[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #47012: Proposal: Simplify WordPress Admin Navigation

[WordPress Trac]

#47012: Proposal: Simplify WordPress Admin Navigation
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 Reporter:  lessbloat                           |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement                         |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                              |   Milestone:  Awaiting
                                                |  Review
Component:  Administration                      |     Version:
 Severity:  normal                              |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  needs-design-feedback dev-feedback  |     Focuses:  ui,
                                                |  accessibility
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Comment (by jameskoster):

 Over the last few weeks I've spent a lot of time thinking about navigation
 in WooCommerce core, and how we might improve it. Needless to say I'm
 super excited to see this issue opened, because we've (Woo) essentially
 outgrown the structural affordances of the existing wp-admin menu system.

 For any new navigation in WordPress core to be a success I think it is
 critical that we consider how third parties (plugins) should interface
 with it, and the impact those interactions would have, right from the
 beginning. I would argue that is the biggest failing of the existing
 navigation - it simply doesn't scale. Activate a few plugins and the left-
 hand menu grows out of control, and navigating it becomes an absolute
 nightmare.

 The concepts shared in this issue so far would definitely be an
 improvement, and simplify the stock navigation, but I worry about how they
 scale.

 == Rough concepts

 As a quick experiment, I added our proposed Woo menu items to the concepts
 shared above. Take a look:

 [[Image(http://cldup.com/kIRSb8vabC-2000x2000.png)]]

 Now, it's not clear whether users would be able to expand all sections
 simultaneously like in the screenshot - but regardless - the menu gets
 very, very long when the WooCommerce menu items (purple) are added. And
 this is just a single plugin. Add a couple of other big players like
 BuddyPress or bbPress into the mix and things could get totally out of
 hand.

 How could we solve this?

 One solution we explored was to add an abstracted "meta menu" affordance
 that would enable plugins to provide their own contextual interfaces
 within wp-admin. This is probably easier to explain with a picture:

 [[Image(https://cldup.com/ng8yeTgkDp-3000x3000.png)]]

 The benefit here is that users always understand the context of their
 current workflow. To manage products it's clear you have to switch to Woo
 context. To draft a blog post it's clear you have to switch to "WordPress"
 context. We've usability tested a similar concept with very positive
 results.

 These layers of context also provide a visual framework and guidance for
 plugin authors when they're considering where to add their menu items.
 Building a plugin that affects comments? Settings for that would be
 accessed through the "WordPress" menu. Building a payment gateway plugin
 for Woo? Settings for that would be accessed through the WooCommerce menu.

 To be clear - I'm not saying this solution is perfect, or the direction we
 should definitely head in. But I think it presents an interesting point
 for discussion: Should plugins be integrating directly with the provided
 navigation menu, or should they have an affordance to break out into their
 own contextual area when necessary? I think that answering this question
 as early as possible will help shape the direction we move in with regards
 to design.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/47012#comment:28>
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