Problem:
With T338330 we implemented the use of mul Labels as placeholders for Labels (both editing and viewing mode) and Aliases (only in the editing mode). The list of Aliases could be extensive, or their text or that of Labels could be long (e.g. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q84621524), this could lead to a very content-heavy table with suboptimal UX.
Solution:
Aliases (this task): Only the first alias will be reused as a placeholder, followed by an ellipsis symbol. We should truncate the text of the MUL placeholders used for aliases in cases it's too long. A maximum of 2 lines of text should be displayed under all circumstances. Ellipsis will be used to indicate that the text was abbreviated.
Labels (T340615): We should truncate the text of the MUL placeholders used for labels. A maximum of 2 lines of text should be displayed under all circumstances. Ellipsis will be used to indicate that the text was abbreviated.
Mockups:
| Read mode | Edit mode | |
| Labels |  |  |
| Aliases | N/A (No changes) |  |
Acceptance criteria:
- Only the first element in the list of MUL aliases is displayed as a placeholder in other languages' entries
- Aliases' placeholders never display more than two lines
- Release to test.wikidata.org
Notes:
- We tentatively don't see the need to add a title/tooltip that would display the whole text on hover, since the full label/alias will be fully visible in the Multiple languages entry, which will always be in sight due to its placement.
- Regarding the amount of lines of text: the assumption is that 1 line wouldn't be enough in some cases to convey the meaning (that placeholders are the same as MUL), and that the 2-line limit will offer more coverage (most placeholders won't need ellipsis). Nevertheless, using longer placeholders disrupts the alignment of the termbox table quite a bit on edit mode (see mocks), due to the way it's designed. So using 1 line instead of 2 cannot be discarded in case we want to prioritize avoiding this disruption.