[wp-testers] Upload and use of Images

[David House]

On 04/12/05, Kaf Oseo <kaf at szub.net> wrote:

> David, you missed this bit from Andy's comments:
>
>  > All I am saying is that I suspect there are a lot of users who will
>  > prefer the original method, especially after they have designed
>  > their working practice around it.
>
> That's a pretty important point to leave off.

I didn't actually, but perhaps my response was somewhat veiled, so
I'll explain again.

Old system: start writing post. Realise you want to insert an image.
Save post as draft. Click upload. Find file. Upload file. Resume
editing of post. Insert (with HTML!) the image.

New system: start writing post. Realise you want to insert an image.
Scroll down, find image. Upload. Click-drag into post.

Which would you prefer? In reality it's probably even worse than that,
most people would probably copy-paste their in-progress post to Word
or something stupid. And who knows HTML? (remember WordPress is a
mass-appeal product)

> An Options setting letting users decide to keep their old setup or go
> with the new directory structure (or perhaps a hybrid where they can
> at least decide *where* these monthly upload directories will exist)
> is just providing users what they already had to begin with.

You can decide where you want these monthly directories. However, it
will be so infrequently used by most people that it's not an admin
option, you have to edit cache.php and stick a line like the following
at the top:

define('CACHE_PATH', ABSPATH.'/wp-content/my-new-cache-location');

> P.S. Besides, something along these lines (if workable) could make for
> an interesting user-specific setting.

Typical (albeit imaginary :)) user dialogue:

'Hmm... what's this: "Have the upload screen on the Write Post screen
or on a seperate page". What the hell? All I want to do is upload
things. And what's this? "Dump everything in one folder or use
different folders for different months"? How does that affect me? I
just want to post pictures in my posts.'

Options are evil. Options maintained for backward compatability or
even backward comfort are equally evil, they complicate things for new
users and force us to maintain two seperate pieces of code for
uploads.

Let me finish by saying we need some clarity as to what exactly we're
arguing about. This is what has changed from old system -> new system:

* The upload controls are on the write post screen. I don't think
anyone disagrees that this was a good move.
* You can only upload picture, but we're working on that.
* We use a tiered folder structure instead of a flat one, which as
I've explained numerous times, is necessary.
* We fixed the stupid workflow and made image uploading into something
most people can grasp. Any idea what percentage of feature requests
for 1.5 were about uploading images?

If I've missed something off, please correct me.

--
-David House, dmhouse at gmail.com, http://xmouse.ithium.net