Upgrade to Pro — share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …

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

Monique Dubbelman
September 02, 2017

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/

Monique Dubbelman

September 02, 2017
Tweet

More Decks by Monique Dubbelman

Other Decks in Design

Transcript

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

    View Slide

  2. View Slide

  3. View Slide

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

    View Slide

  5. View Slide

  6. View Slide

  7. Now what?

    View Slide

  8. Is WordPress for everybody?

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  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/

    View Slide

  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/

    View Slide

  12. How do plugin developers think?

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  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)

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  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)

    View Slide

  20. View Slide

  21. Is the outcome of this research
    representative?
    No

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide

  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?

    View Slide

  26. Where do we go from here?

    View Slide

  27. “Navigation said: turn right"

    View Slide

  28. View Slide

  29. View Slide

  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

    View Slide

  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

    View Slide

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

    View Slide