Re-Introduce Content Editing in the Site Editor

[jameskoster]

Visual

Tasks

• Site Editor: Add ability to focus on editing a page's content vs the page's template #50857 (@noisysocks)
• Add the pages menu to the site editor #50463 (@youknowriad)
• Mark Front page and Posts page according to site's home page settings
• Creation modal for "New Page" #48456
• Add quick links header to the templates and pages site editor sidebars #50500 (@youknowriad)
• Add dynamic templates to pages list #50418
• Blank state for post content block #49086 (@tellthemachines)
• Pages list displays 50 pages, ordered alphabetically
• "Manage" button in the panel header links to wp-admin pages list. Existing "Manage all pages" menu item removed.
• Parent/Child relationships indicated, hopefully using List View components for expanding/collapsing.
• Warn users prior to removal of critical blocks in blog templates #40618
• Empty Post Content in Pages doesn't always contain initial template #50984
• Site Editor: clicking on page in Navigation section and returning brings you to Pages section #50676

[jameskoster]

One option (which overlaps with Browse Mode) would be to present the web site in a frame upon entering the Site Editor (a concept first introduced in https://make.wordpress.org/design/2022/06/13/thinking-through-the-wordpress-admin-experience/). The frame could feature a dynamic address bar, allowing folks to search for content to display and edit:

browse.mp4

One problem with the previous drill-down approach was the fatigue it caused when navigating deep into content trees. The dynamic address bar solves this. Another benefit is the obfuscation between content and some templates, for example it seems reasonable to surface the 404 template if one were to search for it here.

[jasmussen]

I like that minimal browse mode for allowing you to choose content to edit, if we pair it with an explicit "Templates" item in the sidebar for when editing that is your intent.

The bigger win would be to not drop you directly into editing your "Home" template, rather to allow you to make a choice first in the open-by-default sidebar.

Should we try and prototype a minimal version of that? Someting like:

• Site editor with sidebar open by default and your homepage loaded with content in a minimal browse mode on the right.
• All content inside browse mode non-interactive though a Disabled overlay. Click "Edit" to edit, or perhaps click the entire overlay, tbd.
• Still shows options for Site, Templates and Template Parts on the left.
• Site still takes you to the home page, but the dropdown and search allow you to load a particular template/post content combo.

This would let us still have a generic template list as it exists today, and could be a small step towards true browse mode where links in the viewport actually become clickable.

What do you think?

[jameskoster]

The bigger win would be to not drop you directly into editing your "Home" template

100%. I think it's vitally important that we place template editing / management at an appropriate altitude in the UX. It's over-emphasis one of the biggest overall sources of confusion in the site editor.

Should we try and prototype a minimal version of that?

That's certainly an option, though I find the "Site" button a little awkward, and it's quite buggy (#42807, #36821).

We might place Templates in a drill-down instead. That is aligned with the de-emphasisation of template management mentioned above, and would eliminate the need for the buggy "Site" button. As an added bonus it'd create space for us to delineate different template (and part) types, which is something that has come up in #42325.

Here's a demo:

templates.mp4

If that leap is too large, then your suggestion sounds like a good middle-ground to me.

[jasmussen]

I like the idea that you see the viewport and are able to click "Edit" to edit the content.

I think it's too early to put Templates inside the "Library", I would intuit mainly custom stuff be placed there. Which yes, arguably you can create custom templates, but it still feels as stretch, so to reduce drilldown we should probably keep templates top level for now, IMO.