WebUi list of improvements that need to be made to the UI

[AceLewis]

qBittorrent version and Operating System

qBittorrent 4.1.3
Windows 10 (10.0.1xxxx)

What is the problem

The WebUI is not a replacement for the desktop UI

What is the expected behavior

WebUI to be as good as Qt UI

Steps to reproduce

Use WebUI

Extra info(if any)

I love the fact that the WebUI is very good, it is nearly a drop in replacement for the Qt UI. Piccirello is currently working on the WebUI so some of these may have been fixed when his commits are merged but I have made a list of the ones I have noticed. Correcting these would make it more viable to use qBittorrent with only a WebUI.

Remaining

• Torrent creator
• Speed graphs
• Add torrent and torrent link: needs to be changed a lot to make it look like the desktop UI.
• Help > Check for Updates
• General: Percentages are not he same, in normal UI it might be 0.0% but in the WebUI it might be 0.1% (also other way around)
• General: Dates in are in format DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM in normal UI but DD/MM/YYYY HH:MM:SS in WebUI
• Tools: On downloads done is missing
• Availability bar
• Torrent options dialog
• Start/pause session
• Trackers: right click Force reannounce options
• Tracker filters (Tracker error, Other error, Warning)
• Edit trackers option in context menu
• Tracker favicons
• Next announce/min announce columns in trackers table (+ endpoints)
• Change tracker tier in trackers table (arrows on the right)
• Watched folders dialog
• Hide zero and infinity values
• Resolve peer hostnames
• Merge state icon column with name
• Better speedlimit dialogs
• Priority "By shown file order" in content table
• Import/export RSS rules
• Notifications
• Torrent category dialog "Use another path for incomplete torrents" option

Completed

• Columns: double clicking on column edges does not auto change the width (WebUI: Support auto resizing table columns #21655)
• Torrent search: does not exist Add Search feature to WebUI #9758
• Manage cookies: does not exist
• RSS: does not exist Implemented RSS reader and auto downloader in reference WebUI #12557
• Logs: does not exist WebUI: Add log viewer #18290
• Options: needs to be changed a lot to make it look like the desktop UI. Many features missing. Add missing Preferences to WebUI #9752
• Search of torrents in list: does not exist Add torrent name filtering to WebUI #9981
• Side bar: Tags not available (Implement tag management for WebUI #10527)
• Side bar: Trackers not available Add Trackers section to Web UI sidebar #12748
• Side bar: When width is decreased strings are split onto many lines not "..." (closed by Show ellipsis when WebUI sidebar is too narrow #9919)
• Side bar: width can't be decresed to zero (closed by Show ellipsis when WebUI sidebar is too narrow #9919)
• Right click: "Delete" option is a minus not a cross like in the "normal" ui [cleanup]Converted remaining icons to svg #10073
• Right click: No tags (Implement tag management for WebUI #10527)
• Right click: should do nothing if no option is availible not open the normal right click menu (wontfix)
• General > Time active: different strings after time "seeded for XXX" vs "XXX this session" not an issue
• Trackers: the DHT, PeX and LSD are not shown Add additional tracker info to WebUI #9375
• Trackers: Can't right click on tracker to do stuff like edit tracker link, delete tracker Add additional tracker info to WebUI #9375
• Trackers: Can't edit the columns to be shown, e.g no '#', Seeds, Received Allow WebUI Trackers and Content tables to be manipulated #10006
• Trackers: No way to edit column width Allow WebUI Trackers and Content tables to be manipulated #10006
• Peers: No way to add peers Add ability to add and ban a peer from the Web UI #10158
• Peers: Column names are in different order when right clicking Match WebUI Peers table column order to GUI #9986
• Peers: No right click on peers Add ability to add and ban a peer from the Web UI #10158
• HTTP Sources: No way to add webseeds, presumably no way to edit them either
• Content: No way to edit column width Allow WebUI Trackers and Content tables to be manipulated #10006
• Content: Right click on column headers should result in nothing (wontfix)
• Content: No folder view Display files hierarchically in Web UI content tab #10153
• Content: No "do not download in download priority Allow WebUI Trackers and Content tables to be manipulated #10006
• Content: No filter files Display files hierarchically in Web UI content tab #10153
• Content: Download priority dropdown menu often shows nothing Set priority for multiple files in one WebAPI request #9541
• Content: right click to rename file Add ability to rename torrent files from the WebUI #11029
• Content: right click to rename folder WebUI: add multi-file renaming #18287
• About: Lots of information is missing Match WebUI About page to GUI #10096
• Content: No way to select/prioritise multiple files at once. Allow WebUI Trackers and Content tables to be manipulated #10006
• Content: Changing too many files at once causes some to reset after the UI refreshes. Set priority for multiple files in one WebAPI request #9541
• Trackers/Content: No way to sort columns. Allow WebUI Trackers and Content tables to be manipulated #10006
• General > Input: The autocorrect and autocapitalize should be disabled in certain fields Remove autocorrect/autocapitalise in WebUI #10214

[Arathen]

To this list, I would also add:
Content: No way to select/prioritise multiple files at once.
Content: Changing too many files at once causes some to reset after the UI refreshes.
Trackers/Content: No way to sort columns.

