interface

My WTF Moments Using The New “My Sites” Interface

WordPress.com has unveiled a new interface to manage and access WordPress.com and Jetpack connected WordPress.org websites. In testing the interface, I encountered a few WTF moments. Here they are in no particular order.

The New My Sites Interface

The New My Sites Interface

Choosing Sites

The top item in the left sidebar is a dropdown menu containing all of the sites connected to my account. I can only select sites using this menu. If that’s the case, I don’t understand why so much space is dedicated to showing the cards on the right hand side. Alternatively, you should be able to select a site by clicking within the tile. It would also be nice to be able to move the tiles around as a means of organizing them.

What’s a WordPress?

I’m unsure if this is an error or if it’s supposed to say “Start a New WordPress”. Even for someone as experienced with WordPress.com and WordPress.org, I scratched my head trying to figure out what a WordPress is. It should either say “Start a New WordPress Site” or “Create a New WordPress Site” since the link takes you to the WordPress.com signup page.

Certain Links Don’t Correspond to The Selected Site

When I select a site, the Blog Posts, Pages, and Stats links don’t correspond to the choice. Instead, they point to my WordPress.com user account. My expectation is that these links are connected to the site I select. For example, if I select WordPress Tavern, the links should take me to the Tavern’s Blog Posts, Pages, or Stats.

Top Bar Confusion

The bar at the top of the website which contains the pencil icon, my Gravatar, and notifications area is tied to whatever site I selected. The connection is not obvious. I suggest using a tooltip that upon hover, tells me the action and the name of the site it will take place on. For example, if I choose WordPress Tavern, the Pencil icon in the top bar should say something like “Create a new post on WordPress Tavern”.

Contextual Menu Items

If I select a WordPress.org powered site using Jetpack, I shouldn’t see an Upgrades menu item. WordPress.com upgrades are the last thing that should be accessible when managing or quickly accessing a WordPress.org powered site.

Quick Dashboard Access

Instead of hiding the site’s dashboard link behind a gear icon, it should be added next to Stats and Customize.

The Gear Icon

During further testing, I discovered that the gear icon has a link to select the site. However, if you allow the user to select the site by clicking anywhere within the tile and a link to the dashboard is added to the tile along with Stats and Customize, the Gear icon can disappear. This saves users at least one mouse click to access the dashboard to whatever site they choose.

I’m no genius, but I am a user and this is what my experience is like using the new “My Sites” interface. It’s a work in progress like everything else on WordPress.com so I’m sure it will improve in due time.

Is It WP Or MT

If it weren’t for the Welcome To Movable Type text, I wouldn’t believe it. Mark has created a Movable Type plugin which mimics the WordPress back end in almost every way. Why was this done you may ask? According to Mark, this was more of a joke than anything else, but the plugin is real and it helped to prove a point that alternative interfaces could be created for MT with little effort required.

MovableTypeWordPressDashboard

Based on the comments thus far, many people are impressed as well as shocked to see such an accurate rendition of the WordPress back end on Movable Type. Although Mark obviously prefers to use MT as his platform of choice, he undoubtedly has a soft spot in his heart for the clean, slim lined WordPress back end which after the release of WordPress 2.5, may not exist anymore.

At any rate, I was just as shocked as anyone else to see these screenshots as well as the demo. No need to be upset, although there does appear to be a rivalry between the two platforms. Aaron Brazell, a big WordPress fan himself of B5Media chimed in on the design and he said it was cool. I think likewise and I hope the comments on that MT plugin continue to be positive and not end up turning into a flame war.

If you want to see a live demo of this plugin in action, check out MT-WP BackEnd Demo (username: demo password: demo)

Please let me know what you think of this plugin and it’s similarities.

Resource For UI Design Patterns

UIPAtternDesignLogo

If you are an application developer chances are, you have to deal with the User Interface. UI Patterns is a website that contains a number of solutions to common user interface design problems. The site goes into detail as to why, when and how a particular solution should be used.

it is the goal to create a tool that will help end feature debates, get a clear understanding of why we’re doing what we’re doing, and why we’re not doing what we’re not doing.

According to UI Patterns:

It has long been common practice in software design to use libraries of recurring solutions to solve common problems in software design. Such solutions are also called design patterns as described by legendary books.

Collections of software design patterns are standard reference points for the experienced programmer. But why not for the experienced User Interface (UI) designer? This website seeks to better the situation for the UI designer, who struggles with the same problems as many other UI designers have struggled with before him.

Some of the problems the site already covers are Tags, Tag Clouds, WYSIWYG, Live Previews, Wiki’s and more. If you have ever wanted to get into User Interface design or if you’re already an experienced UI designer, this site should be an excellent resource for you to use when you’re in a jam.