Add a way to search settings

[aaronraimist]

Even with the new tabbed settings it can sometimes be hard to find a specific preference. It would be nice if there was a way to search for settings https://matrix.to/#/!HsxjoYRFsDtWBgDQPh:matrix.org/$15565789382lNCUA:jeansburger.net?via=matrix.org&via=chat.weho.st&via=hackerspaces.be

[HarHarLinks]

Devs, have you ever searched for a setting not quite remembering what page it's on or maybe it's half a sentence like the Labs settings and your eyes skip over the relevant thing you're looking for?
Yes this is an obvious choice to implement right away and for every menu. I would like to point at all of factorio's menus as examples where you can hit Ctrl+F and find everything right away, it is the best thing since sliced bread.

As a design cue, I would like the search result to be done in a way such that it is easy to tell from the search results where it is located in the UI by non-search means.

Also besides settings, the keyboard shortcuts should also have a search, and probably other windows and panes as well. Again, the factorio approach.

[nidico]

Came here to write this feature request... I explicitly want to mention that Chromium and Firefox provide a very nice and intuitive way of doing this. Since they implemented this feature, changing a setting is just so much easier and therefore much more likely to happen.

Furthermore, if UX designers later decide to change a setting to another category, this isn't any problem, as users will still find it :) - the categories are then like a discovery about what a user "could change".

Talking about search, an integration with the new global search and thigs like @HarHarLinks mentioned above could be done, but I would consider this a non-required add-on which shouldn't be in the way to a "settings only" search.

I wonder whether this should be filed as an issue in vector-im/element-meta in order to have a cohesive user experience throughout the platforms. (However I'd say the same as above applies here: Problems on mobile shouldn't block web/desktop. Having it in one platform is better than not at all)

[nidico]

Just a quick not about "Find in Settings" on Mobile: While I mentioned Firefox and Chromium as great examples of implementing this feature on desktop, this seems not to be implemented on Android (at least in Fennec/"Ungoogled Chromium"), which leads to me thinking this might be harder on mobile from a UX perspective and going the web/desktop only / first route might be applicable in this case.

[dwt]

iOS has a fairly nice search feature in the settings app. That’s what I would try to copy.

[bkil]

I would like to add the following to the request:

Provide a search box with autocomplete or a window through which a user can discover all options, settings, menu items and dialogues by starting to type text that appears within them. Ideally, synonyms should also be supported, as terminology is not the same between messaging platforms.

I.e., I would request to index the whole textual content of the client.

[HarHarLinks]

iOS has a fairly nice search feature in the settings app. That’s what I would try to copy.

so does android.

Perhaps this ticket should be moved to element-meta