Replace breadcrumbs with back links; keep the zone header on tab switches

The zone page's breadcrumb (Zones › view) linked the view to a filtered
zone list while the view link below it opened the view. It is now a
single "← Zones" link back to the list with its filters, and a changeset
has "← History". View links carry where they came from, so the views page
offers "← example.org (external)" or "← Zones" (only the UI's own #/
addresses are accepted).

Switching a zone's tabs no longer blanks the page: the header and tabs
show at once and the previous tab stays, faded, until the next has
loaded. The router shows "Loading…" only for pages that take a while.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -19,10 +19,11 @@ All notable changes to Jarl are documented here. The format follows
   list show its name in that colour. The colours are muted, and pastel in
   dark mode. The default is the link colour. A colour isn't configuration,
   so setting one needs no changeset or deploy.
-- Breadcrumbs on the zone page (Zones › view) and the changeset page
+- A "← Zones" link above a zone, back to the zone list, and "← History"
-  (History). The zone list keeps its filter, view and type in the address,
+  above a changeset. The zone list keeps its filter, view and type in the
-  so going back to it, by breadcrumb or the browser's back button, restores
+  address, so going back to it (with that link or the browser's back
-  them.
+  button) restores them. A view opened from a zone or the zone list has a
+  "← example.com (external)" or "← Zones" link back.
 
 ### Changed
 
@@ -33,10 +34,12 @@ All notable changes to Jarl are documented here. The format follows
   release still showed the release's version. `jarld version`,
   `jarl --version`, `GET /status` and `/auth/whoami` report the same, the
   latter two as `build` (docs/development.md).
-
 - The view in the zone list, and on the zone page, links to that view,
   and the views page highlights it. It used to be plain text, and the zone
   page linked to the views page as a whole.
+- Switching a zone's tabs (Records, Settings, …) no longer blanks the page
+  while the tab loads: the page changes once the tab is ready, and
+  "Loading…" appears only if a page takes a while.
 
 ### Fixed
 

internal/web/static/assets/app.js

@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ const navItems = [
 ];
 
 const app = document.getElementById("app");
-let mainEl, navEl, barEl, current = { key: "" };
+let mainEl, navEl, barEl, current = { key: "" }, routeGen = 0;
 
 function parseHash() {
   const raw = location.hash.replace(/^#\/?/, "");
@@ -162,11 +162,19 @@ async function route() {
     current = { key: path, nav: r.nav, page: r.page, params, query };
     if (!r.params && r.nav) lastList[r.nav] = location.hash;
     renderNav();
-    mount(mainEl, h("div", { class: "muted" }, "Loading…"));
+    // Keep the old page until the new one is drawn (switching a zone's
+    // tabs shouldn't blank the page); say "Loading…" only when it's slow.
+    // (Only while the new page has drawn nothing yet: pages that draw
+    // their frame first fill it in afterwards.)
+    const gen = ++routeGen;
+    const old = mainEl.firstChild;
+    const slow = setTimeout(() => { if (gen === routeGen && mainEl.firstChild === old) mount(mainEl, h("div", { class: "muted" }, "Loading…")); }, 300);
     try {
       await r.page.render(mainEl, params, query);
     } catch (e) {
-      mount(mainEl, h("h1", null, "Something went wrong"), errorBox(e));
+      if (gen === routeGen) mount(mainEl, h("h1", null, "Something went wrong"), errorBox(e));
+    } finally {
+      clearTimeout(slow);
     }
     return;
   }

internal/web/static/assets/pages/history.js

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { h, mount, table, toast, confirmDialog, diffView, time, fmtTime, badge, plural, crumbs, lastList } from "../ui.js";
+import { h, mount, table, toast, confirmDialog, diffView, time, fmtTime, badge, plural, backLink, lastList } from "../ui.js";
 import { api, get, useDraft } from "../api.js";
 
 export async function render(el, params) {
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ async function detail(el, id) {
   mount(el,
     h("div", { class: "page-head" },
       h("div", { class: "grow" },
-        crumbs(["History", lastList.history || "#/history"]),
+        backLink("History", lastList.history || "#/history"),
         h("h1", null, "Changeset #" + c.id),
         h("div", { class: "muted" }, c.description || "(no description)")),
       h("div", { class: "actions" },

