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UX in External Storage configuration – automatically trigger connection test after saving #52985

@PreussischBlau

Description

@PreussischBlau

Description:

When configuring or editing an external storage (e.g., SMB), users currently encounter confusing behavior related to the connection status check. After saving the configuration, a red exclamation mark appears, but users must manually take further action to trigger a connection test and potentially see a green checkmark indicating success.

Reproducible behavior:

  1. A user edits (for example, re-enters the password) or creates an external storage entry.
  2. The status icon disappears at first.
  3. Clicks the ✅ button to save.
  4. Shortly after, a red exclamation mark appears (connection error).
  5. Only after either:
    • manually clicking the red exclamation icon, or
    • reloading the page (F5 / Ctrl+R),
      is the connection re-tested and a green checkmark shown if successful.

Suggested improvement:

After saving (clicking the ✅), Nextcloud should automatically trigger the connection test, just as it currently does after a page reload or when clicking the red exclamation icon manually. This would:

  • greatly improve user experience,
  • reduce support overhead (many users don’t understand the red icon’s meaning or that a reload helps),
  • make the configuration process more intuitive and consistent.

Additional notes:

  • The manual extra step is particularly problematic in enterprise environments, where users may not be technically familiar with the status icons or know that reloading the page helps.
  • This behavior is likely handled in the files_external app frontend logic and could be improved by programmatically triggering the existing test function after a successful save.

System info:

  • Nextcloud version: 31.0.2
  • Reproducible: ✅ Yes, every time when editing external storage entries

Thanks for the great work on this project!

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