The Design Team provides user experience, user interface, and visual design expertise for the WordPress project.
Want to get involved?
Welcome! This all-volunteer team needs designers of various kinds. See our handbook and drop into #design once signed up for volunteer opportunities.
Our vision is to be the go-to resource for design for other teams across the WordPress open sourceOpen SourceOpen Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. project.
Hi, all! Here are a few projects the Design Team has contributed to over the past couple of weeks.
Backgrounds & Overlays
@javiarce and @joen discuss the background and overlay properties of the Cover blockBlockBlock is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience., and how they might be simplified so they can apply across other blocks as well (Figma file). These explorations have been shared on GitHub, and are related to to recent discussions around background block support.
Openverse headerHeaderThe header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes.
@fcoveram has been working on a second iteration of the Openverse header. This time, he’s exploring two navigational layouts and adding a profile area for future features.
If you have updates you’d like to include in the next Design Share, please drop a note in the Design channel on the Making WordPress SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. or message @critterverse.
As WordPress added more open sourceOpen SourceOpen Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. projects to its ecosystem and redesigned the News section, it seems a good opportunity to treat the design dimension more broadly and improve the contribution process based on the current practices.
Documentation concerns
When I started working on Openverse redesign, I struggled with finding up-to-date documentation regarding the contribution process. The procedure was slightly unclear as the design handbook suggests making a post in the Design blog and Figma had many projects, making it challenging to navigate through and where to start from.
The redesign task did not have specific tickets, and that is why my first move was to follow the most recent projects in Figma and duplicate their structures. I created a design library file mirroring the structure of the WordPress one and bringing into Openverse some GutenbergGutenbergThe Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ design features that I considered experience’s backbones.
On the other hand, I recently discovered Gutenberg’s Design Contributions document and it is excellent explaining how to start contributing, describing the design principles, and linking the issues that need design. One place gathering Gutenberg’s design dimension. Unfortunately, it is not part of the existing handbook.
New design needs
Along with Openverse, the Photo Directory and News redesign projects made me think of the opportunity we have to expand the design contribution process and update the documentation to ease the onboarding of new contributors.
We currently have solid practices like the bi-weekly meetings, iteration posts, and the recent design share posts made by Channing. So this is not about starting from scratch but tapping into visible accomplishments.
What I have in mind ranges in the following, without any specific order or priority.
Update the Design handbook documentation: Review the existing content and fix the broken links. Add step-by-step sections to start using Figma, like the duplicate files guide. Expand the meaning of designing WordPress as it tends to refer to be CMS-only.
One structure for all Design Libraries: Update the Openverse Design Library’s file structure to mirror the WordPress one. Same for new upcoming libraries.
One contribution process on GithubGitHubGitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/: Duplicate the Gutenberg design contribution document into repos where design proposals are shared to match the label logic.
The list above is very task-specific and can evolve quickly into a list of changes, but I still miss some bridge between project priorities and design tasks. Some contributors might hesitate to participate due to priorities unclarity and get lost among the many places where design happens.
I hope you like this idea, and please, feel free to suggest changes and add things that I am missing.
Hey all 👋 Here are a few projects the Design Team has contributed to over the past couple of weeks.
Site Editor navigation
@joen is tinkering with @jameskoster on wild ideas for GitHubGitHubGitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ issue #36667: a dedicated space for navigation.
Cover blockBlockBlock is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience.
@javiarce and @joen started collaborating on improving the Cover Block to support multiple overlays.
As part of the redesign of end user documentation, the docs team is looking into changing the hashtag # used at the end of the headlines in the articles. The hashtag nowadays has a different connotation but mainly because it is not accessible. The aria label applied to the hashtag makes screen readers duplicate the headline without warning or explanation.
The purpose is to remove the character # but not the functionality of an anchor link.
3D model icon
@fcoveram started exploring an icon for the 3D models content type Openverse is discussing displaying in a separated result.
WordPress Design Library
@javiarce started improving the WordPress Design Library. He upgraded the containers used to showcase the components and the examples, added descriptions, cleaned up some components, and refined the information blocks. He also analyzed the state of the components and variants, wrote a to-do list to highlight the pending work, and drafted a plan to deprecate the old components.
If you have updates you’d like to include in the next Design Share, please drop a note in the Design channel on the Making WordPress SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. or message @critterverse.
Our monthly show and tell meeting will take place on Zoom tomorrow, Wednesday February 16th at 18:00 UTC. A zoom link will be posted in the #design channel on the WordPress Slack. Learn how to join by following the instructions in the handbook.
A few issues have already been proposed for discussion in the Design channel, including:
Adding the ability to create new posts from the BlockBlockBlock is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. Editor, Gutenberg issue #38554
Hey all 👋 I’m sharing a handful of “snapshot” style updates from the Design team from the past couple of weeks. I’d like to try sharing these updates for a couple of months and see if it’s useful!
Here are a few things that have been worked on recently:
Advanced template creation
@jameskoster explored how we might expand the template creation UIUIUI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout of the page the user interacts with. Think ‘how are they doing that’ and less about what they are doing. to accommodate more advanced templates. Discussion is ongoing in GitHubGitHubGitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ issue #37407.
