On Thursday, the WordPress team released version 2.7 of the blogging app used by yours truly. I couldn’t help but rush towards upgrading this weekend to see the management interface.
It’s a fairly big jump in layout even compared to the changes brought to us by version 2.6. I love how they choose the changes by way of user survey, however I’m interested in how much people actually like the interface once it’s in use. In my field I have noticed that people have a tendency to like a concept in design or in presentation, however once they actually use that concept their feelings can change drastically. Only time will tell…
Time to go get used to this new interface…
My clients are not going to be happy. They just get used to one layout, and now everything is in a different place.
I like them to be comfortable editing their own pages, and this constant churn isn’t good for them.
From the stand point of WordPress being provided to those who don’t have an understand of web development, I can completely understand. Whether it’s a web page or an application, changing the interface always brings a learning curve that can cause a lot of anxiety for those who don’t intuitively have the ability to use those apps.
However, my developer side kicks in, and on that side of the fence I’m always interested in trying to improve the interface so that it is easy to user or has a ‘natural flow’. In this case of WordPress 2.7, while things have been re-arrange pretty drastically, I think they’ve created a little better work flow. If anything, providing the major content changes as always available toolbar items, as opposed to having to go to the “Manage” section is a big improvement.
That being said though, one of my toughest critics is my wife, and she has not used it yet. I’m still interested in seeing how she reacts to the new interface…