[wp-testers] Center

[Bruce Hartman]

> This new version is pandering to the average joe user who 
> just wants to write stuff to the detriment of geeks like us, 
> but sometimes we have to take a back seat.

Why, exactly, should we take a back seat?  It seems to me it'd be easier to
build plugins to--for lack of a better phrase--"dumb down" the interface
than to geek it up.  Which, again, seems to me what WordPress was all about
at one point: through a robust plugin interface it could be all things to
all people.  Right now I get the feeling that it's compromising to the
lowest common denominator.  Yeah, I know there are plugins on the horizon to
make the admin screens more geek friendly, but seriously...

Who is installing and maintaining this software?  Not the tech-challenged
folks who'll complain about a busy (but useful) write screen.  Those are the
folks who're signing up for Wordpress.com or who are using other hosted
services.  Let those services figure out how to make things easier for their
users...  Oh, what...  That's what Automattic is doing through core
development.

That last point probably sounds snarkier than I mean it to.  My point is,
geeks like us are who helped bring WordPress to the point that it is.  And
the backlash right now, I think, is our reaction to being shunned by a
platform we feel we helped make great in the name of attracting newer less
sophisticated users.

Bruce

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bruce Hartman
bruce at brucehartman.net
http://www.brucehartman.net