Deep link date in room

[MadLittleMods]

Your use case

What would you like to do?

Originally proposed by @pdurbin in #7677,

Add a way to navigate by URL to a point in time (date/time) of the room.

Examples from other platforms:

• https://gitter.im/gitter/gitter/archives/2018/11/09
• https://mozilla.logbot.info/firefox/20181109

Jump to date exists in Element under a feature flag but that requires first loading the room, then manually using the date picker to get to where you want. It's much more convenient to be able to link directly to that point in the room. You can already link people to a given event in the room, ex. https://app.element.io/#/room/#matrix-public-archive:matrix.org/$iVgFrFNtRWAoCALNo1-uLATWSirw27S1XunPUgPoCFM

And this issue is proposing to also be able to link to a point in the room but by date and time. ex.

• https://app.element.io/#/room/#matrix-public-archive:matrix.org/2023-03-24
• https://app.element.io/#/room/#matrix-public-archive:matrix.org/2023-03-24T06:20:30
• These examples are just using the new Date().toISOString() format without the timezone.

Why would you like to do it?

For my own specific use case, I'd like to use it for Gitter in order to setup redirects from the old Gitter URL scheme to the new world at app.gitter.im (Gitter branded Element), see https://gitlab.com/gitterHQ/gitter.im/-/issues/9

How would you like to achieve it?

The jump can be facilitated with MSC3030's /timestamp_to_event (also known as jump to date) API.

Should the dates be in UTC or the users local timezome? It kinda makes most sense to keep them in UTC so anyone visiting the same link will end up in the same place.

Have you considered any alternatives?

No response

Additional context

No response

[pdurbin]

@MadLittleMods thanks for opening this issue! 🎉 🚀 ❤️

I'm especially interested in making Matrix friendly to open source projects who want to discuss their projects in the open, allowing people who don't have Matrix accounts to view the decision making, etc.

Notes on improving Element onboarding

The #matrix-spec link you mentioned ( https://app.element.io/#/room/#matrix-spec:matrix.org/$DdmM10clLdpwEUlZKvR1_eICIFZn4G4jdocorPOXCzM ) doesn't show the message to someone who isn't on Matrix:

However, here's a nice example from #matrix-public-archive (where you and I hang out) that does: https://app.element.io/#/room/#matrix-public-archive:matrix.org/$HfJZVb15vGDEEkhwApLYeydnP1b4Wbehx4ZwJpS3fmA

I had to construct that second link manually but I'm so happy it works! 🎉

What if the "share" feature allowed us to get at the app.element.io link rather that just the matrix.to link, which is problematic for people who aren't on Matrix. Please allow me to illustrate.

If I use the "share" feature within Element to get the link...

... and give it to someone who isn't on Matrix, they don't see the message:

At best, they click "Continue" and see this:

Maybe they click the default, Element and see this:

And hopefully they power through to continue with Element in their browser to finally see the message:

[t3chguy]

The #matrix-spec link you mentioned ( app.element.io/#/room/#matrix-spec:matrix.org/$DdmM10clLdpwEUlZKvR1_eICIFZn4G4jdocorPOXCzM ) doesn't show the message to someone who isn't on Matrix:

That's up to the room adminship:

Its set to Members only so it isn't shown to non-members.

What if the "share" feature allowed us to get at the app.element.io link rather that just the matrix.to link, which is problematic for people who aren't on Matrix. Please allow me to illustrate.

It can do, it depends on permalinkPrefix in the config.json of the deployment, app.element.io won't be re-configured as such though so I suggest hosting your own deployment. Keep in mind you'd actually end up adding difficulty for users on non-web platforms, e.g. Desktop or Mobile or non-Element users.

[MadLittleMods]

@pdurbin Updating the onboarding flows into Matrix is probably best discussed in another issue like element-hq/element-meta#534

Feel free to create an Element Web issue for having both a "Copy matrix.to permalink" and "Copy permalink" option. For example, we will have that in the Matrix Public Archive because sometimes you want to link to the archive and sometimes you want the matrix.to permalink for that position. This could also makes sense for Element.

Overall, I think being able to configure a trusted web instance would help the onboarding friction with matrix.to.

There is still a separate problem of "I just want to see the content" that matrix.to doesn't solve whereas a link to Element can show content even if Element is a bit slow to load. But this is where I think adapting some flows once Matrix Public Archive comes to fruition will help a lot.

[pdurbin]

@MadLittleMods subscribed!! Thank you!! ❤️