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GitHub button not visible on device with small screen #17471
Description
JabRef version
Latest development branch build (please note build date below)
Operating system
GNU / Linux
Details on version and operating system
JabRef 6.0-beta.198--2026-10-13--6d2cdd2 Linux 7.2.10-200.nobara.fc44.x86_64 amd64 Java 25.0.4.1 JavaFX 27+30
Checked with the latest development build (copy version output from About dialog)
- I made a backup of my libraries before testing the latest development version.
- I have tested the latest development version and the problem persists
Steps to reproduce the behaviour
- Have device with small screen
- Open JabRef
- See that the GitHub button is not on the screen.
Task:
Needs discussion where and how we can safe space or what other buttons we want to move into the menu.
Maybe it's time after all for copy, cut, paste to go?
Maybe it's possible to edge out a tiny bit of space left and right of the search bar or in between the other buttons?
Appendix
On device with large screen (1920x1080):
On device with small screen (1366x768):
Activity
Mr-cocofish commentedon Oct 17, 2026
Hi! I’m a student at the Australian National University. Our software engineering course asks us to contribute to a real open-source project and open a pull request, and my teammates and I would love to try working on this issue together.
I noticed the gap in the first red box comes from leftSpacer in MainToolBar.java (lines 162–164, screenshot below): its width is fixed at 50px, so it never shrinks on small screens. Letting it shrink could free up space without removing any buttons, possibly combined with removing cut/copy/paste.
If my understanding of the layout is wrong, please let me know. I’d be happy to take some time to dig into it further and figure out the right approach before making any changes.
Would you be open to this direction, or is there an approach you’d prefer? If it’s okay, could you assign this issue to us? Thank you!
koppor commentedon Oct 17, 2026
@Mr-cocofish Nice that you have interested. Since this is about software engineering AND software engineering includes requirements managemewnt, please take the time and work on this.
I have no clue about the menu thing and the different buttons. The current issue desription is incomplete.
What would be the wish?
Old issues not linked - since years we work on the menu and move buttons.
Action points:
This is more than doable because you are a team - with maybe 50 hours per person summarizing up to 200 hours, which allows much research - also into software usability etc.
You have even time to read through our 2019 user survey and the issues created there: https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2339/paper10.pdf
Mr-cocofish commentedon Oct 17, 2026
Thanks a lot for the guidance! We’re confirming the scope with our tutor and will start right after.
koppor commentedon Oct 17, 2026
@Mr-cocofish Take this as learning journey and opportunity not just as assignment task. You learn for your life here; not just improving a random project out in the net.
ThiloteE commentedon Oct 17, 2026
The space probably go too sparse, when the notification message button (right next to the GitHub button) was introduced.
If it's really a zero-sum game here and one thing has to be removed, maybe a vote (in the forum) about what users want or a behavioral study might be a way forward too. Communication is good here. I know what I want personally (either find some space so that all buttons fit OR to remove the cut, copy and paste buttons), but maybe the average user has a different preference.
Mr-cocofish commentedon Oct 19, 2026
Thank you for your guidance! I will consider your advice when I starts on the project!
Mr-cocofish commentedon Oct 19, 2026
I really appreciate you giving us this opportunity to learn. We’ll take it seriously and treat it as more than just an assignment.
Mr-cocofish commentedon Oct 22, 2026
Hi @ThiloteE and @koppor,
Following up on the idea of a user vote: we have drafted a short anonymous survey (about 2 minutes) to find out how users actually use the toolbar and what they would prefer when not all buttons fit. Would it be okay for us to post it on the JabRef forum (discourse.jabref.org)?
Draft form: (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd2SNGuq1DjSY360BZRnlDvpht-IA9I9yw_EuO0dygA-u8uPg/viewform)
It asks about:
No names, email addresses or other personal information are collected. We would post a summary of the results back here, and we are happy to adjust any questions or wording first.
Thank you!
ThiloteE commentedon Oct 22, 2026
If users have multiple devices, should they fill out the survey multiple times or should they fill out one survey but mention it under "other"?
