, D7UX, etc.

Sign in to follow issues

Comments & Activities

Not all content is available!

It's likely this issue predates Contrib.social: some issue and comment data are missing.

  • Comment 9 days ago →
    🇳🇿New Zealand quietone

    All the child issue but one are completed here. By convention we can close issues when there is only one child left. I am moving the child issue to the newly added parent and closing this issue.

contrib.social Blog FAQ Discussions
Production build 0.71.5 2024