Feature request – Checkbox for video in editor
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In recent months I’ve experienced problems using WordPress.com in that it’s becoming a terrible resource hog, demanding high ram and cpu to do what used to be simple tasks two years ago. See also this thread: https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/stats-and-insights-high-cpu-ram
It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that this general resource hog problem stems from a questionable design philosophy. Do you really want WordPress.com to be only for elite users who have supercomputers, or should blogging be democratic and light on resources?
In practical terms, resource creep occurs because changes to the software aren’t subjected to real world testing on a variety of systems to measure the impact such changes have on usability. This brings me to my main point, which is a feature request…
Embedding videos in posts used to be easy. You added the code in the editor, and the video itself could be viewed in the preview or the published post. This system worked well and was light on resources.
A couple of months ago, this was changed so that video is forced to appear WYSIWYG inside the editor itself. This is true of both the classic editor (which is faster), and the new “improved” editor (which is slower). Forcing the video to appear WYSIWYG in both editors results in a huge bottleneck on slower systems. It makes editing slow and cumbersome.
I realize some users wanted this feature, but for others it’s a perfect example of resource hog design philosophy, and negatively impacts usability. Two years ago, editing a post like this one which makes extensive use of video would have been a doddle:
Now it’s absolute hell on slower systems. I propose a simple fix: Put a checkbox at the top of both editors:
– Show video in editor
This checkbox should ideally be unchecked by default, but can be checked by users who prefer to see videos inside the editor and don’t mind the huge drain on resources and/or problems with Adobe Flash crashing.
Thank you for considering this feature request, which would help prune back “resource hog creep.”
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Thanks for replying, rootjosh. I’d love to provide the requested info, but I fear it might distract Staff from responding to the core issue being raised. That issue is browser independent.
True, some browsers/versions may be better or worse at handling PHP, Flash, and the APIs used to display videos from services like YouTube, DailyMotion, and Vimeo. But AFAIK, regardless of browser version, the new code which forces videos to be displayed WYSIWYG inside both editors does basically the same thing: Wherever there’s a video, it calls the API for that particular video service, creates a Flash player, preloads some of the video, and preloads the thumbnail for the video. It does this for each video. This hogs CPU, RAM, and Net bandwidth, as well as importing the potential problems with Flash into both editors.
So let me answer your question with a question: What real world systems was this change tested on to ensure it did not negatively impact usability? If it was only tested on an i7 with 16 GB ram running a virtualized environment and connected to a T1 line, then are those the new system requirements for end users? Where can I get one of those boxes cheap? ;-) Send me one and maybe I’ll stop complaining that usability for average users has gone to hell. There are many good things about WordPress, but these are increasingly offset by the bloat factor.
My feature suggestion is to add a checkbox so that people who want WYSIWYG video inside the editors and don’t mind the bloat can have it, but others are not forced to live with it.
My broader point concerns the design philosophy which keeps causing these kinds of problems. Here’s the opening sentence from a Wikipedia entry on “Software bloat”:
“Software bloat is a process whereby successive versions of a computer program become perceptibly slower, use more memory, disk space or processing power, or have higher hardware requirements than the previous version — whilst making only dubious user-perceptible improvements or suffering from feature creep.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bloat
IMHO, it would be better for WordPress.com to deal honestly with complaints in this area, rather than tending to insist that the problem doesn’t exist or that end users are using the wrong computer, wrong OS, or wrong browser. Respectfully submitted by this lowly end user.
P.S. Yes, I’ve cleared my browser cache. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! I’ve also tried turning it on and off again. ;-)
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Right, but if you are using an older browser that we do not support, that could be the crux of the issue. Which is why I ask.
To be honest, this isn’t a common complaint. We simply do not hear large numbers of people having the issue that you are describing. Given that we hear about usability complaints pretty quickly, especially here in in the forums, that would indicate that it is not an issue that affects a significant number of users. That isn’t to say that is doesn’t affect ANY users. Just that the reasons may be more nuanced or user-specific (data speed, computer OS, browser version).
In any case, we will keep an eye out for it in the future and will pass along your feedback.
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Thanks again. I’d like to check my system against the published requirements for using WordPress.com and getting support. Could you please point me to a link? I did my fair share of Googling, but couldn’t seem to find anything except rubbery marketing language.
Given that recent changes have made the code so bloated, I’m thinking of upgrading my system so that it meets your (new?) system requirements. But it’s difficult if I don’t know what those requirements are. You guys and gals are playing your cards pretty close to the vest!
I asked in another thread https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/desktop-app-for-linux-requirements about system requirements for using the new WordPress desktop app for Linux, but apparently that’s still experimental and no info is available about platforms on which the app has been tested by humans.
I have no problem producing and editing videos on my computer, but maybe I need something more powerful for blogging. Any suggestions for a reasonably priced system that would satisfy your needs? I’m a senior and can’t afford to spend much.
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We support the last two major releases of most popular browsers. We do not have specific published requirements for system speed.
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