internal/web/static/assets/pages/views.js

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { h, mount, table, field, input, select, textarea, toast, errorBox, confirmDialog, modal, lines, checkbox, colorPicker } from "../ui.js";
+import { h, mount, table, field, input, select, textarea, toast, errorBox, confirmDialog, modal, lines, checkbox, colorPicker, backLink, safeBack, viewHref } from "../ui.js";
 import { amlContext, suggestions } from "../aml.js";
 import { api, get, change, describeResult } from "../api.js";
 import { rerender } from "../app.js";
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ export async function render(el, params, query) {
   const viewless = zones.filter((z) => !z.view_id);
   const optsEl = h("div");
   const selected = query.get("view") ? views.find((v) => String(v.id) === query.get("view")) : null;
+  // Opened from a view link on a zone or the zone list: offer the way back
+  // (kept while picking other views here).
+  const back = safeBack(query.get("back"));
   const move = async (i, d) => {
     const ids = views.map((v) => v.id);
     [ids[i], ids[i + d]] = [ids[i + d], ids[i]];
@@ -20,14 +23,14 @@ export async function render(el, params, query) {
   };
   mount(el,
     h("div", { class: "page-head" },
-      h("div", { class: "grow" }, h("h1", null, "Views"),
+      h("div", { class: "grow" }, back ? backLink(backLabel(back, zones), back) : null, h("h1", null, "Views"),
         h("div", { class: "muted" }, "A client sees the first view it matches (by source address, destination address or TSIG key). Order matters.")),
       h("div", { class: "actions" }, h("button", { class: "primary", onclick: () => viewDialog(null, viewless) }, "New view"))),
     views.length === 0 ? h("div", { class: "msg info" },
       "No views: every client sees the same zones. Views let you serve different answers to different clients, for example an internal view with private records and recursion for your LAN, and an external view with only public records.") : null,
     h("div", { class: "panel" }, table([
       { label: "#", render: (v, i) => String(i + 1) },
-      { label: "View", render: (v) => h("a", { href: "#/views?view=" + v.id, class: v.color ? "vc-" + v.color : null }, h("strong", null, v.name)) },
+      { label: "View", render: (v) => h("a", { href: viewHref(v.id, back), class: v.color ? "vc-" + v.color : null }, h("strong", null, v.name)) },
       { label: "Match clients", render: (v) => (v.match_clients || []).join("; ") || h("span", { class: "muted" }, "any"), tdClass: "data" },
       { label: "Match destinations", render: (v) => (v.match_destinations || []).join("; ") || h("span", { class: "muted" }, "any"), tdClass: "data" },
       { label: "Zones", render: (v) => h("a", { href: "#/zones?view=" + encodeURIComponent(v.name) }, String(v.zone_count)) },
@@ -47,6 +50,16 @@ export async function render(el, params, query) {
   }
 }
 
+// backLabel names the page a back address leads to.
+function backLabel(back, zones) {
+  const m = back.match(/^#\/zones\/(\d+)/);
+  if (m) {
+    const z = zones.find((z) => String(z.id) === m[1]);
+    return z ? z.display_name + (z.view ? " (" + z.view + ")" : "") : "Zone";
+  }
+  return /^#\/zones(\?|$)/.test(back) ? "Zones" : "Back";
+}
+
 async function viewDialog(v, viewless) {
   const err = h("div");
   const ctx = await amlContext();

internal/web/static/assets/pages/zone.js

@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
-import { h, mount, table, field, input, select, textarea, toast, errorBox, display, badge, confirmDialog, modal, checkbox, time, diffView, crumbs, viewLink, lastList } from "../ui.js";
+import { h, mount, table, field, input, select, textarea, toast, errorBox, display, badge, confirmDialog, modal, checkbox, time, diffView, backLink, viewLink, lastList } from "../ui.js";
 import { api, get, change, describeResult, rrtypes, state, draftQuery } from "../api.js";
 import { rerender } from "../app.js";
 import { optionsEditor } from "./options.js";
 import { emailOf, pendingBadge } from "./zones.js";
 import { isReverseZone, reverseInfo, ptrOwner, addressOf } from "../names.js";
 
