Re-evaluate and Redesign Meshery Design Visibility

[zihanKuang]

Description:

The current system for managing design visibility (Private, Public, Published to Catalog) and the associated publishing workflow presents several usability and coherence challenges for users. This impacts the user's ability to intuitively manage, share, and update their designs, particularly when interacting with the Meshery Catalog.

Current Key Issues Identified:

• Incoherent Lifecycle: The transition of a design to "Published" can feel like a disconnect from the original work (e.g., "disappearance" from "My Designs," unclear ownership/access post-publish).
• Cumbersome Updates & Withdrawal: Updating or withdrawing a "Published" design often involves harsh processes like mandatory cloning and recreating, rather than smooth iteration or reversible actions.
• Complexity of 3rd State: The "Published" state, with its distinct rules and lifecycle, adds a layer of complexity that can be confusing.

Goal:
Refine the design visibility model and publishing workflow to be more intuitive, coherent, and user-friendly, ensuring users have clear control and understanding throughout a design's lifecycle.

Potential Solution Paths Discussed:

1. Streamline Existing 3-State Model:

   • Retain Private, Public, and "Published to Catalog" states.
   • Focus: Fix broken workflows: secure the review process, rationalize update/withdrawal procedures for published items, and ensure clear owner access/management of published contributions.
   • Aim: Achieve a coherent 3-state progression with a trustworthy path to a stable, official Catalog.

2. Simplify to a 2-State Model:

   • Eliminate the "Published to Catalog" state entirely, leaving only Private and Public.
   • Focus: Achieve maximum simplicity in visibility management.
   • Requires: Implementing robust new community-driven discovery and curation tools for "Public" designs (e.g., tagging, ratings, featuring, versioning) to surface quality content.