Please Reinstate the Option of Choice to Use the Old Publishing Format
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This is a dysfunctional dialogue. Users talk to Volunteers, who shield WordPress from a lot of what it should be hearing directly and allow it to exist in a rarefied world of its own, who refer things to Staff, who might or might not talk to Developers, who might or might not get it.
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Dear Forums,
I recently attempted to edit one of my recent articles, only to be taken to the new editor. There used to be an option to switch to classic mode, however that seems to have been removed. I may not be looking in the right place for the option to switch to the classic mode. If I am not seeing that option, please point me to where it is on the new editor? Thank you.If you have removed the option to switch to classic mode, please reinstate an option to switch to the classic editor.
Thank you.
Craig
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Thank you Timethief,
I appreciate you taking the time to explain what you have with me. I do not know if you are saying there is an option to prevent going to the new editor — and instead opening to the new editor. I would like to have that option so that I can go immediately to classic editor, instead of defaulting to the new editor.With all the UPROAR when the new editor was launched — I am amazed that more people did not use the switch to classic mode button — unless they did not know that that option existed.
MANY, MANY, MANY people, based on the LONG stream of comments at the launch were very DISGRUNTLED that staff were, is essence; making people use the new editor. That is why they (staff) gave the option to revert to the classic mode in the side bar of the new editor at the time.
Please ask staff to reinstall the classic button option in the new editor. Thank you.
Please send this comment along with the above stream to staff. Thank you for your time and kindness timethief.
Have a great day my friend.
Craig
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Hi everyone,
Thanks for your comments and feedback so far. While it may seem like we’re ignoring feedback (since thinks like revisions aren’t making an immediate comeback), I promise we are listening and reading every post here.
Two points of clarification:
Regarding saving in the New Editor…
I’ve seen several users allude to the fact that the the New Editor only saves in the browser. This is not true. The save function works similarly to the Classic Editor. When you press “Save,” the page/post is saved.
The main difference is in how the Autosave functionality works. In the New Editor, when you start a post or page, we automatically save the post in local storage within your browser. So, if you never save a post and then close your browser for some reason, the post should still be there when you open the New Editor for the same post/page.
Regarding the change in design/shift in links away from wp-admin…
The goal is to allow users to manage all of their sites simply from one central hub, including both WordPress.com sites and self-hosted sites. Andy has a great post on that describing some of the other features here:
For specifics, please see below:
What do you suggest I do about the theme based options which are essential to my blogs but are not available in the new editor?
I know the wp-admin option isn’t the greatest solution in the world, and I apologize. For now, that’s the only way you’ll be able to access these theme-based options.
The bottom line is WP is going to do what WP is going to do. I’m moving on to trying to understand exactly what we’re getting, not getting and how – if at all – WP is attempting to solve and serve us.
The above shift may help to explain this a bit. To reiterate, the wp-admin link is not getting taken away so you can continue to use that at any time.
The Post Revisions support page also indicated that the limit of revisions is 25. Has the limit been changed or discarded recently?
Post Revisions are limited to the latest 25 revisions.
You can’t seriously try to tell me that going to the customizer to check or modify my widgets is a valid alternative to going directly to the widgets page.
Could you explain why? What widget-specific features are missing from the Customizer that leads you to prefer wp-admin?
Regarding the workflow you described
You mention that we’re now asking you to open up another tab to view your media library, edit/add links, edit menus, etc. Currently, don’t you still have to do that when editing a post in wp-admin or are you just doing it all in the same window and then eventually clicking back to the post?
It’s more than that. WHILE I’m composing posts I often open my media library, the feedback section, comments, or another post or page in a new tab to check, copy or update something. In the classic editor those options are right there on the screen and it takes me a single click to access them, and the new screen that opens still has the exact same sidebar and basic layout as the main screen I’m working on, so I go on without missing a beat.
It sounds like you’re describing a similar workflow to musicdoc1 in that, while you’re editing a page, you save it for a second and then do some actions in the same window before returning. Is that correct? What if you open the New Editor in a new window and then use the other tab to edit your site? Wouldn’t that be easier than moving off of the post and then back within the same window?
1) there’s no way to switch off the excerpt view so you can actually see more than two posts at a time
Correct.
2) there’s no way to filter posts by date or category
Correct again. In the future, our goal is to bring tag/category management into the new interface you see at WordPress.com.
3) there’s no quick edit or bulk edit capability.
Great point. That’s on our list!
ever since we found out that it only saves to one’s browser
Please see the top of this post!
@kauilapele
There are no screen options anywhere
Can you let me know specifically what options you’re looking for in the Screen Options menu? What items are missing that you’re trying to enable/disable?
“Blog Posts” each post in the list takes up 2-3 inches, compared to the “older” posts page, which has an easy-to-scan list of at least 6-8 posts viewable on the screen.
