Make an easier way to add a friend in Lichess

All this is true , but there still should be an easier way. Like, a ' add friend ' bar at the top.

@tapmop said in #11:
> All this is true , but there still should be an easier way. Like, a ' add friend ' bar at the top.
lol wdym easier you just have to search the name then click and hit follow 3 actions is not hard

I came to this thread because I can't work out how to add a friend in lichess.

To those people responding "just click 'follow', you are so stupid lol", you are telling us how to FOLLOW a user, not how to add them as a friend. I know how to follow users in lichess.

If in lichess I go to my friends list, it is empty. There is a subheading "Following" where I can see who I am following.

The concept of a friend is different to that of following a player.

I still don't know how to add a friend in lichess!

Pretty sure a friend is when the person follows you back as well, @redpola

@redpola
In Lichess, there is no difference between following someone and be friend with him/her.

Your "friends" list on the top of your profile page shows all the players you follow.

@Emmet_Schuler said in #14:
> Pretty sure a friend is when the person follows you back as well
No need for that. As soon as you follow someone, this person is added to your "friends" list.

@Emmet_Schuler said in #14:
> Pretty sure a friend is when the person follows you back as well, @redpola

Thanks! I can't find that information anywhere.

Incredibly I am having difficulty getting this to work just to test it because of deficiencies in the UI. It seems like it is not possible to trivially

Search for a username
Follow that user

in the mobile app, for some reason.

In general it seems like the notion of a friend versus a follow is confused/confusing within the lichess ecosystem.

- Why have a "followed" subgroup in the friends list at all if I can not follow without implying friendship?

- Why is it not explained anywhere (i.e. I am reading it on a support forum) that mutual followers become friends?

I'd like lichess to be intuitive and easy to use so I can invite my girlfriend over here from chess.com but if I can't work out simple stuff like this, I already know she will not have the patience for it.

@Curieuil said in #15:
> @redpola
> In Lichess, there is no difference between following someone and be friend with him/her.
>
> Your "friends" list on the top of your profile page shows all the players you follow.

Thanks!

Then that needs explicitly stating in the UI. And the "following" subgroup needs removing from my friends list.

Whilst searching for how to add a friend in lichess I discovered that there are many more people with the same question, presumably because they are similarly confused by the app/web cues!

lichess.org/forum/lichess-feedback/about-the-lichess-follow-system

I hope, this statement from the webmaster may help.

@Schiffskoch said in #19:
> lichess.org/forum/lichess-feedback/about-the-lichess-follow-system
>
> I hope, this statement from the webmaster may help.

That's very instructive, thanks!