Feature request: unify Search and New

Thank you for such a magnificent plugin. I hope it becomes part of WP core someday.

Meanwhile, I notice the latest update made the “no hits” state of a search more explicit, thank you.

I think you could go one step further, and get rid of the distinction between “search” and “add new” when making new connections. This would make it both easier to add new items and encourage users to check for duplicates before they do so.

Right now the workflow to avoid dups is:

1. type value into search
2. if a hit is found, use it (done)
3. if a hit is not found, copy this value
4. switch to add new tab
5. paste the value
6. lick on the “new” button (done)

I recommend you revise the interface to include only an “add new” option (saves real estate too, since you then can eliminate the tabs altogether). When a user enters a value in this field you treat it as you do the current search option, with one important difference: you always include the “new” button below the hits.

This way the workflow above would reduce to simply:

1. type value into search
2. if a hit is found, use it, otherwise click the “new” button

Two steps, and no chance to introduce a duplicate without being aware of it.

Thanks for considering this!
…Eric

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/posts-to-posts/