[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):

 @DeFries gotcha, thanks for clarifying. I agree 100% on the consistency
 front. Another key element of a successful navigation re-imagination will
 be establishing this consistency through clearly designed guidelines for
 plugin authors to follow - something that is lacking right now.

 Regarding your specific point about content, I'd love to get a better
 understanding of whether users identify things like products, jobs
 listings, events, timelines, etc as "content". I know ''we'' do, and that
 is what they are, technically speaking.

 But in my experience with Woo, folks don't generally put products in the
 same organisational bucket as posts or pages. As above, many WooCommerce
 users don't even maintain a blog. So while grouping them together makes
 sense from a technical perspective, I wonder if it holds up when you
 observe the workflows.

 I would also add that the "Content" label doesn't have to stick. If we
 were to introduce app-level meta navigation we'd have more space to break
 out of the "Content" menu and have separate items for Posts, Pages,
 Comments, etc. I updated the prototype:
 https://s.codepen.io/jameskoster/debug/rNBxpwY

 ----

 Based on some of the comments re the meta menu it seems like there's an
 alternative to explore - rather than plugins adding top level items, they
 add sub-sections inside core sections. For example:
 https://s.codepen.io/jameskoster/debug/abodxLY

 I have three main gripes with this approach:

 1. The menus themselves get longer and longer as you add more plugins,
 which feels counterintuitive.
 2. The pattern breaks down when a plugin needs to add a new top level
 section. Example; orders in WooCommerce. They need to be top level. But as
 soon as plugins start adding top level items in this concept you lose all
 context. It's not clear what plugins added what top level items. You
 essentially end up with a slightly more organised version of what we have
 now.
 3. Kind of nuanced, but with this concept the user has to maintain two
 separate contexts in their head. For example, to edit products they need
 to be in "Content" context, then "WooCommerce" context. The cognitive load
 is doubled.

 ----

 I just want to reiterate that I am clearly bringing a lot of Woo bias to
 the table here. And I know that we're not representative of the average
 plugin. Would love to hear thoughts of other plugin authors.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/47012#comment:37>
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