User interface suggesting share-room-link is an invite link while in fact it isn't

[Eisfunke]

Description

Enter a invite-only room. Click "Invite to this room" in the user list.

You will see the invite dialog:

Click share this room. A matrix.to link is opened. Considering that this link was generated from the "Invite to this room" dialog one would assume that that link is an invite link. However, it is not, and if someone not already in the room tries to join the room using that link they will get an error message.

This is bad UX. It should be clear that the generated link is useless by itself and isn't sufficient to let someone enter the room.

Related to element-hq/element-meta#573, but this is not about making implementing invite links, but about the UX so that users don't think the link is an invite link while it in fact isn't.

Version information

• Platform: Desktop, but concerns all.
• OS: Arch
• Version: 1.7.10

[atmovantage]

This certainly had me confused for a while. I was under the impression from the UI that I could share that link with anyone and they could join the invite-only space/room. Slack and Discord have the ability to generate a generic invite link with expiration dates and restrictions. Would be very helpful if Element had the same functionality.

[niquewoodhouse]

I think the simplest solution, for now, would be to amend the copy if it's an invite only room, to not include the 'share this room' if it's actually not helpful to the user.

Suggested changes

• Amend title to say "room name" not "this room"
• Amend sentence to be "or email address." not ", email address or share this room."
• Add sentence that says "This room is [icon] invite only."

[Eisfunke]

By the way, this also applies to the "share room" feature in the info panel for invite-only rooms. This might have been added in the two years since I opened this issue, I'm not sure. But it's the same problem, so I'm adding it here:

Upon clicking that button I get a share room dialog with a link that I would expect to be able to, well, share with people to get them into my room.

But alas, it's the same link from the "Invite to" dialog. The upside is, of course, that I don't have to censor the link in the screenshot, you'd just get a "you're not invited" error message (which could use some tweaking in the wording as well, btw) when trying to use it anyway.

As suggested in the previous post, a simple change of wording in the "Invite to" dialog for invite-only rooms and in this case just not showing the "Share this room" button would help alleviate this confusion (confusion that lost me multiple people back to other messengers, sadly).

Also, if I'm informed correctly, a knocking feature will be implemented soon-ish, I'd recommend adjusting the wording for that when that time comes. Something like "This link will allow people to knock on this room. Moderators can then decide whether to let them enter" or something similar in the relevant dialogs in invite-only rooms with knocking enabled.