Dear WordPress community, we've turned WP-admin into a monster!

A few events recently occurred: a WordPress developer posted a screenshot on Twitter of the WP Admin of a website he’d just taken over. It was also the day I handed over a site to one of my clients. While I was explaining them where to find what in WP Admin, it struck me: there seemed to be no logic in a lot of the menu-items at all!

While we’ve all been busy designing websites with a focus on the front end, we seemed to have lost track of usability when developing extra functionality for the back end of WordPress, WP Admin. New menu items created by plugins, seem to be all over the place, not to mention the notifications that come with them.

Even though most of us are working with WordPress on a daily basis, taking over a website developed by another company isn’t always easy. So imagine what it is like for someone with less experience.

This presentation is a first analyses on the WP admin of a WordPress website, that has the most popular plugins installed. It also presents findings of research done amongst plugin developers, on how they decide how and where the menu of a plugin should appear. Finally, I’m encouraging WP Admin users to participate in an online user test, that will help us to create a foundation for a more user friendly WP Admin.

*This presentation was part of a lightning talk I held on WordCamp Nijmegen, September 2, 2017.
https://2017.nijmegen.wordcamp.org/session/dear-wordpress-community-weve-turned-wp-admin-into-a-monster/
The video is on WordPress.tv
https://wordpress.tv/2017/10/14/monique-dubbelman-dear-wordpress-community-weve-turned-wp-admin-into-a-monster/

Transcript

1. Dear WordPress community
   We’ve turned WP-admin into a monster!
   Monique Dubbelman
   @boemedia
   

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4. WordPress admin in 2003. Image source: http://www.wpbeginner.com/showcase/evolution-of-wordpress-user-interface-2003-2009/
   

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7. Now what?
   

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8. Is WordPress for everybody?
   

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9. https://wordpress.org/about/philosophy/
   

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10. We love to challenge ourselves
    and simplify tasks in ways
    that are positive
    for the overall WordPress
    user experience.
    https://wordpress.org/about/philosophy/
    

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11. Every version of
    WordPress should be
    easier and more
    enjoyable to use than
    the last.
    We love to challenge ourselves
    and simplify tasks in ways
    that are positive
    for the overall WordPress
    user experience.
    https://wordpress.org/about/philosophy/
    

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12. How do plugin developers think?
    

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13. Some Figures & first findings
    Our plugin developers are experienced (yay!)
    The majority of the respondents works with WordPress for more than 5 years.
    

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14. On average, most plugin developers have
    1-3 plugins in the WordPress directory
    

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15. When you develop a plugin, do you think
    about where you implement your menu items?
    

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16. “Integration with WordPress
    is more important than
    own company branding”
    

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17. There are 2 plugin style guides, but the majority
    of the plugin devs hasn’t heard of these.
    Helen Hou-Sandi has created one (https://github.com/helen/wp-style-guide).
    The other one is by Frank Bültge (https://github.com/bueltge/WordPress-Admin-Style)
    

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18. Do you think the labels of the core
    menu items of WP Admin make sense?
    Extra, Tools and Appearance are sometimes unclear
    

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19. WordPress notification system is used by the majority
    Mostly for settings of the plugin, saving data or after an update.
    (But: 26,3% uses it as a marketing tool as well)
    

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21. Is the outcome of this research
    representative?
    No
    

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22. Is the outcome of this research
    representative?
    No
    Should it be?
    

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23. Is the outcome of this research
    representative?
    No
    Should it be?
    No
    

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24. With the incredible amount of available plugins,
    how much do you think the usability
    of Admin Area could be improved by restructuring?
    

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25. If only one person thinks it could be improved, it’s worth improving
    With the incredible amount of available plugins,
    how much do you think the usability
    of Admin Area could be improved by restructuring?
    

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26. Where do we go from here?
    

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27. “Navigation said: turn right"
    

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30. Future goals for greater usability
    (Some thoughts…)
    better onboarding via email series or tooltips
    more intuitive grouping of admin tasks
    better guidance (checklist?) for plugin devs on how to create
    a plugin with an intuitive
    

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31. this research might first lead to creation
    of a (new?) plugin that gives WordPress
    website creators more flexibility on
    structure, functionality and look and feel
    per user

    Plugin Admin menu editor can do this for you already 

    … that eventually will be integrated in
    core as an out-of-the-box feature in WP-
    admin
    

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32. Monique Dubbelman
    Twitter & Slack: @boemedia mo@boemedia.nl
    Plugin developer questionnaire can be found at http://bit.do/wp-admin
    Please share, or more important: fill it out!
    

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