Forte New Thread Dialog Status — Step 1: Solution Assessment

Problem

Now that the New Thread dialog runs the full compose JS, every in-flight/error status message (setStatus, e.g. "Preparing signed thread...", identity/signing errors) is silently dropped because the dialog has no [data-role="compose-identity-status"] element for it to render into, unlike every other compose form.

Option A — Add a dedicated status line inside the dialog

Mirror the Forte reply panel, which already has a data-role="compose-identity-status" paragraph inside its compose root.

• Pros: matches the pattern every other compose root already uses successfully; small, additive template change; no JS/selector changes needed.

• Cons: adds one more visible line to a small modal; needs Windows-chrome styling to fit.

Option B — Route dialog status to the board's existing statusbar

Show messages in the .paned-statusbar at the bottom of the window instead of inside the dialog.

• Pros: no new UI surface inside the compact dialog.

• Cons: the status node must be a descendant of the compose root for bindComposePage to find it, so this needs a broader lookup change; feedback (especially errors) appears far from where the user is looking, inside a modal.

Option C — Repurpose the existing (hidden) character-normalization status line

Point the identity-status selector at the already-present [data-role="compose-normalization-status"] node instead of adding a new element.

• Pros: zero new markup.

• Cons: conflates two unrelated feedback channels (character warnings vs. signing/identity progress) that can clobber each other; requires changing which selector bindComposePage treats as the identity-status node.

Recommendation

Option A. Lowest risk, smallest diff, and consistent with the pattern already proven on every other compose form (including Forte's own reply panel).

Refinement (per user direction)

Unlike the reply panel's status line (hidden until the first message), this one should be:

• Always visible, not hidden-by-default.

• Populated with a default "Ready" state before any action, instead of being empty/blank until something happens.