Happy to hear that you’ve been enjoying TeamSpeak so far! Thanks for all the feedback.
- The server and contacts bar to the left.
Renaming Bookmarks within the sidebar to Servers was something we considered during the redesign, but didn’t move forward with at the time. I think it’s a good idea and worth revisiting internally. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the “Add Bookmark”, “Add to Bookmarks”, and “Edit Bookmarks” buttons would probably have to stay as they are to avoid confusion between adding or editing a bookmark versus an actual TeamSpeak Server.
A potential issue with the renaming is that a TeamSpeak Server is an instance, while a bookmark is just a shortcut to connect to it. This could lead new users to think they’re deleting an actual server instead of just a bookmark. Yes, there is a warning that clarifies this before deletion, and while that helps reduce confusion, it doesn’t completely remove the conceptual mismatch between a Server and a Bookmark. This change would also affect all available (and future) languages. The terms “Server” and “Bookmark” differ a lot across languages, and that could lead to unclear translations or confusion.
Highlighting the currently focused Server is also something we discussed during the redesign. I think it’s a good change, but I believe it should only appear while that Server is in focus. The reason is that users can be connected to multiple servers at once or not viewing any server directly, for example, when they’re looking at the dashboard, private chats, or the settings.
- The disconnect button.
This would be a simple change, though one potential issue that I can see is that when connected to multiple servers, both the microphones and the close/exit buttons would share the same red tone despite being entirely different actions. Making it red only on hover could be a good middle ground.
- Chats.
What you’re describing here is the “Activity Area”. You can think of it like browser tabs. Whether you’re connected to a server, receive a message, get poked, open a chat, etc., everything shows up there for easy access and an overview of your activities in the client. You can also pin Contacts or Chats by double-clicking them.
You can also enable/disable the Chat History by going to Settings > Chats > and then under Options > Use Chat History, which allows you to view your chat history in a separate tab.
To avoid confusion between categories (In the Activity Area), please make sure that “Display Activity Categories” is enabled under “Developer Tools”:
- Mute buttons.
This has been a tough challenge, especially during the redesign.
The TeamSpeak Client allows for multiple “Statuses/Actions”. (Just naming it this way for the explanation below)
- Chat Status: Online, Away, DnD, and Invisible.
- Server Actions/Status: AFK, Mute Mic, and Mute Sound.
It’s important to note that Chat Status and Server Actions do not communicate with each other, as they are separate systems. For example, setting your Chat Status to Away while connected to a server doesn’t change anything on the server side, and going AFK on a Server doesn’t change your Chat Status.
With that in mind, moving the “Server Actions/Buttons” to the bottom bar of the Server would mean that when the Server isn’t in focus, those buttons wouldn’t be visible for quick actions (unless you have hotkeys). That would make it impossible to go AFK, mute mic, or mute your sound unless you’re viewing the server directly. The advantage of having these buttons above and outside the Server area is that they are always accessible, no matter where you are in the client. The downside, like you mentioned, is that they appear to be floating and not grouped with anything else up there.
Moving them to the sidebar would make it feel even more disconnected, especially when not connected to a server. The most logical place, if we absolutely had to move them to the sidebar, would probably be above or within the Chat Status area in the bottom left. However, that would create a visual and functional clash between two systems that don’t interact with one another. We tried several positions for these buttons during the redesign process, but none felt logical, visually fitting, or practical before the release.
As for the Create Channel button, I somewhat disagree, though it really depends on how you use TeamSpeak. Users who don’t own a server and frequently join public servers often need that button since their temporary channels are deleted when they leave or switch channels. These kinds of servers see the most activity (and are very popular for newcomers), and hiding that button in another submenu would make things unnecessarily difficult for a lot of users, especially new ones. I agree that server admins who rarely change their server tree probably don’t need it there after set up, but removing or hiding it by default isn’t a good Idea in my opinion.
