Editor Suggestions
-
Having used the “new and improved editor” a few times for both new Posts and editing older Posts I have some suggestions to make things work better. Some of these were suggested in the rants thread (https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/removing-the-scrollbar-from-the-post-editor-one-of-the-worst-improvements-yet?replies=254) and I am afraid they might have gotten lost.
1) Please allow the “Save / Preview / Update” box to be pined at the top so it does not scroll off the screen. Paging back to the top to save or preview really sucks and causes me to loose my place in the text. All regular word processing programs have the save “pinned” at the top of the editor.
2) Get rid of the real annoying jump to the top of the Post every time Save or Update is clicked – the jump has been a “feature” here for some time
3) Keep my place in the text when switching between Visual & Text editing views. Seems to work that way some of the time so maybe I just missed the secret handshake some of the time.
4) I don’t care much about pinning the Category & Tag options, I tag at the start and at the end of the writing, however I know that some people do tag while writing – I don’t know if Inline tagging works outside of o2 – might be worth thinking about adding inline tagging for all if it is not a current feature
Thanks
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
-
Seconded!
I love WordPress but the last years’ worth of changes seemingly aimed to pander to mobile and tablet users have NOT improved my desktop blogging experience a single iota. By analogy the desktop blogging experience for me here has become like competing in a trackmeet. I am fed up with the hoop jumping marathon I have to go through to publish a post. I tested this in a private Blogger blog and found it was a breeze to publish the same post there in 1/3 of the time it took to publish the same content in a private blog here. Now that’s embarrassing, isn’t it?
Please, please, please consider these constructive suggestions for actual improvement that auxclass has shared above.
-
-
I first, second, and third, plus hardily applaud, Mike’s suggestions to make the edit window more elegantly useful for all bloggers.
1. Save, preview, update—these are necessary for all bloggers to use as they write. They need to be easily accessible at all times. They could be pinned to the top, or stylishly accessible via a slide-out module as some of the menus and sidebars are in some of the newest premium themes.
2. The jump-back-to-the-top after an update or save has long been annoying. I have constantly used FireFox’s find feature to get back to the place I’d been working on. It’s always seemed a sloppy design to be forced to resort to that.
3. I’ve used other interfaces where moving from html to visual editors allow one to remain in the same place in the edit windows. That made changing editor windows an efficient way to see what code edits were doing without having to wait for an update/preview/find your place again.
4. The category and tag options modules are less important than the featured image module. So many of the newest themes, both free and premium, require setting a featured image. Having the category, tag, and select featured image modules easily available would be a streamlined way for bloggers on Word Press to use all of the wonderful features.
-
Agreed, all of the above especially #4.
Now, we all know the New Post button is the Fail button. So I am cautious about making this suggestion, yet nonetheless if it could be made WITHOUT partaking of Fail, it would be great:
5) We could move the Save/Publish button (among other functions) to the grey admin bar, could we not? In fact, there’s a shit-ton of wasted space on that bar from a user perspective. My stats now accordion out when I hover over them. Why do I need that? Why does WP.com need eight inches of blank space in my Admin bar?
6) and while we’re at it, why can’t we have the admin bar on the stats page? Like, is the idea we’re supposed to hang out in Statslandia for hours and never want to re-connect with the actual blog?
-
While I’m at it, how awesome would it be if the Admin bar were as configurable as a Bookmarks bar. Seems stupid I have to put Dashboard->Posts->All Posts in my bookmarks bar because I go there ten times a day. Again I say, what’s the point of all the blank space?
-
Great suggestions, everyone.
I do like the idea of having a customizable admin bar or sidebar. I also place frequently used pages like New Post, Drafts, etc. on my browser’s toolbar.
Having the Publish, Categories, and Tags modules pinned would help us who write longer posts.
-
Statslandia! I’m booking my next vacation there…
But really, there seem to be at least two different bars which each function as admin bars. The real one is black, and the other one is blue with a pencil sort of icon, an orange “comment” box, and the gravatar for your main site. http://en.wordpress.com/themes/type/premium/
Oh wait, there are two different black ones!!!! http://theme.wordpress.com/themes/organization/
My head is beginning to spin. Oh Alice, drrink this; eat this; she has often seen a cat without a grin but never a grin without a cat
-
@ auxclass et al
Some good ideas suggested here folks. I’ll join the conversation ASAP. Too late now.
Just a couple of things @ raincoaster for now:
While I’m at it, how awesome would it be if the Admin bar were as configurable as a Bookmarks bar. Seems stupid I have to put Dashboard->Posts->All Posts in my bookmarks bar because I go there ten times a day. Again I say, what’s the point of all the blank space?
Like it. I’ve got a lot of links to my site in bookmarks, too. But what about the admin bar on top, above the editor toolbar, or even above the title. Miles of space up there.