Great list! And once again my sincere gratitude to @Piccirello for all the work he's put into the WebUI so far to keep it getting better. Legendary.

[Piccirello]

This is a really comprehensive list. What’s exciting is several of these will be fixed soon by existing PRs. But definitely still a lot more work to be done.

Could you switch your numbered list to a list of tasks? We can check off items as they’re completed.

[WolfganP]

Great list, as a nox user having a rich webui is really important. Thx guys for keeping improving this functionality.

[solarfl4re]

Also: on iOS (and probably Android), disable autocorrect/capitalize for text input fields that shouldn’t have it (e.g. paths like /home/user/movies). Otherwise while typing things get automatically capitalized or corrected. I’ve seen this specifically with the ‘Save files to location’ field in ‘Upload local torrent’.

[WolfganP]

Something that wasn't further discussed in the big #9752 (comment) but may be part of this improvements' list for stability in testing/trying new webUIs:

I didn't analyze exactly how the AltWebUI works, but as the core is already precompiled, wouldn't it be possible to access the core one anyways in case the alt goes wrong somehow? (ie via http://someIP:8099/core/ even if AltWebUI is enabled)

Or the other way around, the core webUI always be default on the base URL and the alternative under http://someIP:8099/altwebui/

Thoughts?

[heynando]

I think the WebUI is fundamentally flawed because it means doubling the work of everything. I mean think of it like this, everything you add or remove or edit in the main UI you must repeat and do the same for the WebUI too. That feels like lifting two walls to stay on the same place. I don't mean that it is bad result no, but simply a bad investment of man-hour time.

I think the correct approach is a single UI that is fully compatible & based on HTML5, something like the new UWP apps for example. Depending on the window or other factors those can, totally on the fly, morph into multiple UIs (cellphone, tablet and full desktop mode), all constructed under one singular code stream whilst being able to run inside a browser too because of HTML5 compatibility, meaning the WebUI would basically be a direct interface with the engine and depending on the size of the screen/window it would adapt (small-medium-full). And to reduce work, this project allows the removal of the medium size window (tablet-mode), leaving only small (cellphone) and full (desktop) which is more easy to maintain.

Even if the suggested approach takes a more deep redesign of the main code, and much more initial man-hours to get any result at all, I say it's worth because it will pay for itself in terms of man-hours spared in the long run whilst also making the program future-proof.

[Piccirello]

@Fernandk This sounds like a great vision, please feel free to open a PR.

[Piccirello]

I've marked two right-click suggestions above as wontfix. I have no interest in disabling the browser's default right-click (context) menu when we don't have an alternative context menu to display.

[heynando]

@Piccirello > @Fernandk This sounds like a great vision, please feel free to open a PR.

I spent literally more than 20 minutes trying to open one, and it's not even the first time, but I couldn't get past the button "new pull request". The button "create new pull request" is greyed out and it keeps asking "Choose different branches or forks above to discuss and review changes." GitHub system for creating a new pull request is awfully unintuitive and retarded or I'm just really really dumb and I'm betting on the first one. To suggest a new feature or request should not be this hard.

[Piccirello]

If you’d like to request a feature you need to open an issue. A PR is used for merging your existing code changes into qBittorrent (from your branch into qBittorrent master).

[Piccirello]

Peers: Column names are in different order when right clicking

I can't reproduce this one. Can someone post a screenshot?

[thalieht]

Maybe he means different from GUI:
GUI / WebUI

[Piccirello]

Right click: "Delete" option is a minus not a cross like in the "normal" ui

I actually think this is a bug on behalf of the GUI. The toolbar uses list-remove.svg for remove, but the context menu uses dialog-cancel.svg. On the WebUI they both use list-remove.svg.

Edit: TransferListWidget lists the icon as edit-delete, but I'm definitely seeing dialog-cancel on Ubuntu 16.04. 🤷‍♂️

[Piccirello]

General > Time active: different strings after time "seeded for XXX" vs "XXX this session"

I do think these are consistent across the GUI and WebUI, and which you see just depends on the state of the torrent.

[simo1994]

May I suggest, when adding a torrent from the WebUI, to express the download and upload rate limits in KB/s instead of B/s?

[Piccirello]

@simo1994 implemented by @jerrymakesjelly in #10618

[xnoreq]

Can we get the fix for file selection checked in soon? It's been ~7 months since I reported the issue and gave suggestions how to fix the event handling and it's still broken.

edit: #10162

[Piccirello]

@xnoreq the PR is finally about to be merged, so the fix should land within the next few days. I should have applied the patch in a separate PR to avoid this scenario. Will note this for future bugs.

