[wp-testers] AW: Write Page

[Les Bessant]

On 28 Mar 2008, at 15:01, Matt Mullenweg wrote:
> Les Bessant wrote:
>> It's been argued by several people that having to scroll down where  
>> they didn't before is a reduction in usability. These points, when  
>> made clearly and politely, have been largely ignored. I'm not  
>> really surprised that people are now becoming frustrated and  
>> describing the new write page layout as "terrible".
>
> Okay, let me not ignore it, and state as I have in half a dozen  
> other emails that I do not think having to scroll to enter a  
> category is a reduction is the overall usability of the page.
>
> I think Andrew's email describes well what the (apparently) silent  
> majority of people have expressed in their feedback, that the  
> primary thing they want to do on the write page is *write*.  
> Categories, tags, etc are things that are generally written after  
> the post (and we'll even be able to auto-suggest them based on the  
> post content in the future, removing even more friction), as it's  
> difficult to know how to tag something before it exists.
>
> All design is a series of tradeoffs. The tradeoff here is that an  
> assumed larger set of both power and novice users look at the new  
> admin screen and say "ooh, less clutter, fewer distractions, easier  
> uploading" while a smaller set says "where are my categories?" and  
> then scrolls down two clicks and sees them. The second group either  
> learns to scroll down a bit after writing a post, or installs a  
> plugin to tailor their experience to their suiting.
>

I haven't mentioned categories specifically in any post - my main  
disagreement with the new layout is the loss of the ability to  
customise it for the way *I* work. I've no wish to force my own  
particular requirements on anyone else, and WP has previously allowed  
me the flexibility to set things up in a way that suits me. I like  
being able to make more use of the width of my screen, but I can  
understand that not everyone wants that.

I know you have a personal antipathy to "options", and I can  
understand that an excess of options can lead to confusion, weeping,  
wailing and gnashing of teeth (the Day Job involves technical  
support...).

What I'm getting round to is that I do appreciate the efforts being  
made to make WP better. And yes, I will persevere with using 2.5.  
Can't guarantee I'm ever going to like it, though.

Les