Thread

WordPress? Please. WP’s CP is very pleasant and quickly becomes comfortable but has nowhere near the complex functionality of EE 2.0’s CP.

I’d beg to differ on this…the complexity of EE’s control panel is more a matter of organization than interaction. I’ve worked in the current WP interface and it’s nothing short of impressive.

If anything, I’d argue that the WP interface is more complex since it attempts to display most available information upfront. But it remains cleanly designed, with snappy interaction, and consistent visuals.

I like the organization better on this new CP, but the interface just isn’t cutting it for me.

On a related note, I can make sense of most of the templating for the control panel, but I can’t see how to edit the javascript used (other than brand new files, I guess?)…

I’d beg to differ on this…the complexity of EE’s control panel is more a matter of organization than interaction. I’ve worked in the current WP interface and it’s nothing short of impressive.

What’s to differ? I like the WP CP. It’s very good, highly usable, a vast improvement over previous versions, and a place where EE could go for inspiration.

However…

If anything, I’d argue that the WP interface is more complex since it attempts to display most available information upfront.

Sorry, that’s just not the case. WP has a fraction of the editable, configurable options running in EE 2.0. Putting all that functionality in an organized, usable interface is no mean feat. WP doesn’t have to worry about the sheer number of user configurable functions nearly so much.

But it remains cleanly designed, with snappy interaction, and consistent visuals.

Very much so. Nicely done. But, again, it doesn’t have to do as much, either. WP’s functions (and by association, the CP)  are more of a small, structured, rigid subset of what EE 2.0 already does.

I like the organization better on this new CP, but the interface just isn’t cutting it for me.

Isn’t organization a part of the interface (or, is the other way around)? I don’t have a major issue with EE 1.6.8x CP, either. Through the years it has became somewhat unwieldy, of course. That’s a natural evolution of increased functionality. EE. EE 2.0 seeks to spread out those features through the interface with more logical organization, and largely succeeds (we have to beware that initial impressions are born of previous experience in EE).

What I would like to see from more experienced developers and UI experts, beyond the typical “I don’t like…,” is “This isn’t good because…” and, “This would be better if done this way…”  Folks at EE could also chime in (they’re probably a little busy now) with the process they took to redesign the CP’s organization.

gramps, what’s being discussed here is the style and snappiness of the interface, not the information architecture of the control panel.

The CP has been very well organized as obviously a lot of thought went into this. Though I agree that there’s something lacking when it comes to being a snappy interface, and that a lot of effects could have been left out for the sake of simplicity and speed. That is not to say that Veerle has not done a great job, without doubt she is one of the best in the field. Fact of the matter is, jquery has been used abundantly in order to improve user experience, though, over-use it and it will backfire.

With that having said, the solution isn’t very hard or anything. Simply create your own interface, call it “lite edition” and stick with it. EE is flexible like that.

gramps, what’s being discussed here is the style and snappiness of the interface, not the information architecture of the control panel.

The CP has been very well organized as obviously a lot of thought went into this. Though I agree that there’s something lacking when it comes to being a snappy interface, and that a lot of effects could have been left out for the sake of simplicity and speed. That is not to say that Veerle has not done a great job, without doubt she is one of the best in the field. Fact of the matter is, jquery has been used abundantly in order to improve user experience, though, over-use it and it will backfire.

With that having said, the solution isn’t very hard or anything. Simply create your own interface, call it “lite edition” and stick with it. EE is flexible like that.

I was with you until that last part. Creating your own interface is a downright pain-in-the-ass. I know because I’m doing it now. :cheese:

gramps, what’s being discussed here is the style and snappiness of the interface, not the information architecture of the control panel.

I’m sorry. Please accept my apologies for the transgression and oversight. I thought I was posting in the General Discussion Forum and replying to ‘Thoughts on EE 2’s UI.’

Besides, as noted above, I have no major issue with EE 2.0’s layout or performance or style. The layout is an improvement over EE 1.6.8, and snappy performance may have as much to do with browser, server, and bandwidth than all the fancy jQuery effects or CSS or images. Locally, it’s fine. Remotely, a little slower but hardly notable.

I’m sorry. Please accept my apologies for the transgression and oversight. I thought I was posting in the General Discussion Forum and replying to ‘Thoughts on EE 2’s UI.’