ThiloteE commentedon Oct 22, 2026
I think the survey looks pretty good :-) Thank you! Yes, you can post it in the forum, after addressing the comments.
"Reduce the empty space between toolbar elements" should probably not be part of the questionnaire, because we don't know at this point in time, if that is something that can be implemented without creating regressions related to the font-size preference.
ThiloteE commentedon Oct 22, 2026
Also, add some more questions to the menu, as there are a lot of other candidate buttons:
"Remove Cut / Copy / Paste from the toolbar (still available via "Edit > ... " and keyboard shortcuts)
"Remove the "Delete entry" button (still available via "Library > Delete entry" and keyboard shortcut)
"Remove the "Clean up entries" button (still available via Quality > Clean up entries" and keyboard shortcut)
"Remove the "GitHub" button (still available via "Help > JabRef Resources > GitHub" and move the Show notifications button into a menu"
"Only remove the "GitHub" button "still available via "Help > JabRef Resources > GitHub")
"Only move the "Show notifications" button into a menu"
Mr-cocofish commentedon Oct 23, 2026
Thanks a lot, that's really helpful! I've updated the survey:
(https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfrDFhX-7w1_9j96RR-dJejTojiXrln10U3ykDD5EafGo3zqg/viewform)
On the multiple devices question, I think it's better if everyone fills it out just once. Otherwise people with several devices would get several votes. So I changed the screen and OS questions to "select all that apply" and added one asking which screen they use most often.
I also removed the "reduce empty space" option and added all the options you listed. Since there are quite a few now, I split the preference part into two questions: which changes people would be okay with, and which one they'd like most. That way we can see both. I also added "Delete entry" to the question about how often each button is used.
If this looks good to you, I'll go ahead and post it on the forum and share the results here once they're in.
ThiloteE commentedon Oct 24, 2026
Alright, looks good enough 👍
By the way, if you say "No names, email addresses or other personal information are collected." then this only applies to your group, but Google might have something different written in their terms of service. I haven't checked. Probably no big deal though. People can read Google's ToS independently.
One more thing: I expect that it will take a while until results are in. Maybe months :D Users in our forum take their time, so let's have patience.
ThiloteE commentedon Oct 24, 2026
On another note: I found a workaround to fit everything on my small laptop screen:
Set the font size to 8!
Mr-cocofish commentedon Oct 25, 2026
Thanks! Good point about Google, I've changed the wording to "We don't ask for your name, email address or other personal information. Google Forms' own privacy policy applies." I'll post it on the forum now.
Nice workaround with font size 8! It also shows how much the font size affects the toolbar width, so we'll include it in our measurements.
About the timeline: our course project is due next week, so unfortunately we can't wait for the survey results before then. Our assignment asks us to open a pull request, so we'd like to open a draft PR with a first proposal based on what we've found so far. That way you can see the direction and give feedback, but there's no rush to review or merge it, since the final decision should of course wait for the survey results.
I'll keep following the survey and continue working on this after my exams, and update the PR once the results are in. Does that sound okay?
Mr-cocofish commentedon Oct 25, 2026
I’ve updated the survey based on your suggestions:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc7pN7oTaYzU7dxfkcHMDVfTIe5nr9PHFArNdpBBHh3uKQjtg/viewform
I tried to share it on the JabRef forum, but ran into a problem. My first post was waiting for approval when I noticed a mistake in it, so I deleted it and pasted the corrected text into a new post. Because I pasted it so quickly, the forum automatically silenced my new account (Mr-cocofish), with the reason “New user typed too fast”, and now I can’t post at all.
Could a forum admin please unsilence my account when you have time? Or, if it’s easier, feel free to share the survey on the forum directly. Sorry for the trouble, and thanks!
koppor commentedon Oct 25, 2026
I checked https://discourse.jabref.org/u?order=days_visited&period=monthly and could not find you at our Discourse (!) forum.
Maybe, you mix up GitHub and Discourse. They are two different platforms.