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.

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.