+let renderSeq = 0;
+
 export async function render(el, params, query) {
   const id = params.id;
   const [zone, views] = await Promise.all([get("/zones/" + id, draftQuery()), get("/views")]);
@@ -18,27 +20,39 @@ export async function render(el, params, query) {
     ["primary", "secondary", "mirror"].includes(zone.type) ? ["servers", "Name servers"] : null,
   ].filter(Boolean);
   const body = h("div");
-  mount(el,
+  const head = h("div", { class: "page-head" },
-    h("div", { class: "page-head" },
       h("div", { class: "grow" },
-        crumbs(["Zones", lastList.zones || "#/zones"],
+        backLink("Zones", lastList.zones || "#/zones"),
-          ...(zone.view ? [[h("span", { class: view && view.color ? "vc-" + view.color : null }, zone.view), "#/zones?view=" + encodeURIComponent(zone.view)]] : [])),
         h("h1", { class: "mono" }, zone.display_name),
         h("div", { class: "muted" },
           badge(zone.type, "accent"), " ",
           zone.pending ? [pendingBadge(zone.pending), " "] : null,
-          zone.view ? ["view ", viewLink(view, zone.view), " · "] : null,
+          zone.view ? ["view ", viewLink(view, zone.view, "#/zones/" + id + (params.tab ? "/" + params.tab : "")), " · "] : null,
           zone.type === "primary" ? "serial " + zone.soa.serial + " · " : null,
           zone.zone_file ? h("span", { class: "mono small" }, zone.zone_file) : null)),
       h("div", { class: "actions" },
-        h("button", { class: "danger", onclick: () => deleteZone(zone) }, "Delete zone"))),
+        h("button", { class: "danger", onclick: () => deleteZone(zone) }, "Delete zone")));
-    h("div", { class: "tabs" }, tabs.map(([k, label]) => h("a", { href: "#/zones/" + id + "/" + k, class: k === tab ? "active" : "" }, label))),
+  const tabBar = h("div", { class: "tabs" }, tabs.map(([k, label]) => h("a", { href: "#/zones/" + id + "/" + k, class: k === tab ? "active" : "" }, label)));
-    body);
+  // The header and tabs show at once. Below them, switching tabs keeps the
+  // previous tab's content (faded) until the new one is loaded, rather
+  // than blanking the page; opening the zone shows "Loading…" there.
+  const seq = ++renderSeq;
+  const prev = el.querySelector(`:scope > .zone-body[data-zone="${id}"]`);
+  const holder = prev || h("div", { class: "zone-body" }, h("div", { class: "muted" }, "Loading…"));
+  holder.classList.add("stale");
+  body.className = "zone-body";
+  body.dataset.zone = id;
+  mount(el, head, tabBar, holder);
   if (tab === "records") await recordsTab(body, zone, query);
   else if (tab === "settings") await settingsTab(body, zone);
   else if (tab === "options") await optionsEditor(body, { scope: "zone", scope_id: zone.id, catalogScope: "zone:" + zone.type, title: "Zone options" });
   else if (tab === "file") await fileTab(body, zone);
   else if (tab === "servers") await serversTab(body, zone);
+  // A later click (another tab) has taken over the page.
+  if (seq !== renderSeq || !holder.isConnected) return;
+  holder.replaceWith(body);
+  const first = body.querySelector("[data-autofocus]");
+  if (first) first.focus();
 }
 
 // ---- name servers: serials on the other servers, and the delegation
@@ -162,7 +176,7 @@ async function recordsTab(el, zone, query) {
   const reverse = isReverseZone(zone.name);
   const rinfo = reverse ? reverseInfo(zone.name) : null;
   // Add form. In reverse zones records are named by address.
-  const fName = input({ placeholder: reverse && rinfo ? rinfo.example : "@ or www", style: { width: reverse ? "220px" : "180px" }, class: "mono", autocomplete: "off", spellcheck: "false" });
+  const fName = input({ placeholder: reverse && rinfo ? rinfo.example : "@ or www", style: { width: reverse ? "220px" : "180px" }, class: "mono", autocomplete: "off", spellcheck: "false", "data-autofocus": true });
   const fType = select(types.map((t) => [t.type, t.type + (t.common ? "" : "")]), reverse ? "PTR" : "A", { style: { width: "110px" } });
   const fTTL = input({ type: "number", placeholder: "default", min: 0, style: { width: "100px" } });
   const fData = input({ class: "mono", placeholder: typeInfo.A.example });
@@ -384,7 +398,6 @@ async function recordsTab(el, zone, query) {
           (reverse ? "Names are the last part of the address within " + zone.display_name + "." : "Names are relative to " + zone.display_name + "; end a name with '.' to make it absolute."))),
       list));
   draw();
-  fName.focus();
 }
 