Correct – currently, there is no way to remove the excerpt post view.
the same data has to be entered repeatedly
Can you let me know what data you’re having to enter repeatedly within the New Editor?
the page set up with the draft to the right is not intuitive
This mimics both the classic editor (menu on left) and the rest of WordPress.com (menu on left). Could you elaborate on what specifically isn’t intuitive? Is the button placement not where you would think given the menu placement?
This is a dysfunctional dialogue. Users talk to Volunteers, who shield WordPress from a lot of what it should be hearing directly and allow it to exist in a rarefied world of its own, who refer things to Staff, who might or might not talk to Developers, who might or might not get it.
To clarify, I am a staff member at Automattic/WordPress.com, and this feedback is being compiled and sent directly to developers who care deeply about the end product. Please don’t confuse the fact that your wishes are immediately being acted upon to mean that we aren’t reading or listening to your feedback.
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But what a lot of work, Jeremey! I hate to refer to Apple, but they don’t have these endless conversations and have a far more complex platform to manage. Thanks though.
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I agree. The new format is trash. It’s annoying the hell out of me. Why can’t these companies just leave things alone and fix the things that don’t work instead of changing the things that do – like the ridiculous 1.5 inches of space between a video and the title on the media bar on 2014 so that the title for the previous vid appears bang up close to the next one! If they don’t do something about all this no choice but to consider going somewhere else.
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I agree. The new format is utter trash. It's annoying the hell out of me. Why can't these companies just leave things alone and fix the things that don't work instead of changing the things that do – like the ridiculous 1.5 inches of space between a video and the title on the media bar on 2014 so that the title for the previous vid appears bang up close to the next one!If they don't do something about all this I will be forced to consider going somewhere else.
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@jeremylduvall – Thanks, a little more clear. And more obvious that there are things that this forum – and now you – agree should to be fixed.
So . . . at the appropriate time, could you issue a clear list of what’s on the WP “planning to fix” roster, and itemize the things that WP has firmly decided not to change.
Your work in itemizing bugs and answering specific posters’ comments is helpful, but it would be beneficial if we could understand in one clear swoop exactly what’s going to happen.
I realize some of it is still in flux, but whenever it’s possible?
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@jeremeylduvall – Howdy! With all the discussion, perhaps you overlooked my feedback about the hijacking of editing/posting links here: https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/please-reinstate-the-option-of-choice-to-use-the-old-publishing-format/page/7?replies=290#post-2314945
I’d appreciate Staff’s response as to how that situation will be handled in the future.
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So . . . at the appropriate time, could you issue a clear list of what’s on the WP “planning to fix” roster, and itemize the things that WP has firmly decided not to change.
I’m ready for that list right now.
We have had more than a year of this new editor implementation and development being foisted upon us WordPress.COM guinea pigs under the label of improving our blogging experience. Removing the link to the classic editor from the new editor is the last straw for me.
IMO it’s long past time for us end users to be told the truth straight up:
What is the master plan for the new editor and what is the completion timeline for it?
Exactly (names please) who are these mysterious developers? Are they on WordPress.COM staff? Or are they contractors?
If they are contractors then how much are they being paid to ruin our desktop blogging experience while compelling us to communicate via Happiness Engineers, who appear to be charged with filtering our end user feedback to them?
Why are these developers not reading our end user direct feedback in these threads and removing all filtering by Happiness Engineers out of the feedback loop?
What’s next?
When will we end users be receiving a cheque as payment for the inconvenience and stress caused by our unwitting and unwilling participation in assisting those who remain unknown to us, to develop features like the new editor, while being encouraged to purchase upgrades. As if!
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So, if you never save a post and then close your browser for some reason, the post should still be there when you open the New Editor for the same post/page.
It would, unless you clear your browser’s data, which I tend to do often.
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@jeremeylduvall
As I asked earlier, what possible harm can reinstating the switch do, apart from someone losing face? -
You can’t seriously try to tell me that going to the customizer to check or modify my widgets is a valid alternative to going directly to the widgets page.
Could you explain why? What widget-specific features are missing from the Customizer that leads you to prefer wp-admin?
We can start with the fact that the Customize page takes about ten to twenty times longer to load than does the Widgets page on my primary site.
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@jeremeyduvall,
I said,The Post Revisions support page also indicate[s] that the limit of revisions is 25. Has the limit been changed or discarded recently?
You said,
Post Revisions are limited to the latest 25 revisions.
The post revisions support page says the limit is 25, but that is not the case. In a post in this topic published yesterday, shoreacres said,
In my last post, a poem, I had 44 revisions…
I often will have well over 100 revisions. On long-form posts, or topics that continue over several posts, I can have as many as 200 revisions.As I explained in my comments following the cited post by shoreacres, since I typically do most of my editing in pages, where the limit is still 25, I hadn’t noticed that the number of revisions was different for posts. It seems to have been changed recently, because I would have noticed it long before now had it always been significantly different.
