To avoid any confusion and answer some questions that have been raised I’ve created this small
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) to dispell any rumours and set the record as straight as I possibly can. If you’ve got any questions put them underneath and I’ll update the post accordingly.
Why isn’t there a plugin to download?
When we first set out, I had tried to contact Matt regarding the idea, but he never got back to me. Uneffected I spread the word and with the inclusion of Michael to the team, Matt got back to us; originally he thought this was a fork, it wasn’t. After a bit of emailing we got Matt on board and he oversaw all the development that went into the mockups that you see. When it came down to how this design would be implemented there were several ideas thrown out into the ether, including creating a plugin.
However after much back and forth it was decided that this design would be better implemented as part of the core WP install. In many ways it was also impossible to implement this design in any way apart from altering the core code, so a plugin was not an option.
If Matt needs any help or wants some clarity on how certain parts of the design should work the Shuttle team is ready and waiting.
What if I can make this into a plugin?
If a whizz however feels that they can use the core WP admin files and implement the design,
PLEASE contact me and I’ll be sure to give you
EVERYTHING you need (spliced psds, colours, dimensions etc, hell I’ll even setup an
SVN for you as well. However I feel that this won’t be possible and as such we’re all going to have to wait for Matt and his excellent team to get on with the task. Patience is a virtue.
So you’ve created the code and Matt’s going to drop it into the main code right?
Nope. We’ve not written any code. Actually that’s a lie. Joshua began coding a plugin when it seemed fuzzy as to what Matt was planning on doing with the design. However since we got a firm commitment to the implementation of the mockups as you see them that sort of stopped. The issue was always how we would implement these changes and keep up with the daily changes that happen to WordPress from the dev team.
So do you expect the final thing to look like the mockups?
I sure fucking hope so. The Shuttle team was fighting over pixel placements, colour hues and the list goes on. There will be certain areas that might not work out exactly, as the internal discussion between the hackers list continues (specifically about the dashboard), amongst other things. However when it comes to the aesthetics Matt will hopefully contact us regarding how to implement areas before making final decision on the outcome.
So what exactly did you launch?
The design. We set out to make the WordPress admin both more usable and more beautiful to look at. We feel that the mockups (if implemented as shown) will elevate WordPress high and above the rest of the blogging and
CMS systems available on the net currently. This is a very important step. We’ve learnt a great deal in the process and it’s time we actually were more open about the results, after all it’s called Open Source.
So when do you plan to release the PSDs and let the community hack it into the core?
↓ Quote | 16/5/2006
I’m a bit unfamiliar with the way Photoshop works - is there an easy way to gank dimensions from the PSDs (once we get them… nudge nudge Matt) and thus have a better notion on how to get down n’ dirty with the html itself?
↓ Quote | 16/5/2006
i sure hope that perhaps you guys can make a theme that matches this Shuttle admin area style… it sure looks spiffy enough to be a theme on it’s own… hint hint Michael! K2 scheme!
↓ Quote | 18/5/2006
Hi Khaled,
This a great design and i hope to see a wonderfull CSS coding over it too.
And a big question before releasing it, is it localizable (actually reformable to RTL languages like Farsi or Arabic) ?
Rigards;
Ali Sattari
↓ Quote | 22/5/2006
I saw this many moons ago when you first released the design. I have attempted to improve my WordPress admin section ever since I started using it.
I recently began work on editing the pages of my admin section to resemble the Shuttle design. It’s sexy as all hell. I don’t know if I commented before, but this is one of the best CMS backends I’ve ever seen or could even imagine.
I have made some personal changes, too, just for added flavor. If you want a sample, check out my login page.
I was wondering then if I could get ahold of the PSDs or even more information/help with the design. I’m no PHP or AJAX guru, so I have no idea how to work with a lot of it. I’m simply changing as much XHTML and CSS as possible.
Nice job once again!
↓ Quote | 16/6/2006
Mark looks brilliant. I’m going to talk to Matty and hopefully he’ll get in touch with you to start integrating :). It’s all about the open source community stepping up. Thanks for that, very cool to see indeed.
↓ Quote | 16/6/2006
Sounds good! I’d love to help as much as possible. Thanks!
↓ Quote | 16/6/2006
@Mark: whoah… that’s just like the Shuttle previews! :D when’s Shuttle gonna touchdown for the rest of us? XD
↓ Quote | 17/6/2006