By Jeffro on January 30, 2012
Joost de Valk was one of the first to start the trend and now, he’s on pace to reverse it. Joost announced that he has decided to remove the dashboard widget which shows the most recent posts on his site from his SEO plugin.
Joost provided some interesting statistics that show where most of his visitors are coming from. As it turns out, the dashboard news are did provide additional traffic but very little in the way of conversions which is one of the reasons for the removal. Looking at the reactions of those that use the plugin, some applaud Joost for this action while others wanted the ability to choose whether to hide or display the news widget. While not mentioned, I think it’s a little humorous as well that within the Plugin UI Guide published by WPCandy recently, they featured the Dashboard News Widget of Joost De Valks SEO Plugin as what not to do.
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While I want to see the results of the poll question I asked, I’ll pose a few more questions for you to answer. When is it ok to have a dashboard widget such as the one that used to be within the WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast? Is the dashboard considered sacred real estate reserved for only the most important information?
Personally, I like the trend of removing dashboard widgets generated by plugins. In this case, I think less is more.
Posted in Polls | Tagged dashboard, plugin, poll |
By Jeffro on September 17, 2011
If you’re anywhere near the Edinburgh area around October 22nd, make a pit stop to an event they are calling WordUp Edinburgh. According to the event website, this un-conference will mimic the WordCamp model in that there will be presentations with attendance being free. However, there are only going to be 50 spots available for this one day event. Congrats to those who purchased their tickets as all available spots have been sold. From taking a look at the attendee list, I’m happy to see that co-creator of WordPress, Mike Little, will be there along with one of my favorite commenters, Donnacha of WordSkill.com.
With regards to the event name, what do you think of WordUp? Could this become the defacto name for independent WordCamp events not wanting to have to deal with all of the guidelines that come with using the trademarked term, WordCamp? At least with WordCamps, we generally have an idea as to what to expect out of the event thanks to longevity of the term being used as well as a tighter grip being placed on events using the name. So I leave you with this poll question.
Do You Think The Term WordUp Is A Good Alternative To WordCamp?
- Yes (63%, 60 Votes)
- Nothing But Confusion (25%, 24 Votes)
- No (12%, 12 Votes)
Total Voters: 96
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Posted in Polls | Tagged conference, wordcamp, wordup |
By Jeffro on September 8, 2011
The writing is on the wall. It’s only a matter of time before automatic upgrades for WordPress core, plugins, and themes make it into WordPress. This is a step beyond the one click upgrades that are currently in WordPress. As dumb as it might seem, Otto is right in that users simply don’t upgrade. However, I want automatic upgrades to be opt-in instead of opt-out. I don’t need my hand held by WordPress in order to perform updates and uphold my responsibility of maintaining this website. There are too many horror stories of automatic upgrades gone bad for me to ever cross that line to allow those to happen either on my machine or on a website. I’m the type of person that wants to review the change log and any necessary information before the upgrade occurs. I’d feel the same way even if there was a simple revert system put in place to easily go back to a working version prior to the upgrade. This leaves me wondering if you want automatic upgrades to happen without you as a user/administrator ever being involved, or if you’ll take the more active approach and handle the upgrade process manually? Look forward to reading your comments on this one.
Should Automatic Upgrades Be Opt-In?
- Yes (67%, 141 Votes)
- No (33%, 69 Votes)
Total Voters: 210
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Posted in Polls | Tagged automatic, Plugins, Themes, upgrades |
By Jeffro on August 30, 2011
One thing that can be frustrating at times to talk about regarding WordPress, is what should be added to the core. I equate it to kids fighting with their parents. They want something and are explaining every which way as to why it would be a good thing for them to have and the parents dish out variations of NO. I’ve participated in my fair share of cool conversations that were abruptly ended with the words Patches Welcome or There’s A Plugin For That. I don’t know which one is more of a conversation killer as they seem equal to me but I’m sure I’ve heard the Plugin line more than the Patches Welcome. If neither of the poll choices suits you, feel free to add-on in the comments what you think are good WordPress conversation killers.
What's The Quickest Way To End A Conversation About WordPress?
- There's A Plugin For That (62%, 59 Votes)
- Patches Welcome (32%, 30 Votes)
- Not Listed (6%, 6 Votes)
Total Voters: 95
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Posted in Polls | Tagged conversation, patches, poll, wordpress |
By Jeffro on March 22, 2011
Something that has frustrated me for a long time is trying to figure out where the Akismet Configuration link is. My brain and logical way of thinking always points me to the Settings top level menu only to browse around each area to figure out where it’s at. For some strange reason, the Akismet configuration link is located within the Plugins top level menu. This makes no sense to me. That menu is used to view the plugins page, add plugins, edit plugins but not specifically configure any plugins, except Akismet. It’s with this pet peeve that I request the Akismet Configuration link be moved to within the Settings menu. I don’t think Akismet needs its own top level menu.
If you think the configuration link needs to be moved, let me know where it should go. If you don’t think it should be moved, I want to know why you think it’s a good idea to leave it where it’s at.
