Massive changes to the WP interface
-
-
@phtasmagoria, thanks!
I noticed that in order to read more blogs, I find myself copying and pasting the words of a post into MS Word, and then having the post read to me out loud.
Do you think WordPress will ever have a feature in which a button will allow for the text of a post to be read aloud, directly from each individual blog? Maybe each user could record their own voice sample even.
Neat suggestion! It’s not something planned for WordPress itself, but I bet you can find software that will do that that on it’s own—maybe a different kind of browser, or a browser add-on, or even a separate program that will read text from browser directly.
On my Mac, if I highlight text, I can select Speech > Start Speaking and the computer will speak the words aloud. I think that feature is built in on a Mac will work in any browser. I’m not sure what your setup is like, but perhaps try searching around to see what dictation or voiceover tools are available.
-
I haven’t had a chance to read all the comments yet, but wanted to chime in as these threads seem to get closed very quickly and disappear forever.
I have been using self-hosted WordPress since 2007, have promoted it heavily to clients, and for the past four years I have been teaching an adult education WordPress.com class. I have been a real evangelist for the brand and the community, but all that is coming to a close. There seems to be a grand design in place for a total reworking of the WordPress interface—so far we are just getting it in bits and pieces—but the recent reference to “Classic Dashboard” means that the UI we old-timers have been using for years is on its way out. It is clear that the “blue-bar” world will soon be the only one: we won’t have access to admin through a particular domain, everything will be done on wordpress.com.
I’m sure these changes are being done for good reasons: priority of a mobile over desktop, and probably server performance as well. However, in reading this and other recent threads, WP is effectively ignoring those users who preferred the UI as it has evolved over the years.
My choice of the word evolved is key: at one time, WP was notable in that it did not spring new and radical UI changes on its users: it gracefully and unobtrusively added or changed features in a way that made the new workflow pretty darn seamless. That all ended with Beep Beep Boop, which was a radical change, sprung without warning and without context. The new UI does not resemble the old in any way shape or form, and the response to those who dislike it (for aesthetic, usability, or other reasons) are told “this is the way it is, we might tweak it a bit but maybe not so get used to it.”
Thus for me it is not the actual new UI that bother me so much (although I find it childish, inelegant, and needlessly confusing) as is the attitude towards its users of WP.com that seems to have shifted: now it’s like every other megalithic social media company, “here you go, we know what’s best for you, suck it up.”
I am actively exploring WordPress’ competitors to promote to my community and future students. I think WordPress.com has lost its way in its reach for a bigger audience, and that makes me very sad.
-
This is now getting difficult and confusing for everybody. Members are, understandably, getting tetchy.
May I suggest to you that you either:-
Redirect everybody with these concerns to one thread.
or
Redirect everybody to an umbrella topic with links to the subsidiary issues (e.g. Reader, Stats, Editor, Sign Out etc).
With the later, you would able to note the responses to each issue and the members could see all the comments on each issue without commentators having to repeat themselves on several threads. I am sure that it would be better for all.
Frankly, I’m tired of trying to generate and maintain some cross thread awareness, particularly as the motive seems to be misunderstood by some.
Thank You
Again, nothing personal. I know you’re in a tough spot but, at present, you are our only conduit. :-)
P.S. I did, having misunderstood Beaus comment, make a request for Staff involvement on the Staff forum. That is redundant, so please have it removed or disregarded as it now requires no answer.
-
-
I also do not like the “new” stats page. I still use the classic Stats page (the one without the country/nation views map).
Are you saying that the classic Stats page will be discontinued? What about the other Stats page with country/nation views, will that also be discontinued?
Personally, I am tired of all the scrolling. One column with a narrow width just isn’t a pleasant experience. This was done for usability for mobile users, not desktop/laptop users.
Why not have 2? Please the desktop/laptop users and the mobile users. Everyone is happy then.
Another suggestion: please have an option for us to choose the colors like we have with the classic editor/stats, etc. pages. All this blue is not easy on the eyes. I will not use the new editor because of the blue as well as the problem with the categories/tags (did that ever get fixed?)
I posted the above on another thread, so just adding it here.
*
There are things that I do like on the “new” Stats page:
Number of published posts. You can click on Weeks, Months or Years for those numbers. Very good idea.
The number of “likes” and comments are listed, too, for Daily, Weeks, Months and Years. Very good.
