improving joomla's backend user experience

Improving Joomla’s Backend User Experience

Randy Careyweb architect, Careytech Studios

St. Paul, MinnesotaCareytech.com

Careytech.com/icue

Randy Careyweb architect, Careytech Studios

St. Paul, MinnesotaCareytech.com

Over the next few months, I will be providing further discussions and access to the usability extensions I’m creating:

Overview

1.Case for CMS Usability

2.Principles (for CMS Usability)

3.Areas to Improve (in Joomla’s backend)

4.Looking Forward

Principles

Don’t show a user options that are irrelevant

Don’t show a user options that are irrelevant

Don’t use technical or uncommon terms

Don’t use technical or uncommon terms

Use a task-based interface

Recognize difference in users:infrequent-and-casual –vs– frequent-and-engaged

Recognize difference in users:infrequent-and-casual –vs– frequent-and-engaged

Recognize different roles of users:

authors

content managers

siteadmins

authors

content managers

site admin duties

developer

One user with two roles……two separate accounts

contentmanagement

siteadministration

Assign users to the front-end …whenever possible

Areas to improve

admin template – improve navigation

improve edit screens

segment users tailored and simplified user experience

JCE profiles tailored and simplified options

!?!

Task-specific extensions intuitive edit screens for users

Areas We Can Improve

We can do better

Customizable Admin Template

Admin Praise 3

Admin Praise 3

Mission Control (Rockettheme)

Admin Praise 3

Admin Praise 3

configurable “app shelf”

Mission Control (Rockettheme)

Mission Control

Mission Control - tailoring menu bar

Mission Controlcontrolling visibility per menu items

Model - View - Controller

M V C

components / modules

components / modules

template (overriding the view)

improve edit screens

RedShop - out-of-box product edit screen

K2 - irrelevant tabs

Step 1: Add parameters to K2 category/administrator/components/com_k2/config.xml

Step 2: display new paneof parameters in category view

Step 3: overriding the two item edit screens (site and admin) so each checks parameters and displays each tab accordingly

Article Edit

Segment users into Groups

what a user can do

• Edit

• Edit• Create

• Edit• Create• Delete• Edit Status

what assets a user should be able to access

Authors, Editors, Publishers

Managers, Admins

Super Admin

ACL – 1.7

contentmanagement

siteadministration

gary gary-admin

Author

Admin

Overriding view file for Article

JCE - Profiles and Edit Options

/images/a

/documents/a

/videos/a

/images

/documents

/videos

/images/a

/docs/a

/video/a

/images

/docs

/video

Task-specific extensions

eventsRestaurant menustestimonials

specializedinventory

listing

• Fast to build

• Unintuitive steps to access• Not all info on one screen• No help text on fields• No grouping of fields• Exists as a category within edit tool, not as a stand alone app• intuitive to use

• one-step app• single screen edit

• Custom code to build or modify existing extension

Improving Joomla’s Backend User Experience

configurable Admin Template

improve edit screens

Segment users

JCE Edit Options

Task-specific extensions

Looking forward…

category branches

drag-and-drop

Help

Generate extensions

more refined front-end editing

Careytech.com/icue

Randy Careyweb architect, Careytech Studios

St. Paul, MinnesotaCareytech.com

I will be providing further discussions and access to the usability extensions I’m creating:

Improving Joomla’s Backend User Experience

Randy Careyweb architect, Careytech Studios

St. Paul, MinnesotaCareytech.com