[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #22058: Improve custom background properties UI

[WordPress Trac]

#22058: Improve custom background properties UI
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 Reporter:  grapplerulrich           |       Owner:
     Type:  enhancement              |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                   |   Milestone:  Future Release
Component:  Customize                |     Version:  3.4.2
 Severity:  normal                   |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-patch has-ui-        |     Focuses:  ui, accessibility,
  feedback needs-testing has-        |  administration
  screenshots                        |
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Comment (by celloexpressions):

 I will note that the proposal I posted above was based on a problem
 identified by observing inexperienced users, via my work at the
 [http://annenbergdl.org USC Annenberg Digital Lounge], and the proposed UI
 is inspired by other projects we've completed in that context for these
 very non-technical users.

 However, based on the discussion above, there are a lot of problems with
 moving toward a more visual interface. WordPress.com uses icons now, but
 they present the same challenges as the version I posted, with graphical
 representations that may or may not be clearer for users, and resulting
 accessibility challenges (regardless of the actual markup used). We could
 also nitpick the exact UI - there are other dashicons that would perhaps
 work better, and I would be concerned about touch accessibility - but
 despite being considerably different visually, the UI structure is the
 same and has the same problems. Namely, the functionality is ambiguous but
 not necessarily worse than the current technical text labels.

 Taking a step back, my goal for this ticket is to find a more usable
 balance between the background property options and an ideal user
 experience. After some thought, I'm increasingly thinking that the theme
 should be responsible for ''all'' background properties, with only the
 image being customizable through UI in the customizer. In the rare cases
 that something else is needed, it can be accomplished with custom CSS via
 #35395.

 Rather than forcing users to decide, theme should set default background-
 position, background-size, background-repeat, and background-attachment
 values in their CSS based on the intended use of backgrounds in the theme.
 If a theme is designed for a tiled texture background, it probably
 wouldn't make sense for a user to replace this with a full-screen fixed
 photograph, and vice-versa. This approach would also improve the way
 custom backgrounds are used with respect to themes, and but the decisions
 back on theme designers, where they should be. Right now, many themes seem
 to add custom background support for the sake of it, without considering
 whether a custom background will look good with the rest of the theme
 design.

 As @FolioVision and I discussed earlier in this ticket, the path to
 removing these options may be difficult, but if we really want to we could
 try to make it happen.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/22058#comment:42>
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