[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #50539: Explore a larger icon less WP Admin menu

[WordPress Trac]

#50539: Explore a larger icon less WP Admin menu
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 Reporter:  youknowriad     |       Owner:  youknowriad
     Type:  enhancement     |      Status:  accepted
 Priority:  normal          |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Administration  |     Version:
 Severity:  normal          |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-patch       |     Focuses:  ui
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Comment (by dryanpress):

 While I do think iconography in the admin should certainly be open to
 evolution (and unification with @wordpress/icons), losing the icons from
 the Admin Menu entirely feels like both radical departure and regression.

 To add and reiterate some benefits of top-level menu items containing
 icons:
 * Icons **differentiate the WordPress experience** from other UIs. The
 general WordPress brand is tightly coupled with Dashicons today.
 * Icons provide a **language-agnostic way to navigate** -- users well-
 versed in WP-Admin iconography can roughly navigate the WordPress Admin
 today in any language, even if they don't know that language.
 * Icon-driven navigation is **central to the Block Editor's UI** -- 82% of
 the items in the top toolbar's default state are icon-only with tooltips
 (9 of 11). Icons are also integral to presentation of @wordpress/plugins
 in the editor UI, it seems a logical extension and retention of status quo
 to have WordPress Plugins parallel this pattern. ''While the Site Editor's
 left sidebar currently lacks iconography, I'd love to see some there.''
 * Icons **empower Plugins in the ecosystem to design features that extend
 Core's design language**. If a Plugin modifies Posts or Users, by using
 the same icon it visually communicates to users the tool is acting on one
 of those Core objects. One risk of removing this prescribed visual
 language is Plugins all bringing their own variations, furthering the
 bespoke UI issues in the 3rd party ecosystem where every Plugin screen
 looks different.
 * As a contextual and adaptive menu where order and availability of items
 varies between every WordPress site and even user roles on the same site,
 **icons act as position-agnostic visual waymarkers**. Whether Settings is
 listed as the 10th item or the 20th item, users don't need to count item
 position nor read every text label to locate the item. Icons expedite
 navigation and discovery.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/50539#comment:19>
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