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Testing the Widget Editor for WordPress 5.8
WordPress 5.8 is scheduled to be released on July 20, 2021 and one of the new features slated for this release is an update to the way widgets work. There’s a “call for testing” up on one of the WordPress community blogs. This post covers my experience running through this test. Its important to note…
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The Past Few Weeks
The blog has been fairly quiet for the past few weeks, and with good reason! I’ve been in “mole mode,” working on a few WordPress plugins with the hope of getting them accepted into Core for the 3.8 release schedule to launch in early December. I’m happy to report that all three plugins have been…
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More Widget User Testing
I ran another in-person user test last week, this time going over the tabbed widget prototype and the new widget customizer prototype. Check out the video below: [wpvideo 4LuoMtZa]
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Widget Mission Control
Another day, another late-night concept video. This time I’m back on widgets. The tabbed prototype I’ve been working on is really taking shape and feeling nice. But, its biggest strength is also its biggest weakness: You can only see one sidebar at a time. I’ve been toying with the idea of an “all sidebars” view…
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More Widgets User Testing
Last night, I create a user test for the recently updated widgets prototype. About 30 minutes later, I had this super awesome video of a real person using the prototype and talking about his thoughts and experience: (beware the loud cough at the beginning) [wpvideo LxDbNbEd] This one went very well. And it seems that…
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Widgets Prototype, Take 2
I’ve continued work on the Widgets prototype, this time taking some cue’s from Ben’s user test. His comments about the modal “being in the way” really struck a chord with me. This latest iteration removes the modal all together, in favor of a list of available widgets. Check out the video and let me know…
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Ben Giordano on Widgets in WordPress
Yesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to spend some time with my friend, and owner of FreshySites, Ben Giordano. We spent about an hour talking about WordPress, widgets, and more. Most of our time was spent talking about widgets. Watch the video to get some great insight into the existing widgets interface, as well as…
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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.
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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…
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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!