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I was just visiting a certain site where I clicked search and a full page overlay search box came up. I wasn't getting results and didn't feel like hitting backspace a bunch so hit refresh and the page reloaded but without the search overlay activated.

This got me wondering, should things like that remain open when the page is reloaded. Examples of "things like that" in my mind would be:

  • Collapsible panels, should they remain expanded
  • Popover modals, should they remain open
  • Lightboxes, such as ones that pop up to view images

Pretty much should all of these "toggle-able" states be saved so they can be the same on reload, on one hand it is where the user is currently at so it makes sense to bring them back there, but on the other hand it appears to be uncommon and some users may prefer to refresh to kill all unwanted popups/collapses.

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  • Entirely depends on the requirements-use case. In my applications, there are cases where users would like to save 'state' like you say for pop ups, panels etc. For some , thats not required. So as cliche as it sounds, it really depends on what user prefers or what requirements demand.
    – PK2016
    Apr 29, 2016 at 15:11
  • There isn't going to be an answer that applies to all situations. So, you have to specify the context so that the question is answerable.
    – JohnGB
    May 1, 2016 at 15:14

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