Problem:
When I clicked “Years”, the first 2 years are blank (no bar on the graph), 0 views, 0 visitors. The third year has some info but not complete. The bar shows up in the graph and the views are counted, but 0 for visitors and 0 for “likes”. The fourth and fifth years have a number for “likes” but 0 for visitors.
The numbers for visitors may be unknown so that’s why they are listed at 0, I don’t know.
The number for comments are listed for each of the past 8 years.
-
On a side note, has the volunteer user experience group been discontinued? I haven’t received an invitation to test the new dashboard. I could have told you the missing logout link as well as the one column layout would be a problem before releasing the new dash. :)
Other than that I’m happy that most of the points that are bothering me about the new dash, stats, … have been mentioned. I’m missing the two column view as well because as a result I have to scroll now a lot.
The stats bar chart doesn’t indicate the weekends with a grey background. The same thing happend nearly two years ago when the stats screen was moved to the wordpress.com dashboard.
The month names in the bar chart aren’t localized.
I’m missing the “Yesterday” feature from the old stats. I mean the link you could click to check e.g. the referrers, clicks, … from the day before.
The comments module in the new stats screen in the “Other Recent Stats” section sometimes takes minutes to load.
-
The rather large button for “Add New Post” has changed its background color to gray instead of white on some of the pages. It is still white on the WP Reader pages/Stats page (the blue pages).
Thanks for changing it on our blog and some of the administrative (classic) pages. It looks better.
The three buttons (pencil/gravatar/bell or notifications) on the far right side of our blog and admin. pages do not look the same as when using the WP pages (blue ones). They are not in alignment nor equal in size. It looks odd. They look much better on the blue pages (the ones I rarely use).
-
One last afterthought, then I’ll shut up for a bit.
Feedback and other issues would be all the better if the forums were managed. That is, new incoming posts were placed into easy to find pigeon holes and in the appropriate forum. It would stop all the problems of multiple threads on the same issue and see that they were directed appropriately.
Fast growing companies do tend to evolve heuristically, but as the goals expand to accommodate more throughput, management problems start to emerge. It is then advisable to step back and generate a more organised approach for everybody’s benefit .
Goodnight All :-)
-
Back to the “new” Stats page, when clicking on a published post it takes you to more detailed stats (good), but no option to go to the actual post. I use that feature very frequently on the classic (admin) Stats page (not the blue one).
It doesn’t use the space correctly on a landscape position desktop computer. It is one narrow width column with a horizontal scroll bar to see all the stats for that particular blog post.
This was made for mobile users. There are huge amounts of blank space on either side of the detailed stats and more scrolling for desktop/laptop users.
-
May I suggest to you that you either:-
Redirect everybody with these concerns to one thread.
or
Redirect everybody to an umbrella topic with links to the subsidiary issues (e.g. Reader, Stats, Editor, Sign Out etc).
@grahaminhats, redirecting people to this thread would be fine if the other thread is not about a specific bug.
And no problem on the staff forum thing. Looks like it’s already closed.
-
Are you saying that the classic Stats page will be discontinued?
Probably, yes. [UPDATE: I was referring to https://wordpress.com/my-stats — I really need to use URLs here to make sure everything’s clear.]
What about the other Stats page with country/nation views, will that also be discontinued?
Can you please try the following steps and let me know if that is the view you were looking for?
1. Go to https://wordpress.com/stats
2. If you have multiple blogs on your account, click on a blog name to open stats for just that blog
3. Click on the heading “Countries”Personally, I am tired of all the scrolling. One column with a narrow width just isn’t a pleasant experience. This was done for usability for mobile users, not desktop/laptop users.
The narrow width was an intentional part of the desktop design, it was not done for mobile users—it’s just part of how the WordPress.com designers working on this project created the new look. What you said about being tired of the scrolling is a more important feedback point. Thanks for posting that detail.
All this blue is not easy on the eyes. I will not use the new editor because of the blue as well as the problem with the categories/tags (did that ever get fixed?)
It’s good to hear about the blue. Thank you for posting about that.
Would you mind reminding me what the categories/tags issue is that you are referring to specifically?
The number of “likes” and comments are listed, too, for Daily, Weeks, Months and Years. Very good.
I love that too!
When I clicked “Years”, the first 2 years are blank (no bar on the graph), 0 views, 0 visitors. The third year has some info but not complete. The bar shows up in the graph and the views are counted, but 0 for visitors and 0 for “likes”. The fourth and fifth years have a number for “likes” but 0 for visitors.
