[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 afercia):

 While the meta menu idea is interesting, looking at
 [https://codepen.io/jameskoster/full/rNBxpwY the codepen prototype] there
 are concerns regarding the actual usability, semantics, and accessibility.

 - [https://www.nngroup.com/articles/icon-usability/ icons don't have
 universal meaning] and should always be accompanied by text labels
 - plugins icons tend to represent branding rather than meaning, so they're
 difficult to parse especially when there's a lot of them
 - icon-only controls are not operable for some users, for example speech
 recognition software users
 - the markup would need to use an unordered list with 3 levels, which are
 difficult to navigate when using assistive technologies

 Looking at the current admin menu, seems to me it privileges plugins needs
 over users needs. I'm not saying this is a deliberate choice. It just
 works this way for historical reasons.

 Plugins are allowed to set the position they want in the menu. They can
 also change the menu items order via filters. Technically, they can also
 change the position of ''other'' plugins 😬

 Some plugins use this power responsibly and add their menu items in a
 meaningful place. Other plugins tend to compete to get the highest
 position, often only for branding and marketing reasons and rarely taking
 usability into consideration.

 Many of the ideas shared on this ticket imply the need to deprecate and
 retire the positioning thing and the related filters. Not sure this would
 be much appreciated by plugin authors if the new menu mechanism won't
 provide an advantage for them or, at least, no "damage".

 That said, I'd tend to think that any grouping pattern, whether it's based
 on meta groups, functional groups, whatever, will be inevitably based on
 assumptions on what's best for users. One could argue that web design
 consists in exactly that: trying to figure out the best user experience.
 However, in the admin menu case I'd tend to think there are just too many
 different scenarios and many, many, different needs. In my experience,
 determining what's best for users in these cases is extremely hard. At the
 point that it's likely impossible to cover all the needs.

 In this regard, @jipmoors's proposal seems to me a much modern approach
 and potentially a game changer. It's a shift from plugins needs to users
 needs.

 Simplicity is key. Instead of trying to reinvent the menu based on some
 major workflows, maybe a better option would be keeping it as simple as
 possible. And provide users ''the ability to customise it on their own
 needs''.

 The ability to pin menu items would be a great start. Plugins should be
 happy with this, as users will likely pin the plugins items they need to
 use on a frequent basis.

 **Pinned items:**
 - they get moved to their own `<nav>` element, at the top of the page
 - the `<nav>` element contains an unordered list with max 2 levels, as the
 current admin menu

 Customisation could be further expanded using patterns that already exist
 on the web. Couple of ideas I'd like to propose to explore:

 **Manage menu items:**
 Something similar to the Gmail "Manage labels":
 - in this page users can toggle the visibility of menu sections or single
 menu items
 - hidden sections and items get moved to a "More" (better wording welcome)
 section, collapsed by default
 - the "More" section expanded / collapsed state is saved in the user
 setting
 - at any moment, users can un-hide items and they get moved back to their
 original position

 [[Image(http://cldup.com/w-tH8_Xk9e.png)]]

 [Gmail settings to hide / show the system labels, categories, and custom
 labels]

 **Most used items section:**
 - can be enabled / disabled via user setting
 - based on frequency usage
 - provides a setting to set the amount of most used items to display
 - items that are already pinned should be excluded

 Note: one of the requirements for this to work is that _any_ menu item
 must have a unique text label. For example, all the "Add New" menu items
 should specify the post type. Also, taxonomies should use unique text
 labels.

 After initial setup, a menu structured this way could be as simple as:

 **Pinned navigation**
 - My first favorite item
 - My second favorite item
 - My thirs favorite item
 - My fourth favorite item
 - ...
 **Most used ▾**
 **More ▾**

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/47012#comment:45>
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