User interface suggestion re: open-close

I run a community newspaper site with many volunteer “citizen journalists” who post their stories as contributors. Many of them are not very tech-savvy, and although I try to train them in using the WordPress interface, problems keep cropping up.

A continuing issue is “My Save Draft and Preview buttons are gone! All I see is Publish.” What they mean is that the Publish pane is closed, and because the little down-triangle is so faint, they don’t realize they can click on it to show the other options. And people with small monitors or screen resolutions set very low often can’t see the whole editing area, and never notice the Screen Options choices for making more columns.

A reworking of the user interface is needed, if WordPress is going to truly be a publishing platform for the masses. The “masses” need a clearer interface from the get-go. It’s fine to suggest that our reporters come here and read the docs, but the fact is, they don’t. Everything a contributor needs to know should be very clear and simple right there when they login.

Thanks for a wonderful, mind-expanding service to the world.