inMotion Hosting runs the article “WordPress through the ages“, which shows in a number of screenshots how WordPress user interface has changed from version to version. Â It is a long run indeed, and the one that brings a nostalgic tear to those of us who have been using the system for a while. Â Just look at how much it has changed, how much it has matured. Â From this in WordPress 1.0.1:
to this in the latest and the greatest WordPress 3.8:
I don’t think that there is a single item that was left untouched. Â Main menu has been reorganized a number of times, moved from top to the left, given sub-menu items, icons, and a variety of different fonts and colors. Â The editor has been through a tonne of transformations, adding the What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) feature, icons, HTML preview, media uploader, which is a story of itself, and more. Â Custom post types are a fresh addition, but even they went through a bit. Â So did all the other elements – social networks integration, publishing options, categories, SEO, and more. Â And that’s just the post editing screen. Â As much or more has happened to the rest of the screens. Â Being redone in responsive layout, ready for smartphone and tablet screens comes to mind.
All these changes happened for a variety of reasons. Â Of course, people building WordPress learned better ways, got more feedback, and spent more time on it. Â But also the Web itself has changed. Â We are seeing faster networks, more powerful browsers, and richer interfaces.
Which brings me to another point. Â Pretty much every single time I was involved in building a website or an application, a non-technical client would raise the question of deadlines and phrase it like “When is this going to be finished?”. Â And every single time I have to explain that applications and websites they are not finite. Â They are more like kids – once you start, you never stop. Â It’s an ongoing project, with more and more features, fixes, and improvements. Â (There are exceptions, of course, but they are just that – exceptions). Â Most times, it’ll never be done. Â And one can’t just put everything into a single version, release it and forget about it. Â Instead, one should make a plan, a roadmap and decide what goes into each version, leaving some space and time for things that were unthoughtful at the time.
WordPress, like may other awesome applications, illustrates this nicely. Â WordPress 1.0 has been released and has been used by a lot of people. Â Was it done? Â No. Â More changes came in during 1.x, 2.x, and now 3.x version series. Â Is it done now? Â No, not by a mile. Â It is a much better system than it used to be. Â But there are still gazillion things to be done. Â And that’s a good thing! Â I wish such a lengthy (and successful) roadmap to every project.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go back and drop that nostalgic tear of days gone by…