BTW
The old stats page is still available. I use mine daily (bookmarked) and very seldom ever visit the new stats page. The old one’s found in the dashboard drop-down list of the admin bar, and the new one in the WordPress logo drop-down list.site stats (old): https://your site URL/wp-admin/index.php?page=stats
site stats (new): https://wordpress.com/my-stats/ -
Re: admin bar on top,
On second thought, no, that wouldn’t work since that area gets squeezed when you scroll down, leaving little room above the toolbar with the four add buttons, etc.. -
Add me to the list of those who vote in favor of (all) the suggestions, especially 1, 3, 4 & 6.
-
Update:
Hi there,
The pinning of some elements found in the Publish box has been discussed by our developers and is being considered. I will keep you guys updated on this one. Thank you!
https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/removing-the-scrollbar-from-the-post-editor-one-of-the-worst-improvements-yet/page/11?replies=303#post-1971212 -
-
@ raincoaster,
5) We could move the Save/Publish button (among other functions) to the grey admin bar, could we not? In fact, there’s a shit-ton of wasted space on that bar from a user perspective. My stats now accordion out when I hover over them. Why do I need that? Why does WP.com need eight inches of blank space in my Admin bar?
Questions:
- Where’s the “grey admin” bar? Thought you were referring to the left-hand vertical admin panel. Now I wonder.
- Wasted space where? Do you mean below the post title, but above the toolbar? This might be a good place to add buttons such as “save” and “update,” but then you’d have to pin that area too. Why not put them in the toolbar, which has sufficient room available and which is already pinned?
- “My stats now accordion out when I hover over them. Why do I need that?” Where? Stats at the post editor page? Mini stats at top?
-
Sorry, forgot to add the quotation marks or quote box. Raincoaster had previously said,
5) We could move the Save/Publish button (among other functions) to the grey admin bar, could we not? In fact, there’s a shit-ton of wasted space on that bar from a user perspective. My stats now accordion out when I hover over them. Why do I need that? Why does WP.com need eight inches of blank space in my Admin bar?
-
@ auxclass, On your four suggestions:
- “Save / Preview / Update” pinned at the top of editor window — Seems like a popular and useful idea. For some users, though, just those three buttons added to the toolbar, which has room and is already pinned, would suffice.
- “Get rid of the real annoying jump to the top of the Post” — Very interesting idea. It’s always done that since I’ve been using WP, almost 6 years. Can it be done?
When you save or update. any edits made go into effect, but you’re also creating a revision. The page is revised or left the same, and refreshed. I can’t recall refreshing a page anywhere on the web where the action didn’t take you to the top of the page. Essentially you’re asking for the ability to a. save an edit, b. create a revision, and c. update the post without refreshing the page. - “Keep my place in the text when switching between Visual & Text editing views.” — I tested this on a draft post containing only text. The position changes a bit between visual and text modes, but the reason seems to be largely due to the spacing between characters in words, between words, etc. In text mode, though the characters are smaller (thinner) with my settings, they are more spread out. There is more space between characters. That effect elongates the post.
So there is a slight difference when switching from visual to text mode near the top of a long post, but the difference gradually increases as you go down the post. - Pinning Category & Tag modules or Inline tagging — I’ll confess that I’ve no idea what inline tagging is. Regarding pinning the category and tag modules: I often copy and paste tags from my text, but I seldom do more than one new post per week, so I’d consider it a minor issue. Seldom use more than two or three categories. For those who add tags and categories to posts daily, or say several times per week, the time spent unnecessarily scrolling would be magnified, and likely more frustrating. Why not pin those modules, too?
-
4) yes pining other things is an option, as are check boxes in the Screen Options section to selectively pin modules – one problem with pinning too many things is that the height of a users browser might not be enough to show everything –
As to even having Tags or whatever – my suggestion was based on my writing style and usage – then please note that I also made reference to others needing different requirements – and others have pitched in with the different ways they write –
Inline tagging is using a short code of some sort to insert a tag directly into the text which is then converted to a Tag – it is an option on o2 but I have never used it (I spell very badly & I try for a uniformity of tags for some of my Posts) – o2 is in Beta test now but it is a Theme more suited for project management (which I am using if for) or live blogging of events (auto forced update to visitors) – than normal writing – it is a bit like P2 if you want to check out the look of it – Posts can be made from the front main page – no need to go to the edit page.
This is the o2 site I am testing: https://div2projects.wordpress.com/ – since you are not a logged in user on it – you will not see the make a Post box at the top of the page –
-
Posts can be made from the front main page – no need to go to the edit page.
Like the idea. Will check it out.
-
@ auxclass,
Re: Your editor suggestion “2) Get rid of the real annoying jump to the top of the Post”:
Reconsidering my original response. When we submit comments here, in a window similar to (though with few editing options than) the post editor window, the page is updated without the page landing us back at the top of the page. I don’t know though if this can be done though while creating a time stamped revision.
- The topic ‘Editor Suggestions’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 