Thoughts on WordPress version 4.0

I haven’t had time to determine the usefulness of WordPress 4.0 but after updating this morning I am receiving a “Confirm Navigation” box that is preventing me from saving or publishing posts or doing anything else. What is the problem here? This website is important because of events for one thing.

[ email redacted, please do not post that here ]

edibel If you need assistance then per the forum welcome please post your own topic.

https://www.ads-software.com/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting#postform

I’m with PJR … especially surveys to ask what people want, the results and the ability to comment.

Can’t help feeling recent releases have been somewhat three steps forwards, two back … I can’t help with programming (unless Basic or Cobol’s any good!), but I’d like to add my voice.

You can contribute to the development in a lot of ways. Give this link a read.

https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Contributing_to_WordPress#WordPress_Development

My thoughts for 4.0: Stop.

Seriously, I would suggest that the developers of wordpress, rather than just relentlessly pushing forward actually take some time out and actually consider the product as a whole, rather than working on bits and pieces. The recent debacle with the series of releases from 3.8.1 to 3.9.0 release (with bugs, unpopular removal of features, etc) should be a moment to reflect.

Moreover, rather than worrying about wing ding flashy stuff, sit back and look at the core of the product and make sure it is absolutely it’s best. Look for slow queries, things that don’t scale, and more than anything security of the login, comment, and pingback systems. Make sure the foundation of the house of wordpress is as good as the shiny layers of paint you keep slapping on willy nilly.

Seriously, it’s time to reflect, maybe take 6 months to develop wordpress 5.0, perhaps with a new and refined core.

here are some i could thing about:

• Markdown support – because hipsters
• Revamped Admin interface (this one now is practically useless, IMHO)
• default enabled cache, ie, generate html files for every post without plugins (not too complex, but simple)
• CDN all the js with fallback support
• An add new post interface like mediums interface, just textarea and or someting like Medium.js
• Longshot: core stats, i love what jetpacks brings but, seriously

Are any of you following https://make.www.ads-software.com/core/ ?

I’e looked at that link esmi … nothing there or in the handbook I could find about contributing ideas/suggestions, voting, surveys, feedback etc. … unless I’m missing something?

I’d like to see the add media button being able to work nicely with PDFs … also the adding hyperlinks button – currently referencing a pdf in a page or post is very clunky.

Did you see the “Want to contribute?” section?

Yes … and I’ve looked through the ‘handbook for contributors’ section … nothing about contributing ideas and suggestions.

There must be something somewhere!

Come to the IRC meetings on Wednesday if you can, but right now we’re not actively planning 4.0 so … it’s a wait and see ??

Could I suggest something simple that seems to be a mainstay forum question of practically all WP users?

It would be nice to see some actual control over the meta-data displayed on posts. Worst case it actually exposes the admin name of small site operators. It would be brilliant if this could be configured almost like a header or footer in a word processor document – sequence, content variables so that the site owner has final say over what is on display, not the theme developer.

I see this as part of site configuration data, not something to be left to theme layout.

We are living in the age of social and so I think deeper integration with social media would be a key step forward for the WordPress platform. I understand that there is JetPack for social comments with Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, but that system appears to be broken with many errors. Instead, I would like to see a system like OpenID built into the core foundation of WordPress.

I think WordPress 4.0 desperately needs something like this because the traditional comments system that comes with WordPress is often a nuisance for blog visitors who want to comment but don’t necessarily want to go through the efforts of having to fill out their name and email. They would be more inclined to comment with a single click to login with their social network of choice, with the utmost stability at hand because like I said, this can somewhat be achieved with JetPack, but not necessarily because that system is currently broken until an update is provided.

Here, some more thoughts on WordPress 4 and beyond.

I think wordpress needs to deem certain features and functions as “core” and not to be played with. Currently there are issues with scheduled posting that some are suggesting might be caused by plug ins or themes. This is something that should be a core function and not able to be touched by others.

It seems a little too easy for a plug in developer to create true havok by doing X or Y or Z in order to make their nifty new widget thing work, while not considering the impact on others. If they can mess with the very core of wordpress, the risks for end users is very high (and provides perhaps a quiet and sneaky way to install malware in the long run).

Some features and functions should be core to wordpress and not able to be usurped by plug ins.

All our clients want some interaction with their social media channels, so that sounds like a good idea Marcus. I’ve tried JetPack in the past, but didn’t get on with it, and I’ve read many reports that it is big and slow.

About two-thirds of our clients blog (for content & SEO), but fewer allow comments – it is difficult to control effectively. We recently advised a non-client about anti-spam measures after she’d accumulated 20,000 spam comments in under two weeks – this sort of protection should be built in!