The visual design of WordPress 2.7 is just about finished, so we’re offering up a sneak peek to whet the appetite. Couldn’t have done it without the help of my coworkers Jane Wells and Andy Peatling. Seems to be well received so far; so I am relieved, gratified, and ready to get it finished and implemented.
I’m in the car now (no, not driving) on my way back from the airport after a great trip to Colorado with Automattic. Always great to see old faces and meet the new additions to the team. Can’t wait to work with them in getting this into your hands soon.
A WordPress Meetup in Mobile has been scheduled for October 25th. I’ll be swinging by and would like to get a chance to meet as many of our local users as possible. Looks like it’ll be a small group, so here’s your chance to get some face time with a real-life Automattic employee. To help sweeten the pot a little bit, I’ll be bringing along our latest work on the WordPress 2.7 redesign—so you Gulf Coast WordPress users have a chance to see the new admin before anyone else outside of Automattic! Update: I have to go out of town unexpectedly for the weekend, and won’t be able to make it to the Meetup.
September 11, 2008
Better late than never—a while back we noticed that a Google image search for “WordPress logo” turns up some, ahh, interesting results. Unfortunately this means that a lot of times when WordPress is mentioned on blogs or in the news, it’s accompanied by what I’ve deemed the fauxgo—a squat, bizarro-world version of the WordPress logo that’s not quite right but not wrong enough to be totally obvious. At any rate, we figured while we were at it, we’d throw in some swanky new web graphics and desktop wallpapers for those of you who like to show the WordPress pride. So for the sake of the Google juice, please check out the new official WordPress logo bling.
WordPress is Sexy Couldn’t help but laugh when I saw this bit of praise from one of our users on WordPress.com. It reminded me that I forgot to plug our recent redesign, particularly the newly-refurbished features, VIP, and forums. And it doesn’t stop there; more sexy is on the way (let’s just say I’ve been looking at Flickr and Vimeo for inspiration lately).
August 19, 2008
I’ve just begun using Fluid, the app that lets you create site-specific browsers for your favorite web apps. Carsonified created a great set for Google Apps, which inspired me to create an “official” Fluid app icon for WordPress. You can download it here. I’ve also added it to the Fluid Icons group on Flickr.
WordPress in Pencil 
I used to hate doing it, but in the past few years I’ve begun forcing myself to draw at least one rough sketch of each idea I have when beginning a new design project. Every time, that one sketch turns into a complete set, and before I know it I’ve begun ripping out pages, erasing elements, redrawing, revising before I ever touch the mouse. Here’s a glimpse at the first set of ideas for the upcoming WordPress for iPhone app, including a few things we did better and a few things still to come. (It turns out that Field Notes are just about the perfect size for roughing up an iPhone app).
July 11, 2008
The past couple of days have been fun for those of us who get our kicks by thinking about design and technology. The kind of apps that have been written already for the iPhone are just as exciting to me as the original iPhone. They also give me something to aspire to. For the past few weeks a couple of us at Automattic have been working on an iPhone app for WordPress. It’s almost ready to go—I’m writing this post with it—and the process of learning the ins and outs of designing for the iPhone has been a lot of fun (because I am a nerd). Our app isn’t revolutionary. Blogging, or mobile blogging in particular, may turn out to be; who knows. I think it’s turned out to be a pretty cool app, though, and I believe it’s going to be a great tool for lots of WordPress users.
Because the conventions that make up the iPhone OS are so new, it levels the playing ground. Developers from a wide range of backgrounds have figured out how to design apps for this new platform that are as compelling as Apple’s, and extend it in some interesting new directions. I really hope that as we finish the development of version 1.0 of WordPress for iPhone and release the source for those who would like to contribute to the project, our app can join that list.
BCBE Blog Everything comes full-circle—the first job I had as a web designer was with the BCBE, who now has a WordPress blog. They don’t seem to be actively using it. I hope that changes; it could be really useful for the system (school closures and breaking info via RSS? Heck yeah.) if they put it to use. The IT department has a blog as well.
Unfortunately, their new logo and web site are truly atrocious.
July 22, 2007
Day Four in San Francisco, writing this as WordCamp draws to a close. Some of the most exciting things still to come, though—Liz Danzico (I love her site’s design) of Happy Cog is presenting a session titled Usability Analysis of WordPress, where she’ll share some of the research she’s gathered while working on the information architecture of WordPress. And obviously, Matt Mullenweg’s State of the Word should be an interesting assessment of where we are and where we’re headed.
Tonight, the Automattic team will travel to Stinson Beach, where we’ll be spending the next week for our biannual company meetup. Being a “virtual” company, it’s nice to have the chance to work together in-the-flesh for a while. We’ll have five days on the beach, followed by two more days of free time in San Francisco. I’ve had a great time enjoying the city with my pal from my Silverpoint days, Steve Cox. Hopefully I’ll get to do some more of that next weekend.
And then, it’s off to New Orleans! I have not even begun to pack, so once I return from California, I’m taking the next week off to move and get settled into our new digs. It’ll be a busy next few weeks, but I’m excited about all that’s ahead.