Should The Akismet Configuration Link Be Moved?
- Yes (91%, 94 Votes)
- No (9%, 9 Votes)
Total Voters: 103
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Posted in Polls | Tagged akismet, configuration, poll |
By Jeffro on March 4, 2011
After all the hoopla surrounding the addition of the admin bar which is enabled by default within WordPress 3.1, I’m wondering how many of you have actually gone through and removed or disabled this particular feature? If you kept the admin bar but have used a plugin or custom code to hide it until your mouse cursor is over the area, select the third option. This is an in-between method that keeps the admin bar out of sight until needed.
As for myself, I’ve found the admin bar to be very convenient especially as it relates to comments as the link takes me straight to the comment moderation queue. Also, instead of logging into the site and browsing to the new post section, I’ve been selecting the Add New post link within the admin bar. The only thing I don’t like about it is the color but that can be easily corrected.
While not directly related to the poll question, how many of you have actually added additional functionality to the admin bar in the form of links or something else?
Have You Removed/Disabled The Admin Bar?
- No (59%, 44 Votes)
- Yes (39%, 29 Votes)
- It's Hidden Until Mouse Over (2%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 75
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Posted in Polls | Tagged 3.1, admin bar, features, poll, remove |
By Jeffro on May 19, 2010
I’m nearing the end of my one month trial period of using WP CDN and before I make the decision to purchase a CDN account, I wanted to hear from all of you, especially from those that visit the actual site multiple times a week if the site has loaded any faster for you since the middle of April? Using a CDN is a nifty way to increase performance and decrease loading times. Couple the CDN with W3 Total Cache and you have a great little system set up. However, not every CDN is the same. The more sites that are set up as key points for the CDN, the better. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Did WPTavern.com Load Any Faster/Better For You During April-May?
- Yes (47%, 20 Votes)
- Didn't Notice A Difference (40%, 17 Votes)
- No (13%, 6 Votes)
Total Voters: 43
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Posted in Polls | Tagged cdn, performance, poll, speed |
By Jeffro on April 28, 2010
Cruising through the feedreader today, I came across an article that explained how to customize the feed length as well as the HTML tags used. However, the site providing this advice was located on Blogger.com. This had me wondering if users would be less likely to heed WordPress specific advice if it were published on a non WordPress using site. So far on Twitter, the feedback has pointed towards no. However, it’s open to discussion in the comments, after you place your vote of course.
Are You Less Likely To Take WordPress Advice From A Site Not Running On WordPress?
- Yes (36%, 25 Votes)
- No (33%, 23 Votes)
- It Depends (31%, 22 Votes)
Total Voters: 70
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Posted in Polls | Tagged advice, poll, wordpress |
By Jeffro on February 9, 2010
While monitoring twitter today, I noticed a few prolific theme designers agree with a point that Chris Pearson made today.
Now that I’ve built the platform, I see why Thesis can do plugins’ jobs more efficiently than the plugins themselves. There’s no comparison. – pearsonified
I think I understand the reasoning behind the statement. Instead of using a plugin that may have more functionality than is needed, ONLY the functionality that is needed can be built into the theme making more efficient use. However, I’ve always been a fan of the idea that themes should be about good design alongside flexibility while leaving anything that can be handled by a plugin, to a plugin. Sure, a theme that provides all sorts of plugin functionality built-in provides a ton of convenience, but the distinct difference between a plugin and a theme is that when the theme disappears, the plugin and it’s options are still there. The same can not be said for a theme. What’s the difference between putting a wall around me, and building in a bunch of functionality that is typically left to plugins? I don’t see much of a difference. If the theme is built in a way that semi-locks in the user, that theme is doing it wrong. But, I’m not the one with a theme business so perhaps I’m wrong.
At the end of the day, the user has to decide on whether they want convenience, or flexibility.
Should Themes Contain Plugin Functionality Built-In?
- Some (39%, 32 Votes)
- No (37%, 30 Votes)
- Yes (24%, 20 Votes)
Total Voters: 82
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Posted in Polls | Tagged bundle, integration, Plugins, Themes |
By Jeffro on January 29, 2010
Carl Hancock who is part of the team behind GravityForms asked an interesting question on Twitter the other day.
What do you prefer for software support? A support forums or a good FAQ and a support ticket system?
I thought it would be nice to expand on the question so that we can answer it with more than 140 characters. In the past, I’ve really enjoyed working with software that has an in-depth FAQ because I enjoy solving my own problems. I think the more avenues for support, the better. However, if you are offering so many ways to receive support to the point where it’s decreasing the overall quality of support, then you introduce a new problem. I’d rather go to one place that I know is going to give great support and not spend time with four or five different methods that are sub par. There is no reason though why a good FAQ can’t compliment either a ticketing system or a forum, although one could argue that a forum fills both needs. I’d to hear what you think is the best method of support based on experience.
Last but not least, do not use the commenting form on a blog post to provide support. Nothing like traversing hundreds of comments to see if one is similar to the problem I’ve having.
Posted in Polls | Tagged faq, Plugins, support, tickets |