Tweaks to fix annoying Wordpress 2.5 backend

by Sapphire (April 9, 2008)

If Wordpress 2.5’s annoying backend is driving you crazy, here are some tweaks to keep you sane until, hopefully, they change things for the better.

First, here’s the list Sillybean kindly compiled of issues with some commentary from me explaining what they’re about:

1. * the whole issue of below-the-post vs. the right sidebar. (In the Write Post page, the new interface puts categories and other very useful stuff below the post instead of in the right sidebar where it used to be, causing you to have to scroll… if you even remember to look down there and choose a category!) Try the Baltic Amber Admin Theme or my patch (involves editing core files).
2. * no drafts listed on the Write page (To find draft posts, you now have to go into Manage Posts, which is an extra step much of the time) Try Jabecker’s patch (involves editing core files)
3. * permalink editing weirdness (It looks like it’s saving a crap permalink as you type, so that you’d have to edit it to get it to match your title if you change that while drafting your post. In reality, it works just like it always did, so no worries - it just looks broken, which is mind-bogglingly stupid.) Just ignore it.
4. * pre-filled http:// not selected (Another of mine: when you use the visual editor’s “insert link” option, the form that pops up has the pre-filled “http://” not selected, which means if you just hit Ctrl-V to paste in your link, it will start “http://http://” and be broken. This is an extra step for the vast majority of people, who do not type in long URLs. Is Wordpress targeting users who don’t understand cut and paste? Do you think people like that blog?) Fixed in WP 2.5.1.
   
5. * no way to add files in the media manager (You can add them via the posting page, but that’s not so convenient if you want to add a file to be used in several posts.)  If you can’t upload images at all, it may be due to server settings. Check this thread for a fix. This one, too. And this one’s really exhaustive.
6. * time of day missing from Manage Posts list (If you future post and use the Manage Posts page to see when you need to schedule the post you’re now composing, you want to have time of day as well as date so you don’t put them too close together.) Restore exact time plugin by Nick Ohrn.
7. * drag and drop widget management is gone (or just changed? See #5859) (Widgets can no longer be dragged and dropped like they used to be.)
8. And I’ll add that when you use “Add Media” to upload graphics, it puts a weird, unique class on every single one but doesn’t actually align them like it says. So I have to go into the visual editor’s graphics button, delete the old class, and select alignment again. Extra steps all over the place.

I’m going to share what I’ve found to help you work around some of these problems. As I find more tips, plugins or hacks, I’ll update the post - so you may want to bookmark it.

Posted in Blogging
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