[wp-hackers] Suggested IA/UI Changes to the Admin Area

[Les Bessant]

OK, I've had time to look, and I really don't think I'm going to like the
new write page. In 2.3.x, I can arrange the parts I need in the sidebar. I
can move the sections I use more frequently so they are immediately to the
right of the main elements (title, writing area). This means that I very
rarely need to scroll up and down.

With the layout as it appears in 2.5 so far, it seems I have no control over
this. Some plugins add sections to the posting page - Cricket Moods is one I
use, and I have the pane it adds right at the top of my sidebar, as I use it
for most posts. It now appears at the bottom of the page, and much scrolling
is required to find it. And that's with Firefox at nearly full screen on a
1680x1050 display. 

I use custom fields (not on every post, but generally once a day at least).
More scrolling. 

These are quite significant reductions in usability, which does make me
wonder if the usability testing followed the same methodology that led
Microsoft to produce Office 2007 (otherwise known as "where have all the
features gone?").


I'm not keen on the excess spacing, but that can be fixed with CSS or a
relatively simple theme.

-- 
Les Bessant les at lcb.me.uk