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Improve placeholder text / form UX in Browse By "Starts with" form control#5498

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tdonohue merged 2 commits intoDSpace:mainfrom
kshepherd:5945_browse-form-placeholder
Apr 20, 2026
Merged

Improve placeholder text / form UX in Browse By "Starts with" form control#5498
tdonohue merged 2 commits intoDSpace:mainfrom
kshepherd:5945_browse-form-placeholder

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@kshepherd kshepherd commented Apr 16, 2026 •
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Description

The placeholder text in the browse-by input form was misleading, with a value of "Search the repository".
This small change shifts the hint text into the form placeholder, instead of being displayed as a small non-obvious line of text below the input form control.

The hint text is already translated across many languages, so it is not text I had to come up with myself and request help from translators.

I think this is improved UX. Feedback welcome.

screenshot_2026-04-16_16:37:05_selection screenshot_2026-04-16_16:37:12_selection screenshot_2026-04-16_16:37:25_selection

Instructions for Reviewers

Simply compare the form display when you visit "Browse by Author", with and without this change applied.

List of changes in this PR:

  • Replace the i18n key browse.search-form.placeholder in the starts-with Angular component, with browse.startsWith.type_text
  • Remove the small hint text element from below the form input control, as it is now displayed as placeholder text
  • Remove the (now) unused browse.search-form.placeholder key

Checklist

  • My PR is created against the main branch of code (unless it is a backport or is fixing an issue specific to an older branch).
  • My PR is small in size (e.g. less than 1,000 lines of code, not including comments & specs/tests), or I have provided reasons as to why that's not possible.
  • My PR passes ESLint validation using npm run lint
  • My PR passes all specs/tests and includes new/updated specs or tests based on the Code Testing Guide.
  • My PR aligns with Accessibility guidelines if it makes changes to the user interface.
  • My PR uses i18n (internationalization) keys instead of hardcoded English text, to allow for translations.
  • My PR includes details on how to test it. I've provided clear instructions to reviewers on how to successfully test this fix or feature.
  • If my PR fixes an issue ticket, I've linked them together.

@kshepherd kshepherd self-assigned this Apr 16, 2026
@kshepherd kshepherd added i18n / l10n Internationalisation and localisation, related to message catalogs 1 APPROVAL pull request only requires a single approval to merge labels Apr 16, 2026
@kshepherd kshepherd force-pushed the 5945_browse-form-placeholder branch from 65d265b to 2fb21fe Compare April 16, 2026 14:57
@kshepherd kshepherd moved this to 🙋 Needs Reviewers Assigned in DSpace 10.0 Release Apr 16, 2026
@lgeggleston lgeggleston added component: Discovery related to discovery search or browse system ux User Experience related works testathon Reported by a tester during Community Testathon labels Apr 16, 2026
@EikLoe EikLoe self-requested a review April 16, 2026 17:06
@EikLoe EikLoe moved this from 🙋 Needs Reviewers Assigned to 👀 Under Review in DSpace 10.0 Release Apr 16, 2026
EikLoe
EikLoe approved these changes Apr 16, 2026
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Hi @kshepherd ,
I tested it and it works great! Thanks 👍🏾 The code looks good to me!

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EikLoe commented Apr 16, 2026

We might consider backporting this, as it appears in demo.dspace.org, too.

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lgeggleston commented Apr 16, 2026

Good point! Adding labeling for all automatic backports, in case it works out for previous versions.

@lgeggleston lgeggleston added port to dspace-7_x This PR needs to be ported to `dspace-7_x` branch for next bug-fix release port to dspace-8_x This PR needs to be ported to `dspace-8_x` branch for next bug-fix release port to dspace-9_x This PR needs to be ported to `dspace-9_x` branch for next bug-fix release labels Apr 16, 2026
@lgeggleston lgeggleston moved this from 👀 Under Review to 👍 Reviewer Approved in DSpace 10.0 Release Apr 16, 2026
tdonohue
tdonohue approved these changes Apr 20, 2026
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👍 Thanks @kshepherd ! Looks good to me too.

@tdonohue tdonohue added this to the 10.0 milestone Apr 20, 2026
@tdonohue tdonohue merged commit 71b644f into DSpace:main Apr 20, 2026
20 of 22 checks passed
@github-project-automation github-project-automation bot moved this from 👍 Reviewer Approved to ✅ Done in DSpace 10.0 Release Apr 20, 2026
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dspace-bot commented Apr 20, 2026

Backport failed for dspace-7_x, because it was unable to cherry-pick the commit(s).

Please cherry-pick the changes locally and resolve any conflicts.

git fetch origin dspace-7_x
git worktree add -d .worktree/backport-5498-to-dspace-7_x origin/dspace-7_x
cd .worktree/backport-5498-to-dspace-7_x
git switch --create backport-5498-to-dspace-7_x
git cherry-pick -x 420b9e06b6ab5b7893a18f07b959a1d7d0be7890 2fb21fe0be52f3204bdb057e665ed55cd3a860c0

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dspace-bot commented Apr 20, 2026

Backport failed for dspace-8_x, because it was unable to cherry-pick the commit(s).

Please cherry-pick the changes locally and resolve any conflicts.

git fetch origin dspace-8_x
git worktree add -d .worktree/backport-5498-to-dspace-8_x origin/dspace-8_x
cd .worktree/backport-5498-to-dspace-8_x
git switch --create backport-5498-to-dspace-8_x
git cherry-pick -x 420b9e06b6ab5b7893a18f07b959a1d7d0be7890 2fb21fe0be52f3204bdb057e665ed55cd3a860c0

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dspace-bot commented Apr 20, 2026

Backport failed for dspace-9_x, because it was unable to cherry-pick the commit(s).

Please cherry-pick the changes locally and resolve any conflicts.

git fetch origin dspace-9_x
git worktree add -d .worktree/backport-5498-to-dspace-9_x origin/dspace-9_x
cd .worktree/backport-5498-to-dspace-9_x
git switch --create backport-5498-to-dspace-9_x
git cherry-pick -x 420b9e06b6ab5b7893a18f07b959a1d7d0be7890 2fb21fe0be52f3204bdb057e665ed55cd3a860c0

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tdonohue commented Apr 20, 2026

@kshepherd : This failed automated backports (I suspect it's because of all the changes to translation files...as those are often difficult to backport). Therefore, if you or anyone else wants to see this in 9.x/8.x/7.x, then we'd need someone to create manual backport PRs.

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Reviewers

@tdonohue tdonohue tdonohue approved these changes

+1 more reviewer

@EikLoe EikLoe EikLoe approved these changes

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1 APPROVAL pull request only requires a single approval to merge component: Discovery related to discovery search or browse system i18n / l10n Internationalisation and localisation, related to message catalogs port to dspace-7_x This PR needs to be ported to `dspace-7_x` branch for next bug-fix release port to dspace-8_x This PR needs to be ported to `dspace-8_x` branch for next bug-fix release port to dspace-9_x This PR needs to be ported to `dspace-9_x` branch for next bug-fix release testathon Reported by a tester during Community Testathon ux User Experience related works

Projects

DSpace 10.0 Release
Status: ✅ Done

Milestone

10.0

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5 participants

@kshepherd @EikLoe @lgeggleston @dspace-bot @tdonohue