Massive changes to the WP interface
-
@phtasmagoria, the beep beep boop wording really threw some people for a loop! I loved the wording but hated the editor at first—now I can’t live without it and like it much better than the old editor. I know not everyone will feel the same way at first, but I like the idea that people here are open minded and also willing to provide good, specific, helpful, constructive feedback when they are upset about a change.
We are taking down feedback and working behind the scenes on suggestions from the editor update experience, and that means the next revisions to the editor will make it better and better going forward.
-
-
designsimply,
Thank you for your responses. You’ve had a busy day!
I used to be able to move the captioned images around a post using Firefox in OS X. I never knew that was an unsupported feature—it would be wonderful if it could be implemented again.
My complaint about the new statistics page stems from the fact that it’s awkward to use as compared to the old version, and several features have been removed. I understand that it works on both desktop and mobile platforms, but it isn’t especially efficient on larger monitors. This is actually a relatively minor complaint for me.
At the same time, I do understand that WordPress has to support both mediums, and what works well on a larger monitor won’t on a tablet.
I’m willing to use the new interfaces as they mature; I don’t particularly mind using the new blog editor, but my site is primarily based around static longform pages. I do like having the option of reverting back to the older interfaces.
I liken some of this to Apple’s recent experience with iWork when they geared the applications heavily toward mobile devices, omitting some features in the process. They too faced a backlash before they brought back a number of key functions.
A lot of us seem concerned that key features might get stripped out in the redesign; we can manage adapting to new interfaces, but features, once removed, are irreplaceable.
-
A couple of items about the new Stats page and overall new layout.
The new stats page: I like that it saves me a click or two in getting to Dashboard capability. In fact, that was the one thing I REALLY HATED about the last redesign, so thanks for bringing it back.
I can also see how the cleaner layout is *meant* to be helpful for mobile users. Problem with that: (1) Stats were already pretty cleanly laid out via the app (just irritating that there was no way to define the order of the information), and (2) many of us (maybe most of us) use laptop/desktop OR alternate between devices: the “old” stats page let me lay out my stats widgets in the format that they were most useful to me (or most pleasing to the eye, as the case may be) across 2 columns, which is ideal on a larger screen. A 2-column layout means that the most used items are probably those at the TOP of the page, not in one column or another. The new layout puts everything in one, long, irritating column. As yet (I am assuming this could be a planned enhancement), I can’t reorder them even on a desktop, to move what is most helpful to the top. I can only shrink/hide content of those I use less often. On a desktop this is a huge waste of space for no added benefit.
If an improvement to stats was envisioned, the addition of additional visitor detail would be more useful (such as geo regions smaller than “country” and more accurate readership counts from different sources)
As to layout: I’m not sure what the benefit of moving a dropdown from one side of a page to another is meant to provide, other than being “new!” (not necessarily “improved”)
The Notification symbol as others have noted was more helpful in its prior iteration, where it was (a) more immediately visible and (b) more intuitively informative.
-
this is quite the discussion!
wp.com is evolving, and we can all see the reaction of its power users
then on the geekier side
there is the current wp.org mini secession going on, and the desire by them to finally
abandon the common code base — which some developers there are less than enthusiastic abouti think it must be very difficult for our WordPress overlords so satisfy this broad a range of users
there are probably strategy and mission statement taking place daily within wp – meeting meetings meetings
to the tune of
what are we about.. where are we going… where do we want to be in a year etc
not sure if end users are ever asked about this, as would be normal in a normal software company at, say, a wp convention whre end users could talk directly to product managers
i know i have never been asked any such thing personally — and i have been here 3 years
so it could be that the wp dev staff is very insular.. that they understood that they have to migrate from the one size fits all blog mantra
from a biz perspective it is probably true that they do not care that much about any individual user
the money is made from a collectivist approach to media ad buys
which means that what i say or think is not that important per se… to WP
but a software company cannot exist in a vacuum… and if WP takes the high handed road… especially as has lost its sheen, and the effort to maintain one from a biz perspective is open to question (not talking about blogs as a transitory hobby here)
with mobile being the hot new thing
i can see where they are going… but is seems that a better job could have been done communicating that direction, and that beta feedback should have been elicited
i also wonder if they have top flight developer talent compared to up and coming IPO-bound silicon valley total code animals with options up the wazoo, as opposed to a now staid group of 200 or so WP lifers
just my two cents for a thread that I started as an offhand comment this morning when I couldn’t immediately find things
cheers!
