Shaun Andrews

Month: August 2013

  • Add a New Widget

    [wpvideo UnHywVHU] I’ve continued to work on this prototype for widgets in WordPress. Its coming along nicely. I hope to run some user tests next week.

  • Another Idea for Widgets

    Part of the goal of redesigning widgets in WordPress is to make the connection between widget areas, and their presentation on the front-end of your site, more obvious. It’s clear that there’s a big disconnect between the narrow column of sidebars (or widget areas) in wp-admin, and their location within your site’s theme. Here’s an…

  • Browsing Themes in WordPress

    Along with working on Widgets, I’m also working on some ideas for the theme experience in WordPress. Working with Matías Ventura, I’ve come up with the following wireframe: The big idea here is to merge the two pages, Manage Themes and Install Themes. We ran a user test, which you should totally watch, and quickly…

  • Menus *heart* Pages

    Spent some time today thinking about how we could merge Menu’s in to the Pages screen in WordPress to reinforce the connection between the two.

  • WordPress Widgets: Take the Survey

    Earlier today I published a general survey asking question about how you (yes, you!) use widgets in WordPress. I’d love it if you could take a few minutes and fill out the survey. Thanks!

  • Prototype W

    I spent some time today working on a plugin that redesigns the widgets in WordPress. It’s a prototype. I love to build quick prototypes, not design something on a static Photoshop canvas. This way, I get to play with the “thing” I’m building and tweak it in realtime. This method of “don’t just draw, build…

  • A Tabbed UI for WordPress Widgets

    I’ve been working on some design concepts for a redesign of widgets in WordPress, hopefully for release in 3.8 towards the end of this year. The latest concept I’ve been thinking about is a vertically tabbed UI for listing sidebars and widgets.  

  • Exploring Layouts for the WordPress Media Library

    WordPress 3.5 brought us the great media modal, which makes it super easy to upload and add images while writing a post. The modal features a grid-based layout, with large images that make browsing your library a breeze. Meanwhile, the main media page hasn’t changed much. It still lists your media library using a standard…

  • Menu Recent Pages

    Look at this, another plugin! Menu Recent Pages will add a list of recently edited pages to you wp-admin menu. They appear as a sub-menu of Pages, and will take you to the edit screen when clicked. Simple.

  • Mini Admin Bar

    Mini Admin Bar

    Another day, another plugin. This morning I whipped up a concept-plugin for a smaller admin bar. I’m calling it (creatively) Mini Admin Bar. This isn’t for the faint of heart, as Its pretty broken right now; No drop-downs work, and it breaks miserably with Jetpack enabled. However, if your brave (and have MP6 activated) check…