Optional quick start from snippet/template in empty files

[digitarald]

When starting a new file, I want to have the option to pick from template, so that I don't have to start from scratch and google for a boilerplate to paste in.

It happened a few times like this in user testing. Participants create a file, discover the intuitive language quick pick that the placeholder offers and are delighted 😁. With a blank file in hand they then wander off to search engines to find boilerplate to test 🤨. Some languages suffer worse than others from impossible to remember boilerplate (HTML 😭). I never saw participants using snippets or emmet as the magic fast path to fill a file quickly.

How might we apply the placeholder text that allows picking a language to also picking a template:

Starting with an untitled buffer:

1. Create untitled buffer
2. Placeholder text offers to pick a language -> Quick pick HTML
3. Placeholder text offers to start from a template --> Quick pick html!!
4. 🎉

From creating an empty file in the workspace:

1. Create new index.html file in Explorer and open it.
2. Placeholder text offers to start from a template --> Quick pick html!!
3. 🎉

Snippets could be the existing system to provide those templates. They already have a prefix and description, which can be used in the quick pick. Their placeholders can also help to quickly name a component that is being created, set a title, etc.

cc @stevencl @sana-ajani

Ideas:

• The quick pick selection could also preview the snippet as ghost text.
• Easter egg for pasting a little HTML game or spinning VS Code logo.

[digitarald]

Related user feedback: #145046 (comment)