What do you think about these Ideas?

  • https://www.adaptivepath.com/publications/essays/archives/000365.php

    I would be glad to hear what you or even some devteam members think about this free-tips from a pro.
    personally i think hes right with a few things, (eg config.php hardcoding, chmod-settings, .po .mo files etc. etc. and so on) maybe one can avoid the use of poEdit or at least integrate this completely into WP…??
    also the idea of splitting the admin-area into content – and options & settings-sections more clearly would be appreciated. im not a php or dev guy so i dont know how difficult that is to adopt for WP. maybe som1 can tell me if these are points, the next wp version will adress or whatelse you know about v1.6
    what do dev-team guys think about integrating more of the great plugins into wp itself as standard-functions? again: what do your wishlists look like? maybe learning how everything works and has to be done deters ppl? (why do i still need a wp-umlauts plugin, dont wp-makers know that there are other languages then english? and what is all this wordpress.com-talk in my admin-panel about? ?? kindly a wp-fan
    ps: anyway i know that wp does very well compared to other CMSs so im knowingly telling things a bit over-dramatic here, but a wp-distribution where i need nothing more then the zip (not even a editor) would be really great! i hope you can compete with the articles requirements, as i think many ppl would appreciate.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    WordPress is not a CMS, and the developers have made it clear that there are no plans to turn WordPress into a CMS. But, since you asked:

    Make it easy to install.

    Not a problem, especially if you follow the “5 Minute Installation”.

    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Installing_WordPress

    Make it easy to get started.

    Not a problem. From a user’s point of view, WordPress starts as a simple blogging platform, but it’s true power lies in its expandability via plugins. So, the level of complexity is up to you.

    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/First_Steps_With_WordPress

    Write task-based documentation first.

    Not a problem. The Codex is a resource based on community contributions. If you feel that something is missing, please add it, or request it.

    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/

    Separate CMS administration from the editing and management of content.

    This is also not a problem, thanks to WordPress’ User Levels feature.

    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/User_Levels
    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Administration_Panels

    Users of a public Web site should never, never, be presented with a way to log in to the CMS.

    One anti-spam feature will request that commentators log in before posting a comment, but this feature is inactivate by default.

    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Combating_Comment_Spam

    Stop it with the jargon already.

    We do our best to jargon-free, but we do let a few confusing words slip by sometimes. Fortunately, there is a Codex page dedicated to understanding WordPress’ “lingo” and “jargon”, and you will find links to glossary definitions in many of the Codex pages. Again, the Codex is a resource based on community contributions. So, if you come by an article that you find to be confusing, please edit it, or request that a change be made to improve its comprehensiveness.

    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/WordPress_Semantics
    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Glossary

    Why do you insist Web sites have a€?columnsa€??

    We most certainly do not insist about anything on the design level. Though WordPress ships with 2 two-column themes, there are over 400 to choose from. If you don’t want columns, there are about 20 one-column themes to chose from at this time. And, if you still can’t find a theme that suites your needs, feel free to design your own.

    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Using_Themes#Get_New_Themes
    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Using_Themes/Theme_List#One_Column
    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Blog_Design_and_Layout

    Thread Starter _erik_

    (@_erik_)

    Thank you for taking the time to answer. In one point i disagree:
    >> WordPress is not a CMS
    IMHO it is ?? as it stores all information in a db. Thats enough to meet my demandings to call it a CMS. Anyway, i know about all this, its flexibility and so on. But, don’t you think that there would be still a lot of work or optimization to be done to make Installation (with focus on hardcoding and editing files – especially localization) as intuitive as possible?
    What are the problems from a technical point of view, that make a second install-screen, demanding for db-name, a db-pass and a dropdown list letting you choose your language impossible? imho wp is user-friendly already, but improving can be done.

    To finish with a drastic Question: Why not establish higher requirements or standards to anything that is (or becomes by adding) a part of wp, such as plugins, themes etc.? So why not throw all such things out of the Repository if it doesn’t meet a certain quality-standard (eg if only one word of a specific language shows up in it, code isn’t semantic or there are things left unstyled – what btw, would force me to rework my theme, too).
    I’m focussing on language here, because i think thats an area where the most can be improved, taking a look at the awesome Giraffe-Theme, i learned that this isn’t impossible to deal with, so why not include all language files in a way (maybe an automated download of someones selection in the background) into the wp-install, in order to avoid the necessity to do poEditing.
    any other ideas in general, what are other beginners struggling with?

    good thread but i have to disagree on some points.

    language files: i agree completly. the po system is crap. i admit that i have no clue of the “hidden” advantages, but translation is a pain. also the hardcoded “permanent link: ..” text isn’t nice at all.

    Example for a nice lang file is seen in phpBB2. you have an simple plain text file where you can change any out-of-the-box text easy.

    splitting adminarea: humm.. the admin area is okay and there isn’t THAT MUCH to be set that it would need a 3-or-more level deep navigation.

    shipped plugins: i disagree here. this is one of the best parts in wordpress. it’s not full of stuff. if you want a feature you CAN add it, but you dont need to disable it first if you DONT want it. WordPress is best lightweight publishing platform i have seen. Scalable and Userfriendly. The power of choice.

    installation: i agree on the installation steps. the pre-editing of the config-sample.php is a bit annoying. best way is to upload all files, jump to the index.php which checks if installed or not, loads the install-procedure and the config file gets generated. if chmod isnt set the installer should inform the user and present the necessary config-content to copy/paste to the user.

    best example is mambo installer.

    regards,
    – kjell.

    Thread Starter _erik_

    (@_erik_)

    shipped plugins: i disagree here. this is one of the best parts in wordpress.

    i agree, maybe i wasnt clear enough, i’m looking at some really essential things (at least for me) when saying “include more plugins”.
    I know WP isn’t neither written for Germans in the first place but, take German Umlauts (???¤?????–??) for example: What is ok with permalinks in Francais or Espagnol has not necessarily to be right in other languages. An “??” with accent t??gu leads to a url (and permalink) with just an “e” in it, what is fine, but in german language an “??” should be transformed into “Ue” (M??nchen -> Muenchen) instead.
    An optimised language support, asking me on the first Install-Screen what my native language is and does the rest on its own, would help a lot to eliminate fears regarding tech-things with beginners.
    Instead they read their first Error-Messages in plain English (if theres no database ?? for example), so am i right that WP is written for English-Speakers in the first place? dont think so…
    So if wordpress knows, that im german, it wouldnt confront me with english error-msgs or tips at any time and wp then should know that i want “ue”s instead of “u”s and keep me from manually doing the currently necessary steps:
    1) install english wp
    2) download de.mo (which i might have to rename into de_DE.mo in some cases. why? That i have to search for this file in the codex first, what i will, of course, only do when i know that this feature exists – no word on that during the installation, like in every other common windows-software installation)
    3) Create a special language-subfolder (that shall imho already exist)
    4) edit the wp-config.php again (why not a dropdown in admin if i want to change language back to whatsoever-language on the fly?)
    5) find wp-umlauts plugin
    6) install it, activate it
    and still find a blog that isnt completely in my preferred language (not to talk about plugins…)

    kindly, erik
    ps: kjell, sorry i dont get you. What you mean with “hidden” advantages? what wp-part or process are you driving at?

    Thread Starter _erik_

    (@_erik_)

    another pretty good try to deal with the same topic:
    https://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html
    Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes (Jakob Nielsena€?s Alertbox)

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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