 // ---- settings

internal/web/static/assets/pages/zones.js

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export async function render(el, params, query) {
     const rows = zones.filter((z) => (!q || z.name.includes(q)) && (!viewSel.value || z.view === viewSel.value) && (!typeSel.value || z.type === typeSel.value));
     mount(list, table([
       { label: "Zone", render: (z) => [z.pending === "delete" ? h("span", null, z.display_name) : h("a", { href: "#/zones/" + z.id }, z.display_name), z.pending ? [" ", pendingBadge(z.pending)] : null], tdClass: "name" },
-      views.length ? { label: "View", render: (z) => viewLink(viewsById.get(z.view_id), z.view) } : null,
+      views.length ? { label: "View", render: (z) => viewLink(viewsById.get(z.view_id), z.view, hash) } : null,
       { label: "Type", render: (z) => badge(z.type, z.type === "primary" ? "accent" : "") },
       { label: "Records", render: (z) => z.type === "primary" ? String(z.record_count) : "", class: "right", tdClass: "right" },
       { label: "Serial", render: (z) => z.type === "primary" ? String(z.soa.serial) : "", tdClass: "mono" },

internal/web/static/assets/style.css

@@ -388,9 +388,11 @@ button.chip:hover { background: var(--accent-soft); border-color: var(--accent);
   header.top .brand:hover .logo { transform: none; }
 }
 
-/* breadcrumbs above detail pages */
+/* a zone tab's previous content while the next tab loads */
-.crumbs { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 6px; align-items: baseline; font-size: 13px; color: var(--muted); margin-bottom: 2px; }
+.zone-body.stale { opacity: 0.5; transition: opacity 0.15s 0.1s; pointer-events: none; }
-.crumbs .sep { opacity: 0.6; }
+
+/* the "← Zones" link above a page's heading */
+.back-link { font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 2px; }
 
 /* view colours (the default is the link colour) */
 .vc-green { color: var(--vc-green); } .vc-teal { color: var(--vc-teal); } .vc-purple { color: var(--vc-purple); }

internal/web/static/assets/ui.js

@@ -252,15 +252,16 @@ export function debounce(fn, ms = 250) {
 // back to it restores them. The router and list pages fill it in.
 export const lastList = {};
 
-// crumbs is a breadcrumb trail above a detail page's heading: the pages
+// backLink is the "← Zones" link above a page's heading, back to the
-// it belongs to, as [label, href] pairs (the heading names the page).
+// page it was opened from.
-export function crumbs(...items) {
+export function backLink(label, href) {
-  const out = [];
+  return h("nav", { class: "back-link", "aria-label": "Back" }, h("a", { href }, "← ", label));
-  items.forEach(([label, href], i) => {
+}
-    if (i > 0) out.push(h("span", { class: "sep", "aria-hidden": "true" }, "›"));
+
-    out.push(h("a", { href }, label));
+// safeBack returns a "back" address taken from the URL if it is one of
-  });
+// the UI's own (#/...), else null: it ends up in an href.
-  return h("nav", { class: "crumbs", "aria-label": "Breadcrumb" }, out);
+export function safeBack(v) {
+  return v && /^#\/[A-Za-z0-9\/?=&%._~+-]*$/.test(v) ? v : null;
 }
 
 // The colours a view can be shown in (besides the default, the link
@@ -268,10 +269,16 @@ export function crumbs(...items) {
 export const viewColors = ["green", "teal", "purple", "pink", "orange", "yellow", "red", "grey"];
 
 // viewLink links to a view's page, in the view's colour. v is a view
-// from /views; name is shown when the view is unknown.
+// from /views; name is shown when the view is unknown. back is the
-export function viewLink(v, name) {
+// address the views page offers to go back to (the current page).
+export function viewLink(v, name, back) {
   if (!v) return name ? h("span", null, name) : h("span", { class: "muted" }, "–");
-  return h("a", { href: "#/views?view=" + v.id, class: v.color ? "vc-" + v.color : null, title: "View " + v.name }, v.name);
+  return h("a", { href: viewHref(v.id, back), class: v.color ? "vc-" + v.color : null, title: "View " + v.name }, v.name);
+}
+
+// viewHref is the address of a view on the views page.
+export function viewHref(id, back) {
+  return "#/views?view=" + id + (back ? "&back=" + encodeURIComponent(back) : "");
 }
 
 // colorPicker picks a view colour; its value is "" for the default.