Selecting the Document tab should deselect blocks.

[jasmussen]

Describe the bug

When you select a block and the Settings sidebar is open, the Block tab is automatically selected.

When you deselect a block, the Document tab is then opened.

If you select a block, then click the Document tab, logically this should also deselect the block.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

• Click a block, observe the Block tab is opened
• Click the Documents tab, observe the block is not deselected

Expected behavior

Way back, in version 0.6 I think, we used something a similar feature to autoselect the block inspector when a block had focus. We used a "breadcrumb" style instead of tabs for the sidebar, the idea being that the sidebar was always contextual, and when you had no block selected you were at the document scope, when a block selected you dug into the block scope.

This behavior is now reinstated, although with tabs. But because deselecting a block automatically selects the Document tab, it feels like selecting the Document tab when a block is selected should logically also deselect the block.

Screenshots

[karmatosed]

it feels like selecting the Document tab when a block is selected should logically also deselect the block.

I would +1 that this behaviour makes sense.

[youknowriad]

This also means that if we switch to the document settings and immediately switch back to the block inspector, the block inspector will be empty. Do we want this?

[jasmussen]

This also means that if we switch to the document settings and immediately switch back to the block inspector, the block inspector will be empty. Do we want this?

I would consider this the expected behavior, yes, because selecting the block tab doesn't also select a block, whereas I feel like the inverse is true.

[ZebulanStanphill]

@youknowriad @jasmussen Would it make sense to not show the “Block” tab at all when no block is selected, then?

[jasmussen]

Potentially, but then they aren't really tabs anymore. In a way past implementation, as I mentioned, we used breadcrumbs instead of tabs. But that wasn't popular, whereas the same sidebar switching behavior now with the tabs seem to have caused less of an issue.

[ZebulanStanphill]

@jasmussen
I would say that they are barely even tabs now. Block being a tab implies that if you switch to the Document tab, you will be able to switch back to the Block tab and it will still contain the same content it had before. It seems confusing to leave the Block tab there when it is useless, and therefore only serves to waste a couple seconds when a user clicks it expecting to get back to the settings of the block they were previously editing.

Perhaps breadcrumbs are not the best way to go, but I do not think tabs are a better fit anymore due to this behavioral change.

[rogerlos]

Just noting, for me, If I have a block selected, my expectation was that if I selected "document" in the inspector (say, to check a value there) and then switch back to block without doing anything in the document inspector, I was expecting to still see "my" block info there...as I didn't really deselect the block, if you can follow my logic ("this sidebar seems to be block contextual").

Perhaps if the block has to be deselected when viewing "document" properties, a link could be placed in the block inspector sidebar to "reselect last block" if the user switches back to allow easy refocusing?