Description: The "Compare Document…" menu action is not clear, I always wonder which "direction" the comparison is done, i.e. whether I need to open the latest or the older version first. Steps to Reproduce: 1. Open the Review menu (or whatever menu contains the "Compare Document…" action) Actual Results: As a user, I can never remember, and thus always wonder, whether I need to open the "new document" first and ask to compare to the "old document", or the other way around. Expected Results: The label should make this clear, instead of making me go through trial-and-error. Reproducible: Always User Profile Reset: No Additional Info: I would suggest labelling it: "Compare Document with a Previous Version…" (if that's indeed what it does) That way, there would be no confusion, it would be clear that I need to first open the newest version and then ask to compare to the older version.
I agree this is confusing and is an issue that needs resolving. (In reply to Jeff Fortin Tam from comment #0) > "Compare Document with a Previous Version…" > (if that's indeed what it does) I feel like using terms that relate to recency or relative age is not the right solution. A user might be comparing their version of a document with another person's version, with diverging histories but no clear "before" and "after". The help[1] does use "newer" vs "older": > You should always start with opening the newer document and compare it with the > older document. Maybe using a term like "reference" or "base" would be better? But really, I feel like this feature should have an intermediate step that lets the user choose which document is the base and which one is compared to the base, because the current UX is very, very poor: 1. open base document 2. compare 3. see that direction is wrong 4. close document 5. open modified document 6. compare, now in the right direction UX/Design team, opinions? Band-aid relabel, or more involved (but possibly a interesting easyHack) intermediate step? [1]: https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/shared/guide/redlining_doccompare.html
The suggested label could improve the understanding (and is easy to realize). Don't think it makes the processing perfectly clear, though. The label is defined as ContextLabel of .uno:CompareDocuments in officecfg/registry/data/org/openoffice/Office/UI/GenericCommands.xcu Considering the directional choice I wonder if Target <-> Source is really a help. First of all, what does T -> S mean; does it change the source or will changes from the source will be reversely applied to the target (whatever that means)? If the current document (target) contains "He heard quiet steps..." and the source "She heard quiet steps..." it becomes "He -She-...", which seems pretty clear. Same for deletions and additions. Plus, you get a list of changes in the TC manager dialog or the sidebar. The only way to make it more clear is to show the two documents next to each other.
Not just about comparing side-by-side, but also the "Accept/reject changes" dialog (i.e. the one used for tracked changes) depends on this directional aspect, so it's not just a visual issue in the document canvas. Indeed a comparison setup GUI like Meld's where you can tell the software "what is what" would be the ultimate solution, but my suggestion here in the meantime was just to start by clarifying the label as a stopgap solution, because it would presumably be trivial to do (other than the fact that you have to replicate that change across all the menus and UI variants).