[wp-testers] "What's new in WP 2.5" doc?

[Xel]

Hi,
I really do not what to step on anyones feet. Please do not get me wrong, I
really like what was done by everyone working on this part of free software.
I am just frightend by what I'm reading here.  We all should know better
than that. Better then shocking users with a backend were they do not find
what they search - backends they need help to navigate in. A Backend where
they even do not find the settings. No offend Dougal, but we can not react
by giving them a manual. Yes we need to give them a manual - but we need to
do more than that.

*Do not change your user if he doesn't fit your GUI - change the GUI to fit
the user.*

As we all know GUI Design should leed the users to knowing what they have to
do, to archive what they want.

There are only two ways we can get the user to knowing what he has to do
a) Using Knowledge he got before seeing our GUI the first time
b)Telling him what to do

Who of us wants to tell every single user how to use this tool? I can not
think of anyone.
David, Mark do not get me wrong - it will still be a great help for lots of
people to have such a documentation - no matter with medium you use.
Hint: Debugmode's Wink creates flash films - maybe this could be of help for
one or the other. (http://www.debugmode.com/wink/ Not available for mac, as
far as I know. But runs with linux and win)

What users know is the old backend. It was not as nice and cute as this one
is but they know it. Its gone - no way to get it back. Users now have to
learn the new backend.

Why do they need to lern it? When I first installed Wordpress and came to
the backend I know what I had to do. I found everything I needed. Maybe
sometimes I needed some clicks more than nessessary but anyhow I found what
I was searching.

It's pretty simple and should be archivable in nearly no time to get this
backend as intuitive as the last one was.

Here are some main points going wrong at the new WP Backend:

   - Links should tell me where they lead.

Howdy, admin!
Is this a link?
Where would it lead?
Do I really need to guess?
Sure now it is underlined.
A good step forward.
Would it hurt to write (Profile) behind it?
There is enough room left there!
HTML
View
on?

   - Important functions should look important
   - Do not hide navigation

*Write Manage Design Comments
*This *does* catch eye.
It *catches eye* up to an extend,
that *nobody* looks on the right side
to find the settings.
Do you
I know they are there!
Do you think I'm searching them anyway?
Not once, not twice,
every damn time I look on this backend.
see this?



You know - Im running this on a 21'' Monitor with 1280x1024 resolution. This
stuff is clued to the right side of the monitor - the last point anyone
would search for it. And to make things even worse it is sooo damn small. My
eyes say it may be somewhat between half size and tree-quarters of the size.

What do you think a User will need first of all? Sure! Settings - maybe
Plugins - maybe users. But first of all settings. So do not hide Settings
from the user. Put them at least the same size as the rest is. And into a
prominent location OR use a attention catching color.

The worst of it is - the red "Right now!" bar doesn't fit the whole screen.
It cuts off after 955px. No thats ok - but you have some important stuff
(Settings, Plugins, Users) on this right side. The eye says "The important
element of this Webpage ends here - I do not have to watch for any important
stuff any further right."

So what would I say really has to be done is the following:

   - Make links  like the profile page clearly visible and
   recognizable - if they are not in a navigation bar underline them (The way
   with "(Profile)" was perfect already) - you may even choose to put it near
   "Settings, Plugins, Users".
   - Give "Settings, Plugins, Users" a bit more font size
   - If an element is stopping at half of the page - nothing else should
   go any furthor in this direction - or put something there to catch the eye.
   I would make the "right now" etc. stuff stretch to fit the full window size
   or put the "Settings,..." stuff right above the end of the red bar.

The backend is quite nice - but if one puts
maybe 2 Minutes into inserting a "(Profile)" somewhere and about half an
hour into css works with users in mind, maybe he he'll get users to know
what they can do.

This doens't mean documentation isn't needed. By far it is. But it means
this little mistakes can be done with less time than writing a documentation
and will help more people than any documentation can, cause any
documentation is like school - it is learning but not knowing. Use
what everybody knows and teach them only what really is needed.
You do not have to tell anyone to use the link named
"settings" to get to the settings dialog, if this link IS visible.

Again: Do not get me wrong, everything looks really nice and I really like
what you have done so far but I think GUI should be designed for users and
not the other way round. *Do not change your user if he doesn't
fit your GUI - change the GUI to fit the user.*

Just my 50 cent
Alex

2008/3/25, Dougal Campbell <dougal at gunters.org>:
>
> I don't have a lot of time to spare for this message, so forgive me if
> I'm terse.
>
>   From comments I've seen on my blog an elsewhere, there is a segment of
> current users out there who are put off by the new admin interface in
> one way or another. For example:
>
> "I just checked out the demo site, and I am sorry to say that I don't
> like it, why you may ask? Headaches! I have like 9 blogs to maintain,
> and due to being familiar with the old version, I can't see myself
> switching. What happens to to 40+ plugins I now use, will most of them
> be unusable? I never did find the options page, maybe I gave up to soon.
> Just please tell me this won't be a mandatory upgrade!"
>
> While your or I might think that it's an extreme or frivolous response
> to not upgrade just because the interface has changed, it's obviously
> important to this person. Obviously we aren't going to change the admin
> GUI back to the old style, so what do we do?
>
> I suggest the creation of a "What's new in WordPress 2.5" document, to
> be present on the main website and/or Codex, and included prominently in
> the distribution itself, and presented (at least as a prominent link) at
> the end of the upgrade process. This document should have twenty-seven
> eight-by-ten color glossy screenshots of the Admin GUI, with circles and
> arrows, and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what it
> is[1]. In other words, a nice guide for upgrading users (maybe for new
> users, too?) which says things like, "If you're looking for the old
> 'Options' menu, it's now called 'Settings', and it's located in the
> upper-right: [img]".
>
> Even it if it doesn't make it into the release distribution, it would
> still be a good article, which I'm sure would get plenty of prominent
> linkage, if done well. If I had time to create such a document myself, I
> would. But I don't. And furthermore, I suck at that particular sort of
> documentation, so it would probably be better for somebody else to do it
> anyhow. So consider this a call for volunteers. Any takers?
>
>
> [1] Sorry. Obscure reference:
> http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/alices.shtml
>
> --
> Dougal Campbell <dougal at gunters.org>
> http://dougal.gunters.org/
>
>
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