I see what you mean. I will research this.
May I ask if you ever imported content from another source into your dandelionsalad.wordpress.com blog or did you always use WordPress.com from the start, beginning in 2007?
-
On a side note, has the volunteer user experience group been discontinued?
That was something I did for another team that I worked on in the past. I really loved it! And I would love to bring it back again if I can. Interested in joining if I can make it happen?
I’m missing the two column view as well because as a result I have to scroll now a lot.
Great note. Thanks for mentioning this.
The stats bar chart doesn’t indicate the weekends with a grey background. The same thing happened nearly two years ago when the stats screen was moved to the wordpress.com dashboard.
I’ll find out more about that and report back.
The month names in the bar chart aren’t localized.
Great note. I will check up on that.
I’m missing the “Yesterday” feature from the old stats. I mean the link you could click to check e.g. the referrers, clicks, … from the day before.
This one’s intentional. You can just click the bars in the graphs to see stats for the different days.
The comments module in the new stats screen in the “Other Recent Stats” section sometimes takes minutes to load.
I think that system is getting a lot more load than usual to start. I’d like to keep an eye on it and circle back if it’s still a problem after a few weeks.
-
That was something I did for another team that I worked on in the past. I really loved it! And I would love to bring it back again if I can. Interested in joining if I can make it happen?
I’d be happy to help. :)
This one’s intentional. You can just click the bars in the graphs to see stats for the different days.
Wow, didn’t know that. Consider this resolved. I guess I need a support page that explains all the new features of the stats page.
I think that system is getting a lot more load than usual to start. I’d like to keep an eye on it and circle back if it’s still a problem after a few weeks.
Agreed. :)
btw. I just noticed the “My sites” link in the admin bar here in the forum links to http://de.wordpress.com/my-blogs/ which then redirects to https://de.wordpress.com/sites/. Clicking again on “My sites” on this site then redirects to https://de.wordpress.com/activity/.
In other words I don’t get to the new stats/dash when clicking “My sites” on the left in the admin bar of the forum.
-
Hello!
I looked over the previous posts and didn’t see these suggestions:
As a possible solution perhaps future releases of the stats page might include the ability to:
1. Rank order the stats. Different WordPress users value different stats differently. It may make sense for users to edit the stats they value more by bringing them to the top of the column.
2. Allow the option to display the countries by map rather than list. It would be easier to see regional trends, especially for those users who do not teach World Geography and may not know where Moldova is…
3. Lesson the “Tyranny of the Blue” by allowing users to colorize stat features. I can set my posts/page views in Red, Referrals in yellow etc.
4. Allow users to select how they want their stats displayed: Bar Graph vs Line Graph, vs Pie Chart etc. This may also help lesson the “Tyranny of the Blue.” -
@zaunfink, tell me more about this clicking problem :) what Firefox version are you using exactly? I will test too. I tried it just now with these steps:
1. Go to https://wordpress.com/
2. Click the bell icon on the right side of the blue toolbar
* Result: dropdown box appears and comments load
Are my testing steps the same as your steps? I’m using a Mac for my testing so far. Are you using a Mac or a PC?I’m using Firefox 34.05 on Windows 7 and Firefox 33.0 on Linux Mint – 1.0.
Same problem with both: I click the bell icon, dropdown box appears, “loading” wheel starts to rotate, nothing loads. -
btw. I just noticed the “My sites” link in the admin bar here in the forum links to http://de.wordpress.com/my-blogs/ which then redirects to https://de.wordpress.com/sites/. Clicking again on “My sites” on this site then redirects to https://de.wordpress.com/activity/.
Thanks for this note. It’s possible those pages simply haven’t been updated yet. I will find out.
-
Thanks for the suggestions @pcosta88! I have seen some of them before, but it’s good to know when things come up more than once.
Allow the option to display the countries by map rather than list.
There is a countries map. Can you try clicking on the heading “Countries” from the main stats page to see the map?
-
@zaunfink, thanks so much for the additional info! A couple other people reported a similar problem with notifications, but I was unable to reproduce it. WordPress.com will be updating the notifications design very soon, and I would like to see if the loading problem goes away after that update happens. In the mean time, are you able to access notifications from https://wordpress.com/notifications/ for now?
-
- The topic ‘Massive changes to the WP interface’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 