Disable featured image control if no featured image is applied to the post

[richtabor]

What problem does this address?

1. If a user does not have a featured image applied to the post, the experience can be confusing for users that click on the "Use featured image" control and nothing actually happens.

Even more-so, if you click "Use featured image", then try to upload or apply an image from the Media Library within the placeholder, the block does not render any of those changes (as "Use featured image" overrides those).

We should disable the "Use featured image" control, unless there is a featured image applied to the post. In which case, there would not be any hangups with the UI not responding to a user's input.

This is closely related to #40156 (comment)

Current controls:

Without a featured image (no change other than "Add Media" is gone):

With "Use featured image" active (without a featured image assigned to the post), the media controls do not function:

CleanShot.2022-05-27.at.10.57.49.mp4

What is your proposed solution?

1. Make the "Use featured image" control disabled, unless there is a featured image applied to the page.
2. If "Use featured image" is active, and I choose to add a different image to the block, that new image should take precedence. Instead of requiring me first to remove the featured image capability, then upload. 3.

Proposal:

(Mockups are based on efforts from #40156 (comment))

1. The "Use featured image" control is disabled, unless there is a featured image applied to the post

2. If a featured image is used in the cover block, I can still decide to use an image from the Media Library or Upload and the block should respond.

[Mamaduka]

The proposal matches the original mockups - #39410 (comment).

Happy to work on the PR if folks agree with this direction.

cc @draganescu, @jameskoster

[jameskoster]

This looks like a duplicate of #40156 with a very similar solution :D

The main difference to be the behaviour of "Use featured image" when no featured image is set. in 40156 we discussed having it open the media library to set the featured image, rather than simply disabling it, as it is in this issue.

[Mamaduka]

Thanks, @jameskoster. I knew I saw a similar proposal somewhere :D

[richtabor]

Shoot, guess I didn't look hard enough 😅

[richtabor]

I could adapt this to center on disabling the featured image control if there's no featured image. Any objections?

[jameskoster]

I think that's worth discussing for sure. One idea I had for that scenario was to use the unset-featured-image visual treatment from the site editor – see the second video here for an example. Alternatively we could just open the media library and ask the user to upload/set the featured image. That might be nice as the user can remain in the context of the Cover block and continue working.

Or of course we simply don't allow folks to select this option when the featured image isn't set. I don't have strong feelings either way.

[richtabor]

That might be nice as the user can remain in the context of the Cover block and continue working.

Yea I was thinking of how we could potentially maintain this.

Alternatively we could just open the media library and ask the user to upload/set the featured image. That might be nice as the user can remain in the context of the Cover block and continue working.

I'd say opening the media library with the intent of setting a featured image right off would be better than selecting to use a featured image, then having to figure out where to upload one (or what it is).

[draganescu]

I'd say opening the media library with the intent of setting a featured image right off would be better than selecting to use a featured image, then having to figure out where to upload one (or what it is).

I think the two would be connected: knowing what the featured image is and where to set it in the post editor. What we're trying to solve for is:

• a user clicking use featured image who does not know what a featured image is.
• a user wanting to use the featured image, who knows what a featured image is, but now has to leave the context they're in to go to the sidebar and set that image.

Or of course we simply don't allow folks to select this option when the featured image isn't set. I

There are situations where the featured image is set dynamically and we're not always aware of this at edit time, for instance a plugin that sets the "first" image media attachment as featured, or a plugin that sets a random featured image. In these cases the post will not have the featured image set when created or even edited, I think, and hence the cover block will not allow the user to use the featured image for it.

My preference would be for a more complex approach:

• rework the featured image toggle to be in the media dropdown - clearly the toggle is not right as a lot of feedback has shown already.
• implement setting the post featured image from the cover block's image functionality in the cover block
• work into the cover block a visual and audible representation of the fact that the cover block will show the featured image if one is present when viewing the post. In this context the "placeholder" background is a good visual.

[jameskoster]

@draganescu that sounds like the conclusion we came to in #40156 (comment), except for the "audible" part :D