New space creation dialog fails to create a space silently if address is missing

[kittykat]

Steps to reproduce

1. Press the + icon in the left spaces panel
2. Select "Public" option from the overlay
3. Select a unique name with an uppercase letter and a space
   -> Address field will auto-fill with the unique name in lowercase with a dash instead of a space
4. Delete the address and tab away from the text entry
5. Press Create to finish

new-space.mp4

What happened?

What did you expect?

I get a warning when I press "Create" in the same way as when the address is not unique.
Error should say something like "Please enter an address for your new space"

What happened?

The "Create" button didn't work and I didn't get an error.

Operating system

No response

Browser information

No response

URL for webapp

develop.element.io

Homeserver

No response

Have you submitted a rageshake?

No

[kittykat]

Nique and I had a (very brief) chat about the new interaction:

From me:

if a user tries to create a space without an address, should they see an error asking them to pick an address or should the space be created with an autogenerated random address? there was a bug about it failing silently but now the address field is optional

From @niquewoodhouse:

[…]if it’s now optional, I think the behaviour should be using the input validation component to suggest its best to add one. (“Adding an address makes it easier to share your space. You can change it anytime.”) I don’t think autogenerating is right because the user has made the effort to remove the input, so it could be assumed they care in some way what the address should be.

From me (with a 👍 from Nique):

rather than proceeding silently, maybe have a button to generate a random address to the right of the address input?

(Found during community testing)

[t3chguy]

I think the behaviour should be using the input validation component to suggest its best to add one. (“Adding an address makes it easier to share your space.

Would this make the address mandatory again? Not sure how the validation flow would look if it wasn't mandatory.

Marking as needs design to figure out the right soln here

[kittykat]

@t3chguy yes, it should be mandatory

[niquewoodhouse]

Can we just check, from a product perspective, if adding an address for a public space should be mandatory? @vector-im/product. That would need to be reflected in Android too.

[MTRNord]

Hi :) I just also encountered it. Maybe it makes sense to atleast have a "Hey do you really want that" dialog before just going to create the Space without any warning :)

Apart from that due to federation restrictions its likely easier to share a alias than a room id? (Thinking about the whole via stuff required with IDs)

[daniellekirkwood]

Let's make the field mandatory.

Changing addresses down the road is not a simple task.
Public rooms also mandate an address, so let's keep them consistent.