Apology accepted.

Unfortunately, the solution to every such problem is not do-it-yourself. Sure, doable, but, as mentioned above, it’s a downright-pain-in-the-ass.

Fortunately, even though it is time-consuming, some of us are developers and we like to do things ourselves. Please, share with us whatever other solution you have in mind for those that are troubled by their personal, minor dislikes of the UI.

Besides, as noted above, I have no major issue with EE 2.0’s layout or performance or style. The layout is an improvement over EE 1.6.8, and snappy performance may have as much to do with browser, server, and bandwidth than all the fancy jQuery effects or CSS or images. Locally, it’s fine. Remotely, a little slower but hardly notable.

Which is fine, as that is the way you experience the UI. Accept the fact that people experience it slightly different and then we can discuss improvements, something which might be highly useful to the EE developers.

Fortunately, even though it is time-consuming, some of us are developers and we like to do things ourselves.

As a developer, I like to do things myself, too. But not everything. After all, there is a reason I purchase and use EE.

As a developer, I like to do things myself, too. But not everything. After all, there is a reason I purchase and use EE.

As a CI developer, I’m used to doing a little bit more. Once again, a matter of personal preference, wouldn’t you say?

I suppose a specific solution would depend on the specifics of the trouble encountered, no? Otherwise, I’ll stick with the theme at hand, which is General Discussion, and ‘thoughts on EE 2’s UI.’

I believe the O.P. specified some encountered trouble. And that is the reason why I am posting here. To agree with what I see as valid reasoning and offer a solution.

Uh, OK. Hopefully, a few of my 3,100 plus posts since 2003 have resulted in a few useful things to the developers and the EE community.

Frankly, I’m not very much interested in your awesomely impressive stats, but I do hope that you have contributed quite some. As long as you weren’t trying to portray yourself as a smart guy, I’m sure you have.

Thank you to all for the feedback.  If you can’t play nicely, however, then I’ll close this thread.

I’d prefer not to do that, so let’s stick with the feedback and ditch the personal attacks.

Thank you!

Generally, I like EE 2.0’s new interface. Having extra CP themes helps, too (not fond of pink). I’ve noticed a few performance issues with menu effects and the like, but it varies greatly between browsers. Safari Mac seems quite smooth (local and remote), Firefox and others less so. I definitely like the enhanced extra image editing functions. File browsing is an enhancement, too, though there’s a bit of a slow down upon open a file directory with a few thousand images.

Still, EE’s CP has a lot going on. I wonder how clients (content editors, writers, etc.) will react to the changes.

And of course in the end this is a public beta release of a .0 version, its already been outlined there would be a few releases and a RC before .1 was the “full” launch.

I am going to imagine, just like many of the performance additions that have gone into EE since initial release though to 1.6.8 in the past 5 years (give or take a bit), obvious things will be handled as they can be.  Also consider since EE’s release a large amount of the tweaks and additions to the EE 1.x line came from feature requests, and simple refinement of the system.  Does anyone in these forums think EL staff are not going to a) listen, b) analyze and c) refine everything over time?

I find it humorous in a few ways that a lot of these same types of discussions went on with the move from pMachine Pro to EE originally, and look how far it has all come since then…

Probably the most productive things are to a) report true bugs in the bug tracker, and b) submit feature requests later if things you want addressed are not initially.

Just a personal take.

Probably the most productive things are to a) report true bugs in the bug tracker, and b) submit feature requests later if things you want addressed are not initially.

Where do visual CP UI tweaks go? Icons getting chopped off, colors not matching etc.

BC Team - what are you saying about that?

The View Icon and Create Icon get chopped off at the top in Firefox on the Mac. Is there place to report this?

I find it humorous in a few ways that a lot of these same types of discussions went on with the move from pMachine Pro to EE originally, and look how far it has all come since then…

Nevin, I remember those days. Rick gave me an early beta of EE in late 2003 after I’d used pMachine Pro on a number of sites. I was blown away. But it took the pMachine community awhile to adapt (and there was some noise). I suspect we’ll see the same thing for more than a few months.

Any new seasons in Minnesota? We’re heading into winter here, too. The overnight low will hit 69. Brrrrr.

😉