LinkControl: Improve Edit State

[richtabor]

This proposal focuses on improving the state of LinkControl when editing an existing link.

Part of #50891

Tasks

Feel free to break these into individual PRs as needed:

• Implement general UI changes.
• Move Text field back into main interface of Link Control  #50948
• Add "Link settings" toggle to the right of the "Link" label. #50949
• Render the link settings below the "Text" field when toggled.
• Use a CheckboxControl for the Opens in new tab control in Link Control. #50947
• Suggestions do not render unless the "Link" field value has changed.
• If suggestions render, advanced settings do not.
• Changes to Link Control are only saved when using the "Save" button (for all fields). #50945

Visuals

Current	Proposed

Editing a link, showing suggestions

Note that the suggestions in this mockup are based on design tweaks from #50885:

Toggling link settings

Note that in the visual above the new tab checkbox was value was changed, setting the "Save" button as not disabled.

[hz-tyfoon]

Thanks @richtabor for creating this. I'm keeping a note about this one. After checking I'll share a proper feedback on this.

[getdave]

Here is a PR which looks lay the ground work to start addressing some of these issues #50668

[richtabor]

Updated visuals based on a11y feedback from #50950 (comment)

[christianoliveira]

We use these controls a lot (nofollow + open in a new tab) and with WordPress 6.3 the controls are now hidden, increasing the amount of clicks/work needed to achieve the same result 😭.

Is it possible manually roll this specific change back in my installation and/or be able to configure it otherwise?

Thanks so much in advance!

[getdave]

There is no way to roll this back for a specific installation. However if you run the Gutenberg Plugin you can take advantage of #52799 which "remembers" when you toggle the control open and will persist it in that state across all links until such time as you manually toggle it closed again.

[christianoliveira]

@getdave that seems perfect, thanks so much for the fast and helpful answer. Will try it!

[christianoliveira]

@getdave sorry, got too excited very early. I have the latest version of Wordpress, is it possible to get this fix (#52799 ) there? If so, how? You mention the plugin, but the plugin was supposed to be used only in older installations, or does it make sense to install it in the latest version of Wordpress?

[getdave]

@christianoliveira The Plugin is where rapid development of the block editor takes place. It is merged into WP Core at each major WordPress release.

The Plugin could be considered "beta" software as it undergoes less testing than when the code ultimately gets merged into WP Core. Therefore I would use with caution.

Unfortunately despite best efforts of all involved the fix didn't make it into WordPress 6.3 so you cannot utilise it in that release.

I'm working on #53531 as well but again that won't land in WP Core until the 6.4 release at the earliest.

[christianoliveira]

@getdave thanks for the explanation and for your time

That's sad news, as it will increase the amount of work we have until the next release (or we will need to add the nofollow/"open in a new tab" in other ways, directly in the code)

Unfortunately, this will be a lesson for me in not updating WordPress immediately in the future.