Comments on: WordPress 2.7 Vertical Navigation

By: demetris

demetris — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 10:45:27 +0000

People using the compact/folded menu mode in WP 2.7 should try Tangofy — well, since I made it, I believe everyone should try Tangofy :-) but I think it is most useful when the menu is folded and the only indication of what is what is the tiny 16×16 icons.

Tangofy — Better icons for WordPress 2.7
http://op111.net/p65

That said, I think Kaspars hit the nail on the head, right from the start, about the issues with the new menu in 2.7:

1. Forces clicking and scrolling

2. Implies an hierarchy of importance

3. Moves items up and down relative to the chrome

The folded menu does not have any of these issues, but it should have more helpful icons by default.

Cheers

By: Kaspars

Kaspars — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 19:10:08 +0000

Cemal, thanks for your feedback. You are right -- I have been using the iconic mode ever since it became available in early betas and I love it. This post was written when nobody had even mentioned that something like that could go into the core.

By: Cemal

Cemal — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:18:57 +0000

In terms of the utilization of the screen real estate, vertical menus make much sense as there is more width then height in a typical display monitor. I think the way to use the WP 2.7 menu system is in its iconic mode. It takes much less space, options are one click away upon hover, and always visible.

I am not a fan of drop down selections outside the obvious choices, like selecting years, states, and the like. Otherwise, the menu selections are always hidden with no hint of what may be possible. In this case, simplicity hides affordance and structure. Try the iconic version of the 2.7 menu and see what you think.

By: Kaspars

Kaspars — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:43:16 +0000

Dan, that's me using those plugins. Now I have less of them, but still -- not all links to settings pages fit into 800 pixels of vertical space when using the collapsed menu.

By: Dan Milward

Dan Milward — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 19:53:10 +0000

I have to say that after using WordPress 2.7 for a few weeks and listening to Jane talk about the motives behind the new layout… it aint bad I am a convert to Vertical Navigation. The only thing I’d say about your screen shot is… who is using that many plugins to warrant a settings page that long ;)

I’ll still probably use admin drop down on some sites though. I think both have their merits and you should make your decision on a site by site basis :D

By: Guy

Guy — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:05:50 +0000

Good news, the new version of the Admin Dropdown Menu plugin is designed for 2.7 and very nice it is too. No need for the horrible vertical navigation!

By: Davide

Davide — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:00:25 +0000

I just updated, the vertical menu layout is atrocious.
BTW, I wonder who gave automatic the idea of going vertical when the whole world is going with horizontal tabs.
My install looks almost as the screenshot provided.

By: Felipe Veiga "Dent VII"

Felipe Veiga "Dent VII" — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:47:00 +0000

I only hope there is no need for scroll down to use links.
Anyway, the best thing that should have been done was to make easy to develop plugins for the Admin Menu.
As important as the Theme.

By: dan milward

dan milward — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:22:18 +0000

I agree. That is way too much scrolling for my liking – hopefully there are still going to be some improvements before they go live though so I’m not going to be too harsh yet :P

What worries me is how plugins like nextGEN gallery that have their own admin menu pages will cater to this new vertical navigation…

Ciao,

Dan

By: Kaspars

Kaspars — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:06:25 +0000

Guy, I have been using Ozh's Admin Drop-down Menu since WordPress 2.5 and as you say -- the new vertical navigation simply cannot compete with the simplicity and clear organization that the drop-down menus provide. I know for sure that navigation will not be an option in 2.7. Lets hope Ozh's finds the new navigation unusable enough to update (or maybe even rewrite, if necessary) the plugin.