Currently, the next version of WordPress is in it’s second beta, 2.7. With 2.7, there are plenty of updates to User Interface for administration. Looking at the beta screen shots and video, it’s pretty neat. Here’s what I noticed.
- Fancy Sidebar – It is collapsible but also it’s much more oriented to learn the icon and then close it and then forget it. It’s pretty nice, less scrolling on large screens.
- Customizable top-bar – I don’t know if I saw this in my beta copy, but I saw it in the “it’s personal” video.
- Enhanced Post Page – The post page is now customizable beyond words. Not really, the page allows sections to be dragged and dropped into any place and with all of that, the regular post box will re-size it’s self without any trouble.
- The new Dashboard – It’s got so much more than it did before. You can now manage comments in line, make replies to comments in line, and much more. Additionally, the customization applies here too. You can drag and drop sections and you can add and delete them too.
That’s just some of the stuff I noticed. The campaign WordPress seems to be running is, this time, it’s personal. It sounds mean but actually it is supposed to be with all of the focus on making your work flow better, it is personalized.
Of course some people are complaining. Many people simply refuse to learn a new interface (look at the comments). Or they have a long hard time adjusting to new things. Dealing with the evolution of software overtime is something people must enjoy. WordPress tested their changes with test groups after all. I understand that more savvy people might’ve tried the betas, but even then, non-techies have looked at it too and they figured it out.
I say this to people, “It might take you five extra minutes today, but tomorrow, it’ll take you five less minutes to do the same very thing.”