[wp-hackers] Compose Screen

[Owen Winkler]

Scott Merrill wrote:
> I was thinking how most posts are displayed on blogs:
>    Post title, published @ timestamp by so-and-so
>    in the following categories

My published posts wouldn't be organized visually the same as everyone 
else's.  We wouldn't want to change the Write page for every theme. 
Best to organize the page by most significant details on top (title, 
content) and move everything else down or off to the side.

>>* The categories could use a new category input box.
> 
> Great! Mock one up so I can see what you mean.

I would like to see this, too.  Something would be nice that didn't 
display every category all the time, or could be dual-purposed for 
categories and tags, should a plugin (or core code) support tagging.

>>* The 'existing timestamp' note needs to go; the existing timestamp is
>>the timestamp in the date/time form.

What was the original reason for showing this?  Anyone know?

>>Right now, you have
>>
>>[Draft/Page/Post] | Save |
>>
>>I'd do
>>
>>[Draft/Published/Private] [Page/Post] | Save |

Which would be fine except that there isn't (currently) a 
differentiation between a Draft Page and a Draft Post.  There really 
doesn't need to be.

Incidentally, this quirk of UI would allow you to swiftly move a Post to 
a Page, which is a feature I like.

As mentioned in the original note though, Pages will need to be 
categorized.  The user should be allowed to choose a Page Parent for a 
new Page.

> How many folks are using private posts?  I don't entirely understand the
> value of private posts.

I use private posts often.  I use it when I want to write something that 
only I can read, which is useful since I use my blog not only as a 
public exhibition, but as a pseudo-diary as well.

> Maybe if we could roll in "user levels" with private posts, we could
> keep "Draft / Page / Post", and introduce a new control to set the
> minimum level required to see the post / page.

There are plugins that get most of this done.  For example: 
http://fortes.com/2005/01/22/introducingpostlevels/

Remember, if you add Ajax-enabled stuff that it has to degrade.  So a 
sub-form that allows you to create a new category on the fly has to also 
work without the Ajax.  Ajaxifying the custom field form would be neat.

Also remember that existing plugin hooks on these forms should continue 
working for the plugins that use them.  I don't see any problems yet, 
but it's something to note.

It might also be nice, while redesigning this form, to keep in mind that 
we may eventually like to style this thing with CSS differently than 
what it looks like now.  I'm not a fan of heavy image design in my 
admin, but I do use Joe Kohlmann's pretty admin CSS plugin.  It might be 
a good idea to keep things loose enough so that if someone wanted to 
implement collapsible panels (via plugin, say), they could.

A question about the function of the Save button-  When you click it, 
what happens?  Does it return to the prior page?  Does it re-display the 
Write page?  Does it forward to the post itself?  Is it dependent on the 
option set for the post_status?

Owen