[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #27159: Removing TinyMCE buttons to improve user experience

[WordPress Trac]

#27159: Removing TinyMCE buttons to improve user experience
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 Reporter:  hugobaeta                            |       Owner:
     Type:  enhancement                          |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                               |   Milestone:  4.7
Component:  TinyMCE                              |     Version:  3.8
 Severity:  normal                               |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  needs-patch needs-screenshots        |     Focuses:  ui,
  needs-research needs-user-testing              |  administration
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Comment (by mrwweb):

 Replying to [comment:47 mor10]:

 > My proposal would be to disable it by default, and then provide a filter
 theme / plugin devs can use to reintroduce it where necessary.

 The `formatselect` can already be filtered in
 [https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Filter_Reference/tiny_mce_before_init
 tiny_mce_before_init] The theme omitting H1 feels edge-casey enough that
 this seems sufficient.

 > 3. I oppose removing any of the buttons currently in the editor because
 a) people (devs and users) rely on them, and b) they all serve a relevant
 function. We can argue until the cows come home about the value of each of
 the existing buttons, but in the end what we have is an already heavily
 pruned list of features that people are used to. Further reduction of the
 list doesn't seem to improve UX in any significant way in my opinion.

 At least in my mind, removing buttons can improve the UX for the editor OR
 site visitor in cases. The full justification is the easiest example as
 this undeniably decreases the readability of text.

 > 5. Specifically to the question of Underline: An underline is
 semantically different from an underlined link, functioning as a further
 emphasis. You can underline normal, bold, and italicized text as well as
 text links. Theme developers can and should style a standard underline in
 a different way from a link underline. They should also ensure a link is
 not solely signified by an underline.

 I don't disagree in theory but I almost never see themes implementing a
 nice underline style that is visually distinct (I have no doubt yours
 does! 😜). Further, I most commonly see people underline headings and then
 I see users frustrated by trying to click them. This is one of those cases
 where I feel like theory loses out to practice.

 And similar to above, the `mce_button` filters are super easy to use. I
 think it would be positive to put some pressure on themes to only include
 an editor button if they provide styles to warrant it. (This probably has
 some pretty bad theme-switching experience downsides, but then again, so
 does changing font colors...)

 > 6. @iseulde, I understand the idea of reducing the width of `formselect`
 by only displaying "H", but this field is already somewhat mysterious to
 the end-user, and I fear such a change would make it ununderstandable.

 '''Strongly agree.'''

 > 7. Any removal of a feature, to be provided only as a shortcut, is
 effectively a full removal of the feature...If a feature is not visible in
 the UI, the user will assume the feature does not exist.

 ...unless they were "Power Users" or previous users. My own experience
 working with people suggests that removing buttons isn't missed unless
 they knew they were there before. Given that much of the concern over
 removing buttons is regarding existing users, this feels like an
 acceptable alternative that improves the experience for new users.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/27159#comment:62>
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