[lnicola]

I haven't tried 4.2, but I think the WebUI Add Torrent pane should be taller so it would fit without scrolling:

Maybe someone can add it to the list here?

[Piccirello]

@lnicola Opened PR #11030 to address this

[loligans]

I've opened a new issue to add the ability to modify the structure of a torrent when it's first added. This includes things like directory names and file names. #15718

[luzpaz]

Is this tracking ticket still being maintained ?

[AceLewis]

Is this tracking ticket still being maintained ?

I am not, if you like I could when I have time re-go through all the issues raised in this ticket.

[luzpaz]

It may be valuable to x-ref with all the open WebUI labeled tickets

[chezhades]

Is this tracking ticket still being maintained ?

I am not, if you like I could when I have time re-go through all the issues raised in this ticket.

The one feature on this list that I find useful and don't currently have a workaround for is the speed graph: sometimes it's useful for me when I'm trying to troubleshoot connection issues to see the history of DL/UL speed overnight, say, and in the Windows UI that's as simple as clicking a button. If it's possible at some point to add this to the web UI it would be a great help! Thanks.

[loligans]

Anyone who is still following this, could you provide comments on this issue: #16239

[scottcopus]

I haven't tried 4.2, but I think the WebUI Add Torrent pane should be taller so it would fit without scrolling:

It would work better for me if it this pane was actually shorter. As it is now, this pane doesn't fit within my laptop's browser window area without me zooming out. A couple alternatives would be to make all panes "wide" (as in in 16x9 aspect ratio to coincide with most monitors), or to move the Download button nearer to the top.

[luzpaz]

@AceLewis do you mind bringing this list up to date ?

[luzpaz]

@xavier2k6 should we open tickets for remaining tasks in OPs post?

[xavier2k6]

@xavier2k6 should we open tickets for remaining tasks in OPs post?

I don't use the WebUI much....only for testing purposes.

However, we could review/x-ref the tasks here first against latest master to see what may be still applicable.

(No doubt there will be new additions too)

I do know that there's no moving filter in the filter list & I plan to open a PR for that. (just from my own observation...didn't check if it was on list above)

[luzpaz]

I don't use WebUI much either. So maybe we can get some folks that do to help ?

[xavier2k6]

So maybe we can get some folks that do to help ?

Enough on the plate as it stands to get through before biting off anymore......leave it for now.

[thalieht]

I updated the list for 4.6 branch. Not sure if the PR i attached to Content: right click to rename folder is the one that fixed it. I didn't even know that wasn't possible (i never rename anything).

[j-peeters]

I would like to add that a reset button in the filter field would be great to quickly empty it/reset the filter

[drws]

Two more for the list: #20557 and #20603

[Piccirello]

This is a really comprehensive list. What’s exciting is several of these will be fixed soon by existing PRs. But definitely still a lot more work to be done.

Following up on my comment from nearly 6(!!) years ago - the vast majority of this list has been completed. I'm actively working on cookie management and the Add Torrent dialog, while a WebAPI now exists for torrent creation. After those three, the remaining items are incremental improvements. Such great progress from @qbittorrent/web-developers and other contributors during that time.

[skomerko]

I compared GUI with WebUI and there are still some notable features missing that should be added to the list:

1. Availability bar
2. Torrent options dialog
3. Start/pause session
4. Missing tracker filters (Tracker error, Other error, Warning)
5. Edit trackers option in context menu
6. Watched folders dialog
7. Tracker favicons
8. Hide zero and infinity values
9. Resolve peer hostnames
10. Next announce/min announce columns in trackers table (+ endpoints)
11. Change tracker tier in trackers table (arrows on the right)
12. Merge state icon column with name
13. Better speedlimit dialogs
14. Priority "By shown file order" in content table
15. Import/export RSS rules
16. Adjust columns to content
17. Notifications
18. Torrent category properties dialog

Add torent dialog:

1. Display torrent information
2. Add/remove tags dialog
3. Remember last used save path option
4. Set as default category option
5. Use anoter path for incomplete torrent option

Some of the above could also be applied to RSS Downloader.

Others:

1. Some kind of table pagination - really needed for people with huge amount of torrents
2. Better mobile support
3. Importing/exporting settings that are kept in localstorage

[Piccirello]

I compared GUI with WebUI and there are still some notable features missing that should be added to the list:

This is a great list.

Importing/exporting settings that are kept in localstorage

I've wanted this for so long - localstorage is an ugly hack. Perhaps via a separate WebAPI and configuration file? I suspect some of the core devs will have strong opinions on this.

[blixten85]

Better Mobil support is a must and probably the most important one too.

[luzpaz]

@skomerko @Piccirello is anyone interested in updating OP's list with the new updates ?

[Piccirello]

I've updated the OP with the newly listed items and tried to organize it a bit.

[Piccirello]

Better Mobil support is a must and probably the most important one too.

This doesn't appear to be a goal of any of the web devs (myself included). For the best mobile support, I would recommend using a third party WebUI.