[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #28979: Customizer panels should have the same priority hierarchy as Sections

[WordPress Trac]

#28979: Customizer panels should have the same priority hierarchy as Sections
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 Reporter:  mattwiebe     |       Owner:
     Type:  defect (bug)  |      Status:  reopened
 Priority:  normal        |   Milestone:  4.0
Component:  Customize     |     Version:  trunk
 Severity:  normal        |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  ux-feedback   |     Focuses:  ui
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Comment (by folletto):

 @nacin: I think the current API is deceptive and the current UX is also
 poor

 I can't help much on the API side, but I can give an hand on the UX side.
 This is a very important piece of UI so I hope a different perspective
 might help the discussion. :)

   @celloexpressions: Some things sliding down and others sliding sideways
 and switching contexts seemingly at random results in incredibly confusing
 UX

 I agree that this is the most important issue to address. :)

 I tried then to think about the issue, and here are two ideas. Notice that
 I sidestep what is probably an API issue in order to point to what could
 be an ideal state of things, so we might review that. But I feel it's
 important to get that view first.

 Concept '''Slide-All''':

 [[Image(https://i.cloudup.com/vvV1Y8EzoK.png)]]

 Concept '''Slide-Groups''':

 [[Image(https://i.cloudup.com/tPcZDzzcG6.png)]]

 The rationale behind these proposals are:

 1. The main issue with that UI is the mix of slides and accordion.
 Accordion are usually relatively bad by themselves because they mix
 navigation and content (they can be used, but they need to be use very
 accurately), and they slide the navigation up and down to arbitrary
 positions. So the first advice would be to convert everything to sliders.
 I'm aware this is added dev cost, but this is really one solution that
 would really solve the UX issue.
 2. Bonus: sliders are also ideal on mobile, and will feel natural in that
 context. This doesn't just include the standard iOS drilldown, but also
 Android (see the recent guideline on Lists for Material Design where the
 accordion is shown only as pure navigation).
 3. Introducing titles in-between will also help in achieve a functional
 grouping that will help understanding the various options with small
 visual impact.
 4. The grouping will also allow for an in-between solution if it's not
 possible to switch everything to sliders: just group the various elements,
 and create a single bucket for the sliders.

 I hope this is doable... and it helps the discussion. :)

 ''P.S.: this might be OT on this ticket (should I open a new one?), but
 would be absolutely great if the "You are customizing" click would lead to
 the themes switch page instead of just showing you a theme screenshot,
 which...'' given the site is on the right, feels redundant... :)

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/28979#comment:10>
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