Best way to design save action redirection in an admin system

Question

In a content management system users are entering different types of content such as products, pages, events etc. with each individual item having a form for creating and editing said content. In the case of simple content this may be just one page, but often there are stages to content creation broken over 2..n pages.

The process of content creation often ends with a single save button, which updates the content and redirects to an admin page, with a flash message to advise the user their action was completed successfully (we are not concerned with fails in this discussion).

The user experience can be improved by providing the user with a choice as to where the redirect points, for example, back to a list of items, remaining on the same page or loading a new blank form to add another item. This helps users to quickly move around their CMS without having arbitrary clicks added into their work flow (for example if they were always redirected to the list), particularly when we consider that the mouse could be removed from the equation all together if the solution to this problem is well thought out.

Providing multiple save buttons, 'save and make another', 'save and back to list' etc. would seem like one decent solution, though this can get fairly complicated when we consider that an edit operation may only be performed on one step of a create sequence, so on create the buttons may be different.

Does this have the makings of a good, usable solution or are there better ways of providing more complex save redirect options?

Answer 1

It's more convient to return after task completion to the previous step. It creates consistency.

In your case the flow is (P – page, A – action):

1. (P) List of items --> (A) Add item
2. (P) Item creation --> (A) Save
3. (P) List of items

A single mouse click for creation a new item is quick and simple action. Also user could take a little rest between items creation. Typing is rather boring task.

For more quick next item creation you could use your feedback flashing block:

If your really need fast input of a big amount of items you could re-think the process to do it automatically via loading and parsing from your source file.

Answer 2

When create an item successfully, assume the following actions the user may take:

1. go back to editing page/specific item display page
2. create another item
3. go back the parent layer, such as an item list

The solution above can meet all three actions.

If you add an explore tree on the left, it will be even easier to navigate.

Answer 3

I agree with @AlexeyKolchenko's idea of adding the new item creation link in the feedback block. Also, I would consider the idea of inline editing as an option. This design pattern is gaining in popularity and this would make the process of content creation seems faster. The number one advantage to using this pattern is eliminating the need for an edit page.

Reference

Take a look at this site which explains the pattern in detail.