The suggestion by shoreacres that at least 200 revisions were possible on posts led me to check into the matter. On the first post looked at I counted 47 revisions — it now has 50 — while every page I checked still had 25. -
ever heard the phrase: ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’? i have an imaginary view of your office filled with nerds who need to justify their existence so each morning they say to each other: what shall we fuck up today?
leave the fucking site alone! better still go back to the original. it worked perfectly well until you wankers started messing with it!!!!! -
@jeremeyduvall,
What if you open the New Editor in a new window and then use the other tab to edit your site? Wouldn’t that be easier than moving off of the post and then back within the same window?
It can be done as you suggest, keeping a separate tab or window open to the classic dashboard, or any of the classic pages which include the sidebar menu, but how is that easier than having immediate access to the same tools on the working page (the post editor)? In either case you’ll be “moving off the post” at some point to work elsewhere on the site, but this fails to acknowledge the arguments for the more facile and timely access to the sidebar features with the classic editor/sidebar combo made by kokkieh, who said,
In the classic editor those options are right there on the screen and it takes me a single click to access them, and the new screen that opens still has the exact same sidebar and basic layout as the main screen I’m working on, so I go on without missing a beat.
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@aliceharding
like the ridiculous 1.5 inches of space between a video and the title on the media bar on 2014 so that the title for the previous vid appears bang up close to the next one!
This sounds like a separate issue entirely. Can you please email help@wordpress.com with a link so we can take a look? This sounds like a theme-related issue.
So . . . at the appropriate time, could you issue a clear list of what’s on the WP “planning to fix” roster, and itemize the things that WP has firmly decided not to change.
Yes, I will try to post something like this.
With all the discussion, perhaps you overlooked my feedback about the hijacking of editing/posting links here: https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/please-reinstate-the-option-of-choice-to-use-the-old-publishing-format/page/7?replies=290#post-2314945
Sorry – didn’t mean to ignore it. The Edit links will continue to change to point to the New Editor. If you click Edit underneath a new post, you will be taken to the New Editor. “Add” buttons will also be taking you to the New Editor. We currently do not plan to add a preference setting that would allow users to change the direction of these links.
What is the master plan for the new editor and what is the completion timeline for it?
Exactly (names please) who are these mysterious developers? Are they on WordPress.COM staff? Or are they contractors?
Why are these developers not reading our end user direct feedback in these threads and removing all filtering by Happiness Engineers out of the feedback loop?
WordPress.com is moving in a direction that will allow users to manage multiple sites from one central location. The end result will be faster and easier to use while also working across any setting (mobile, desktop, tablet, etc). The road won’t be perfect, and there will be bumps along the way. But, we’re going to continue to iterate and adjust. Like any web project, we’ll continue to tinker so I don’t have a guaranteed finish date for you, but we’ll continue to launch new pieces as we have here:
To your question regarding who is behind the project, we have over 300 staff members all working on this new, improved WordPress.com together (including myself). You can see them all listed on this page.
Our Developers do get your feedback, many times the exact text from copy and paste. Often times, they’ll read through forum threads after a launch to get a feel for overall feedback. They’ve even read through posts here in this very thread. All meaningful feedback is getting sent to them; I promise.
We can start with the fact that the Customize page takes about ten to twenty times longer to load than does the Widgets page on my primary site.
I have a sense that you might be exaggerating, but please let me know if not. It certainly shouldn’t take 10 times longer. I did some rough comparisons, and they both took 3-4 seconds to load on my side.
The suggestion by shoreacres that at least 200 revisions were possible on posts led me to check into the matter. On the first post looked at I counted 47 revisions — it now has 50 — while every page I checked still had 25.
I just double-checked this on a post on a test site. While the revisions link said “25+”, only 25 revisions were recorded. Could you link me to the post where you have 47 revisions?
It can be done as you suggest, keeping a separate tab or window open to the classic dashboard, or any of the classic pages which include the sidebar menu, but how is that easier than having immediate access to the same tools on the working page (the post editor)? In either case you’ll be “moving off the post” at some point to work elsewhere on the site, but this fails to acknowledge the arguments for the more facile and timely access to the sidebar features with the classic editor/sidebar combo made by kokkieh
I understand the point of view you’re mentioning. My counterpoint was that if you’re already going to open two windows (unless you plan on leaving your post page), why not leave this page open:
Then, launch the New Editor in a new tab? Wouldn’t that be similar to having the Classic Editor open and then launching your Widgets page in a new tab?
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@jeremeyduvall,
Thanks for your responses above.You forgot to tell us when we can expect to receive pain and suffering cheques for unwittingly becoming guinea pigs and enduring unannounced, unnecessary and unwelcome changes that have ruined our enjoyment of our blogging experience.
No I am not kidding.
IMO any outfit that cannot set up volunteer BETA testers and puts all their end users throw this living hell ought to think again and provide us with cheques or free upgrades.
P.S. I like and all the Staff very much but I absolutely HATE being treated like this.
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