[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #65092: Toolbar: Replace the "+ New" and Comments icons with plain text labels and swap their order

[WordPress Trac]

#65092: Toolbar: Replace the "+ New" and Comments icons with plain text labels and
swap their order
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 Reporter:  lucasmdo                             |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement                          |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                               |  Milestone:  Awaiting
                                                 |  Review
Component:  Toolbar                              |    Version:
 Severity:  normal                               |   Keywords:  needs-patch
  Focuses:  ui, accessibility, css,              |
  administration, ui-copy                        |
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 == The Problem ==

 * '''The Comments item''' shows only a speech-bubble icon and a number.
 People who have not used WordPress before often do not know what this icon
 means.

 * '''The "+ New" item''' already shows the word "New" next to a plus icon.
 The plus icon does not add any new meaning. It just takes up space and
 repeats what the word already says.

 On top of that, the Comments item sits before the "+ New" item. Adding new
 content is a much more common action than moderating comments, so the
 order feels backwards.

 == The Proposed Change ==

  1. '''Replace the speech-bubble icon''' on the Comments Toolbar item with
 a plain text label: `Comments 3` (where `3` is the current number of
 comments waiting for moderation).
  2. '''Replace the plus icon''' on the "+ New" Toolbar item with just the
 word `New`.
  3. '''Swap the order''' so that `New` comes before `Comments`.

 See the attached image. The top bar is the proposed change. The bottom bar
 is what WordPress looks like today.

 [[Image(new-comments.png)]]

 == Why This Helps ==

  * '''Clearer for everyone.''' A word is easier to understand than an
 icon, especially the first time someone logs in.
  * '''Better accessibility.''' Visible text works better for a bigger
 audience.
  * '''Less visual clutter.''' The plus icon next to the word "New" is
 redundant. Removing it makes the Toolbar cleaner.
  * '''Better order.''' Creating new content is a more common task than
 moderating comments. Putting "New" first matches what people do most
 often.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/65092>
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