Tag: ux

A Set of Theme User Experience Requirements

This year, we’ve focused heavily on improving people’s experience using themes on WordPress.com. We’ve dug into defining the most common and tricky issues for people using themes through research, user testing, and iteration.

We still have a long way to go toward substantially improving people’s WordPress theme experience. To that end, we’re introducing a new set of requirements for all themes on WordPress.com to follow, geared toward making themes easier for people to set up and use. We call it the TUX List.

It features best practices like this:

  • Keep widget names descriptive of their location, ie. Sidebar, Footer, etc. Reason: Users can more easily find them and know what area they refer to.
  • Widget IDs should take the format of sidebar-1, sidebar-2, etc.

Reason: Consistency across themes means that a user can switch themes and not have to reassign their widgets to the theme’s widget locations. It also allows for easier readability in code.

We wanted to share it with the community, since incorporating these best practices into your themes on WordPress.org and elsewhere means anyone using them will have an easier time getting to what they really want to do: publish their site. Nothing on the list should restrict your creativity when it comes to designs.

Give it a read and let us know if you have any questions or ideas on how to make it better. Making themes easier is a job for everyone. Happy theming!

Restricting User Content: A Dialogue Among Themers

I had a Slack chat with my colleagues recently that we thought might be of interest to other themers.

Ernesto: I have a small theming question I’d like to clarify. Let’s say I have a page that is used as front page and there’s a section in the front page that displays some text. I can display the page’s content there, using the_content(), but I would only want there to be text — no fancy shortcodes or custom content, just basic formatting.

Would you create your own content filter for that section? Something like adding wpautop, convert_smileys, and wp_kses_post (possibly others too, if they make sense) into that filter? Or just use the_content() ?

I am leaning towards the filter approach, since it may give me what I want, without giving users full liberty to put all sorts of things into a div that is supposed to hold some minor text and content.

Tammie: This feels like a UX issue too. Why are you restricting?

Ernesto: Because it’s not a full content post, it’s a space where there should be one or two paragraphs at most. Just some introductory text.

theme screenshot

Tammie: Then why let full content appear anyway? Post restricting is expected behaviour, page restricting isn’t. Let’s not add a new behaviour.

I’d say the_content() and if user messes up, well…

If you limit that it’s adding a new behaviour.

Ernesto: Yeah, that makes sense.

Caroline: I’d agree with keeping it as simple as possible.

Tammie: Maybe they want to add a link. Adding a link there is a totally expected thing.

Caroline: So, the_content() works 🙂 And then with [the new content settings feature we’re working on] they could change it to the_excerpt() someday soon.

content-settings

Tammie: Yep, win win.

Ernesto: Very good point… I see no problem with using the_content(), but since I know users want to add everything + the kitchen sink, I was just trying to avoid that.

Caroline: Hahaha.

Ernesto: So yeah, win win.

Tammie: Well that’s assuming they do. Many don’t.

Technically the ones that do make up for ones that don’t😉

David: Yeah, the_content() all the way.

Kathryn: Agreed 100%.

Ernesto: It’s interesting knowing your thoughts on this😀

David: If they put too much content in there, make the theme break elegantly.

Kathryn: If user wants to make their site busy, let them do it.

Kathryn: Users shouldn’t put a zillion widgets in one widget area, but we let them do that😉

Ernesto: Hehe, let them break and then tell them well… you shouldn’t do that.

David: It’s our job as developers to make themes that just work. Part of that is making edge cases not blow up a theme.

Tammie: Well, there’s hand holding and there is spoon feeding. Hands > spoons.

Kathryn: Very much agree re: “Part of that is making edge cases not blow up a theme.”

Also, making cluttered/ugly is different than “breaking”.

Ernesto: I think this is a very good & mature way of thinking… adding stuff for edge cases just makes the theme bloated.

Tammie: Also, edge cases aren’t always bad. We tend to have edge PTSD.

Kathryn: And there’s so much in between cluttered and minimal that is going to look just fine, I think.

Tammie: Yep.

Ernesto: Right, very good discussion and input, thank you so much, that’s why I love y’all:-)

Tammie: Also I kind of love the fact you didn’t even suggest a theme option for that.

Kathryn: Ha.

Ernesto: Hahaha.

Tammie: Times have changed and I like them.

Ernesto: I was going to admit it crossed my mind, but then noticed a page would be cleaner.

Tammie: And that’s why I have even more love about it. Self correcting rocks.

Ernesto: “If they put too much content in there, make the theme break elegantly.” – David Kennedy: Seriously?

David: Yep, I think that’s a sign of theme greatness.

Ernesto: That’s right, the I did what I could to hold the user’s content attitude, I like that too. Definitely adding some float-clearing there.

David: Before this, I worked at a place with a giant, talented editorial team. I thought, Perfect, we can work with them to get exactly the content we need! But they found ways to break things all the time. So whether you know the content, or don’t know it, make it highly fault tolerant.

Ernesto: Very very good advice, thank you!

WordPress Themes and User Experience

Good user experience in WordPress themes can make the difference between frustrated or happy users. Yet, it’s often overlooked. A solid user experience can feel just right, creating sound expectations and delight. If you’re looking to boost your theming skills and learn more about themes and user experience, we recommend these three recent talks by members of the Automattic Theme Team:

Kirk Wight, A Call for Simplicity: As WordPress blazes into its second decade, theming, plugin development, and WordPress core itself are reaching troublesome levels of complexity and confusion, challenging the very essence of what has gotten WordPress to where it is in the first place. Pulling from diverse areas of culture and tech, we’ll tie together our need for simplicity, and issue a call to arms for the next ten years of WordPress.

Tammie Lister, Theme, Don’t Be My Everything: It’s time to stop putting everything including the kitchen sink into themes. A theme shouldn’t be a bloated monster with an options panel that stretches out the horizon. This talk is a call to action to stop making themes that do everything and start making themes that focus.

David Kennedy, Themes are for Users: In this talk, we’ll explore user research, theme setup, theme options and more. By the end, you’ll know what makes up a theme’s user experience, and how to set your users up for success.

And if you’re still getting started with theming, or even WordPress, wondering how you could ever contribute to WordPress and add value – you’re not alone. Check out Kathryn Presner’s The Techie Continuum, and start contributing to WordPress today!