I remember the day I first started WordPress 1.5 (and B2 before that), and since then, WordPress has indeed come a long way. From being a simple blogging engine to a powerful CMS software, each of their updates have yet to fail to impress me. But as they say, there is always room for improvement.
After reading the 9 Features We Most Want in WordPress 3 article, I couldn’t agree with all 9 features, so I’ve decided that I’m going to compose my own list of things I want to see in WordPress 3.
- Better back-End organization
Similar to what the article pointed out, the back-end of WP gets extremely messy and slow once you start piling on the plugins and what not. Though they did do a total revamp of the admin panel for 2.8 (or was it 2.7?), the way things are organized are still inefficient in my opinion. Ex: I don’t like how the plugin settings aren’t on the plugin page. What’s up with that? - Pagination
They have paginated comments, paginated individual posts1, yet somehow it escapes them to have paginations for the main entries. Since 1.5 we have been stuck with the default “previous page – next page” navigation that totally blows if you have 100+ pages. I know there’s a plugin for this, but come on! - Lightbox integration
I know the gallery/media feature for WP has improved a lot since the days, but I really don’t like how when you upload a picture and post the thumbnail version in your post, it links to the full-size image which just opens in the current or a new window. Yes, I know there are plugins for this dilemma as well, but I’d like something more streamlined and integrated please. - Popular plugin integration
Which would basically include #2 and #3. Instead of having every user install the same plugins every time, why not make it a standard feature of WP 3? And to throw in something for the few that don’t use those features, give them the option of turning it off. Everyone is happy! - Rich css/xhtml editor
There’s now an image editor included in 2.9, yet the theme editor still looks like it just crawled out of a hole from the Stone Ages. Though I usually code with Espresso when I first design a theme, I switch to the WP online editor once I start the fine-tuning. Editing the css isn’t too bad, but it would be nice to get an auto-complete function when for the various WP loops and functions available. - Faster, faster, faster!
Though WP can be a mad powerful CMS, it can also be mad bloated, especially once you add on all those plugins and whatnot. I know that this has continued to be a serious issue, which is why people are starting to look for other lightweight alternatives. Hell, even I’m tempted to switch if only I wasn’t so reliant on the SEO plugins for WP.
If you’re a WordPress user, what would you like to see in the next version? If you aren’t, what changes would you like to see WordPress make before you switch?
On a totally random and off-topic note, I has a new layout up!Error processing request
- You can split up a single post into several pages. ↩
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