WordPress 2.5 Alpha: It doesn’t totally suck
By AndrewBoyd • Feb 19th, 2008 • Category: Blogging tips, Recent posts….but parts of it are weird and unexpected. There is a demo site at http://wp.chrisjohnston.org
The front end
The front end hasn’t changed much. The default theme is prettier, and this is not a bad thing.
But in the Dashboard
Please see the demo/beta at http://wp.chrisjohnston.org/wp-admin/ - username is admin, password demo.
There are some new features, sure. But things start to get strange rather quickly - Plugins/Users/Settings have been moved to the top right hand of the screen (circled in red above).
Write ain’t right
I suppose my real issue is with the Write window. Like the main Dashboard screen, things have changed, and I am not sure that they have changed for the better.
Go to the Write window in the Demo - and this is what you see:
Where have categories gone? Tucked away down the bottom of the screen.
Why have they been moved? To leave that chunk of whitespace to the right of the text edit window.
Why do we need a chunk of whitespace to the right of the text edit window? Anybody? I can’t figure it out myself.
So why have they done this?
Donna and I have had a couple of chats on this - trying to assign some logic to it. We’ve both been doing interaction design for years, and have both seen some strange design decisions made. Maybe the WordPress crew have user research that indicates that the average new user is confused by too many options, and so the less-frequently-accessed ones have been hidden?
Many interfaces solve this by having an “Expert” mode where more options are available or there is less point-of-need information support (in other words, less hand holding). Some people consider Expert/Advanced modes to be a bad thing, because they force the user to make a choice based on insufficient information - do you consider yourself to be an expert? Is this the same definition of expert held by the interaction designer?
The other side of the coin is what I’ve called the Tardis conundrum - the interface must be simple enough such that a newcomer can use it without information support (which rarely works in real life, unless you’re Google) and yet complex enough for the experienced user to complete their required tasks with a minimum of fuss. In being all things to all people, it can fail.
The best solution (most of the time) is to make the application/interface/site/thing as learnable as possible, such that new/casual users can accomplish simple tasks quickly, and become proficient in time. Maybe, by placing the “hard stuff” out of the way, the WordPress crew will accomplish this. I think that there is a danger in changing things for the sake of changing things, and a danger also in having multiple toolbars (it makes instructions harder to write).
Will I use WordPress 2.5 if it looks like this?
Of course I will 
But it will make my life harder:
- as a blogger, because commonly used functions have been placed further away - who among us doesn’t categorise posts?
- as a metablogger (one who writes on blogging, and WordPress in particular) it will make instructions harder to write - I will have to assume that the reader knows which version of WP that they are using and think of a way to describe the difference between the top right hand options menu and the posting/management options menu in the top left.
What do you think?
AndrewBoyd is a consultant by day and blogger by night. He loves good food, good wine, and discussing faceted classification schemes with friends.
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I think it’s about time the blogosphere started to open up to the possibility of other software besides WordPress.
Hi Ben,
thank you for your comment
Sadly, the other platforms that I’ve tried (Movable Type and Drupal) have been far less friendly. But I agree - there is an automatic assumption that WordPress is the best (and I am guilty of this myself).
I know that blogging platforms can be better. Perhaps I need to put my information architect superpowers (such as they are) to work and design something better instead of whining about WordPress
Cheers, Andrew
Yeah the categories not being where they are now is going to get old fast. The two things I use most in that sidebar is the edit timestamp and categories. I don’t mind them losing everything else, but those two are essentials.
Hi Snos,
thank you for your comment
Those are my favourites too - I still can’t understand why they have moved them down the bottom to just have whitespace instead.
Human beings look for patterns and ascribe motives to random events - this is one of the popular theories about the formation of superstitious/religious belief. By trying to ascribe motives to the WP crew’s seemingly illogical behaviour I may be maligning them - they could have a perfectly wonderful reason for moving stuff around that I just don’t know about yet.
Best regards, Andrew
I’m with Andrew here, the other software, MT and Drupal and EE just don’t cut it at all.
Interestingly is the fact that WP2.5 is lot easier to theme on the Admin panel. So don’t expect those secondary boxes like categories to remain at the bottom of the page for long.
I’m in agreement with Snosk. The edit timestamp and categories can hardly be considered advanced functions. Having to scroll the length of that page to do the most basic things you do for every space is ridiculous. Besides that, when they were in the sidebar area they took up a minute amount of space and now they are big clumsy lumps. The sidebar could hold any number of the additional options more efficiently.
I don’t understand the logic of this change and can only hope that it isn’t final.
(Of course, what would absolutely fantastic is if we could just drag and drop those boxes to wherever we wanted them, based on the way we use it).
Hi Gary,
thank you for your comment
I’ve grown interested in Admin themes without having explored them much - just talking to Donna now, we’ve agreed that Admin themes allow the beginner/advanced or single user/multi-user dichotomies to coexist without conflict - notwithstanding Donna’s point that the Admin themes should come prepackaged from WP themselves.
Best regards, Andrew
Hi Lani,
I cannot but agree with my learned colleagues here - Snos and yourself - I don’t see them as optional either.
It would make sense if we could drag’n'drop - but I just tried this in the Alpha site, and it is sadly not the case.
Best regards, Andrew
I looked at this myself this morning, and really, really didn’t like it - I’m hoping some can skin the admin interface as well - that would make it bearable.
I’m using Windows Live Writer for most of my writing these days and then saving as drafts on the site before publishing with anything I need to tinker in Wordpress itself, so maybe I won’t notice it too much?!
Hi Keiron,
thank you for your comment
I think that the Admin themes are going to be very popular if they go with the layout in the Alpha - but this becomes a compensation mechanism for their weirdness (a way of us coping with their random design changes) - it would worry me if a whole generation of current users had to change their behaviour to accommodate some as-yet-unstated reasoning.
Cheers, Andrew
I’m hoping this isn’t going to be a “new coke” moment for WP, I think there will be a backlash if the current version of 2.5 is no improved upon release… I think they will be forced to offer “classic” admin as well because of user outcry…. this could be a worst case scenario, but I think it’s possible…..
Hi Trace,
thank you for your comment.
I’m hoping that they at least make Admin themes easily accessible, i.e. allow people to change it away from what they have now.
They have enough dedicated users that they can do what they like, really - I’d rather they made changes humanely.
Cheers, Andrew
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