Create Stronger Affordances for Forked Repos

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Problem to solve

Currently, the differences between a forked repo and the original repo are too subtle. This could lead to some confusion for the final user, especially if they are performing isolated work on the fork and other collaborative work on the original.

We should improve the affordances of forked repos, so it's more clear to the user they are currently on the fork and not the original.

Intended users

• Parker (Product Manager)
• Delaney (Development Team Lead)
• Sasha (Software Developer)
• Presley (Product Designer)
• Devon (DevOps Engineer)
• Sidney (Systems Administrator)
• Sam (Security Analyst)
• Dana (Data Analyst)

Personas are described at https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/product-marketing/roles-personas/

Further details

Proposal

Increase the visibility of "forked from" or "fork" status of the repo, by adding stronger affordances. Some ideas:

• Include the namespace in the title of the repo
• Add some visual affordance that indicates this is a fork in the sidebar heading and the title of the main container.
• Move the "Forked from: line closer to the title. Also, show it on the sidebar heading.
• When merging or committing, also add some helper label or visual affordance in that view to indicate if the MR is going from a forked repo branch to another forked repo branch, or from a forked repo branch to an original repo branch.

Permissions and Security

Documentation

Testing

What does success look like, and how can we measure that?

What is the type of buyer?

Links / references