Designing the State of the WordState of the WordThis is the annual report given by Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress at WordCamp US. It looks at what we’ve done, what we’re doing, and the future of WordPress. https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/.
Openverse — New headerHeaderThe header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. design
@fcoveram explored a new header idea to solve usability, internationalization, and consistency problems, and also designed a new version of reporting content popover considering usability and a11yAccessibilityAccessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) concerns.
These projects are just a small sample of recent design work happening in the WordPress community. Have you contributed to the Design team lately? The Make blog is a great place to share process and updates! Feel free to use the comments section below to share your work ⬇️
A few weeks ago, we introduced the new Openverse identity as the beginning of a redesign journey, where we placed the search engine within the WordPress ecosystem. Since then, we have been working on a new interface that consolidates the new brand and puts consistency with WordPress at the forefront.
You may have heard about Openverse during State of the Word 2021, which is perfect timing to dive into what’s coming next for Openverse.
Audio. The new content type
The goal of Openverse is to catalog all openly-licensed content, not just images. To start this journey, we decided to include audio results as a new content type that many creators use for various purposes. This integration demanded designing an interactive audio player component with multiple variants and accessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) as a primary concern. Even when Openverse spans a simple flow, the audio browsing experience is completely different from searching for an image.
We wanted to keep the interface as clean as possible, but the vibrance of the brand colors also excited us. For this reason, we used our brand yellow for the active, ‘playing’ state. Its boldness really shines when interacting with the component.
At the same time, we wanted to highlight the artwork that creators added to their audio, whether album artwork, a podcast logo, or an image taken during a field recording, for example. For audio tracks without artwork, we plan to design a default image that uses the spectral data of the audio file to add randomness.
We will post about that in the following weeks.
A gallery for all content
Audio and images were mentioned as relevant content types by our users during the interviews we ran. For that reason, we explored the idea of having a gallery showing all content results to exhibit the strength and flexibility of Openverse. There aren’t many search engines, to our knowledge, that integrate results from different media types, and we’re excited by future possibilities like multimedia user collections.
Imagine a biology teacher making a collection of images of crows; audio files of crow calls; and 3D models of the skeletal structure of a crow’s wing!
The resulting gallery challenged us to make a simple yet interactive page to preview audio and dig into the content details.
Browsing results without leaving
Since time ago, we have been hesitant about the idea of seeing the content details as a modal. The page view provides a straightforward navigation and interaction experience when opening the source site and copying the attribution info. However, it felt as leaving the search results page and splitting the browsing experience into separated moments.
The new modal looks clean, and the main content is even more predominant. On images, the showcase space is modest, whereas audio fills the modal width to allow a seamless experience. The result details are clustered in sections, and the vertical lecture is flexible to varying heights.
Next steps
I would love to dive into other changes like the new headerHeaderThe header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes., the symbol animation when loading content, and all the accessibility challenges when designing the audio states. But for now, this snap summarizes the essence of the new Openverse.
We are looking forward to putting this redesign online and seeing what people come with. This step, after the brand work, is a solid one towards a future where Openverse offers a space for creators to use openly-licensed content.
In the meantime, see the Releases file for the audio integration mockups and the Design Library for the components used.
It’s about that time again: time to start creating the About page for WordPress 5.9.
I took a first pass on the About page using some preliminary copy that’s loosely based on the script for the recent Introducing WordPress 5.9 video. Here’s a link to this draft as a Google doc — all are welcome to view, edit, or comment there directly!
In addition to the page content, I’ve also mocked up a couple of different visual directions for the headerHeaderThe header of your site is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website. It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. artwork.
Direction 1 is inspired by jazz album covers and classic movie posters (particularly by this movie poster design by Saul Bass):
The next steps from a design POV would be to create new header artwork in whichever style we choose for the other section pages (Credits, Freedoms, and Privacy). I’d also like to look into how the chosen look & feel could potentially be utilized for the Dashboard page to help create visual consistency between the two sections.
The featured content is still TBD but hopefully this first draft can help get the conversation going! Design feedback is very much welcome at this stage — please comment on the Trac ticket with your thoughts and ideas. 🙂
The sibling inserter, the plus button, the quick inserter button, the in-between add button; Whatever you call it, this button often gets in the way. Do we need still need it? Lets chat about it.
This months discussion will focus on the [ + ] button that appears throughout the WordPress blockBlockBlock is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. editor. There are many names for it: the sibling inserter, the plus button, the quick inserter button, the in-between add button, and more. Last year I wrote a GitHub issue that describes some of the confusion around this button, and much of it is still relevant. I’d like to focus our discussion around:
Validating the problems outlined in the GitHubGitHubGitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ issue.
Reviewing some of the suggested solutions.
Updating the issue with a way forward.
We’ll also have time for anyone to share their work or ask questions to the design team. Just drop a comment below, or show up and raise your hand. I hope to see you on Zoom tomorrow.
Recent Happenings
There’s so much design work happening every day across SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/., TracTracTrac is the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like GitHub.https://core.trac.wordpress.org/., GitHub and more. For good measure, here’s a few highlights from the past few weeks…
A series of animatics shown when first visiting the site editor in WordPress 5.9.
A new “Explore” button in the block inserter sidebarSidebarA sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme. opens a large modal to browse block patterns.
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