-
and several features have been removed
May I ask for a little more detail on this part of your feedback? You are talking about stats only right? What features are you looking for that you cannot find in the new design?
-
the “old” stats page let me lay out my stats widgets in the format that they were most useful to me (or most pleasing to the eye, as the case may be) across 2 columns, which is ideal on a larger screen
This is good, specific feedback. Thank you. I will see if I can find out more about the option to rearrange boxes on the stats page and about the columns going from 2 to 1.
-
i can see where they are going… but is seems that a better job could have been done communicating that direction, and that beta feedback should have been elicited
I think this is really good feedback. It’s built into our culture to create and ship updates and new things on a constant basis. I would like to explore better ways to let users know about updates, but it’s not always possible. Still, it’s a good idea to work toward that and as we grow as a company and talk with you more, like we are doing here in this thread right now, we will continue to get better at it.
-
May I ask for a little more detail on this part of your feedback? You are talking about stats only right? What features are you looking for that you cannot find in the new design?
Not a problem. The first is the 2 column layout. The new version of stats make sense on a tablet or phone, but it removes a great deal of information from the screen. I can see about 60-70% of the information on the new stats page that I could see on the old without scrolling.
The second is the loss of the ability to treat the categories as “widgets,” which was mentioned above. It was always useful to be able to place the modules the user felt to be most relevant into the most ideal location for viewing.
The third is the truncated graph of views per day (10 vs. 30).
The fourth is the loss of the map showing visits.
The first two are of most concern to me, though the third is also useful as well.
I do like a few of the features of the new Stats, particularly the expanded information under the week, month, and year views. It does appear to be faster, but the old stats never seemed to be slow with Fios.
It would be wonderful if we could have to option to toggle between 1 and 2 page layouts.
-
Despite the “upgrading” in the format of the stats page on a desktop (and I agree with all the criticisms above), the mobile version on Android looks exactly the same to me as it did before the desktop version was “upgraded”. Thus, I am having trouble accepting that the reason for the change in the desktop version is to “maximize” the mobile version.
Here’s another wild and crazy idea: how about asking desktop users what changes would help them, if any, *before* designing and implementing the changes?
-
@fjordaniv, great feedback. Thank you for the details.
It would be wonderful if we could have to option to toggle between 1 and 2 page layouts.
Columns, not pages, right?
-
Here’s another wild and crazy idea: how about asking desktop users what changes would help them, if any, *before* designing and implementing the changes?
We do collect ongoing feedback. Can I ask you right now for the next revision, what changes would help you for the next time stats features are revised?
-
-
-
-
so many unexpected changes indeed. Lets hope the team will consult user before implementing such next time
-
[Update by staff: part of this reply was removed because it contained profanities and was not constructive] have you never heard of the saying ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’? you have managed, without any notice, consultation or queries, transformed a workable system into one that is impossible to navigate. stupid is and stupid does!
-
@designsimply
Off the top of my head:Put a link to the stats page on the first page that comes up when we log in. We shouldn’t have to click through multiple pages to find the stats.
Put the link to log out on that same first page, or at least put it in a dropdown menu accessible from that page. Again, we should not have to search to find it.
Take out the “published today” stat. We know when we have published a post; we don’t need a stat to tell us.
-
if your using a desktop browser just bookmark your statistic page, if that is where you want to log in at wordpress.com.
-
Put a link to the stats page on the first page that comes up when we log in. We shouldn’t have to click through multiple pages to find the stats.
Currently, if you log in at https://wordpress.com/ clicking on My Sites will open stats by default.
Put the link to log out on that same first page, or at least put it in a dropdown menu accessible from that page. Again, we should not have to search to find it.
Thank you for this feedback. The sign out link should be easier to find, and I’m seeing that come up as a trend in feedback.
Take out the “published today” stat.
That stat becomes a lot more interesting once you click on weeks, months, or years at the top and then click through the bars in the graph.
- The topic ‘Massive changes to the WP interface’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 