[wp-design] Second Draft

[Joen Asmussen]

Excellent mockup, Chris. I have a few comments.

Chris Davis wrote:

>1. Controls or in our case fields, should be grouped together.  So I
>have moved the post slug and password to the top of the right flanking
>column.
>  
>
I agree, to a point. I still think "status" should be at the top of the 
right column, as it is (probably) the most important "secondary 
information" we have.

>2. I have "removed", just hidden really, the author box.  I doubt the
>usefullness of this, I would imagine we don't want to give the users
>the ability to post as someone else, and if we don't then why would we
>list that?  If I am missing something there please enlighten me.
>  
>
I buy it. Though we should be sure not to "forget" the author box in the 
future mockups :) - how about bottom right column, after timestamp, 
collapsed by default?

>3. I am not sure why we thought the ability to delete a post should be
>"advanced" so I moved it up where it is more appropriate.  Having left
>aligned breaks it up from the safer publish and editing buttons, while
>still having its placement make a little more sense.
>  
>
Yes and no. It certainly didn't have a good enough placement before, so 
it's good we get that player back in the game. Still, I don't think it's 
good to have it permanently placed under the text area. On one hand, we 
want to make it easy for users to delete a post if they want to, on the 
other hand we don't want to stress people into doing it.

In other words, I think below the post box is too close to the action. 
If it should be below the post area, I would think it better that it's 
not on the same line as "publish", etc.

Finally, and this is a longshot, but a good idea to keep in mind while 
we all work at this. In the eastern world, people read from the right to 
the left. Where we have a logo in the top left corner, and an "Enter" 
button in the bottom right, It is in their genes to have a logo in the 
top right, and an "Enter" button in the bottom left. By "Enter" button, 
I mean the button that "applies" stuff, the button that says "move on", 
"next line". My point is, while this interface is surely being designed 
for westerners, we should be aware of minor details we could consider 
that would help easterners use Wordpress.

How about the sidebar maybe? In a not collapsed state?

>4. Speaking of editing buttons, I am not sure why the 'save and
>continue editing button' is missing, since that is probably the button
>I use the most, and the one that I gripe about not being on the edit
>page screen the most, so it is back.
>  
>
Matthew Mullenweg wrote:

> Got a good idea from the other message. What if instead of this button 
> we just have a JS created button that says "8 minutes since last save"

I think, neither. In the case of the normal "Save and cont. ed.", I am 
fully with Michael that the behavior of the regular Save button is 
redundant. In a way, "Publish", is even redundant (though I'm not 
proposing we remove that!)

As for the "8 minutes since...", it is also redundant. We _could_ have a 
grayed textarea with such a counter, but I would be inclined to think 
that was also a bad idea. I'm afraid having such a counter would stress 
people unnecessarily. Maybe this is a feature people could turn off or 
on in the options?

>5. I have moved send trackbacks to under the advanced area, since
>Trackbacks are evil.  Also since we send pingbacks automagically I
>think they (trackbacks) are more at home in the advanced area.
>  
>
I actually rather like trackbacks :) they look nicer than pingbacks.

But I agree.

>6. I have rejiggered the header area, and for the sake of illustration
>changed the title to my title.  I think placing the logout/view site
>bit under the title is a better way to go since as you can see some
>blog titles can be quite long.  I also feel strongly that we should be
>making the admin a little friendlier, I think the inclusion of welcome
>text that displays the currently logged in users name is essential.
>  
>
Very very nice. I like it a lot. A couple of things:
I love the friendlyness, and the layout, but I'm a bit worried about the 
extra used space. Matt mentioned it as a comment to one of my earliest 
mockups: we don't want to use too much real estate up there. The idea 
is, i would guess, that it shouldnt' be necessary to scroll, to edit 
your post. So if things could be chucked a little together, I'd love it.

As for the "Good evening" thing, I love it! PERFECT part of the WP 
brand. It is definitely friendly. How about the coders do some magic 
here so this message rotates through a couple of phrases akin to the 
setup? I.e. that funny tone during install that's come to be part of the 
WP brand? A "Hello Dolly" of the admin page?

>7. And finally I have centered the tab text, I am sure this will not
>be a very popular change, but it was distressing that presentation
>looked centered - due to its width, while all the others did not. 
>Centering them all is the only way to insure some normalcy accross
>those controls.
>  
>
You're right. I would argue that if the main content is left aligned, so 
should the text on the tabs, but that argument isn't really valid since 
text on buttons is also centered. So your argument holds.

However, I would like it that we come up with some more examples of 
this, especially when we go a-branding the interface. One option could 
be to let the tab width be related to the width of the text. Another 
option could be to rename "Presentation" to "Themes".

-- 

Joen Asmussen

CPH, DENMARK
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