The multi configuration / matrix project type is great to build different configurations. Our problem is that it is not very user friendly for large number of axis and a configuration filter which makes the matrix very sparse (<1%). In these cases the very sparce matrix is difficult to read and the configuration filter difficult to write. For these cases I suggest to add an alternative linear edit view and build page. These views would not replace the existing views, which are better suited for dense or less sparce (~10%) configurations.

The linear edit view would be an alternative to the configuration filter. One could not use the configuration filter and the linear edit view at the same time. I suggest the linear edit view to look and work as such:

• For each configuration one wants to add, the user clicks "Add configuration".
• All configuration are shown in a linear list below each other
• For each axis a dropdown box lets the user select the value a configuration should use for this axis.

For the build page one could choose to either use the current matrix build page or the linear view. I suggest the alternative linear build page to be a table as follows:

• First row is a header line. Following are one row for each configuration.
• The first n columns are the axes. In the header line the name of each axis is shown.
• The last column is the build status (succeeded/failed/..)

The linear edit and linear build page would work well together. But it would make sense to let the user also combine them differently (i.e. the configuration filter with the linear build page, or the linear edit view with the matrix build page).

I assume, this improvement should not require any other changes. The way axis are defined and how configurations are build is probably independent of how the configurations are selected or displayed.