Title: WordPress Admin Help
Author: Siobhan
Published: August 13, 2013
Last modified: August 15, 2013

---

 [  ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/siobhan/) [Siobhan](https://profiles.wordpress.org/siobhan/)
12:00 pm _on_ August 13, 2013     
Tags: [3.8 ( 14 )](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/tag/3-8/),
[Admin Help ( 50 )](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/tag/admin-help/)   

# WordPress Admin Help

Here’s a draft of the proposed project scope:

As part of the move towards developing features in plugins, we’re looking at making
improvements to the WordPress admin help. On Monday at 3:30 UTC we discussed the
issue in #wordpress-dev

The Problem: The current Admin Help is hard to find unless you know it’s there. 
The content lacks any focus; it’s simply a description of what’s on a particular
screen and doesn’t add any particular value. It’s possible that we’re failing WordPress
users by a) not providing useful help in the Admin, and b) not providing adequate
basic resources in the Codex.

Work was carried out by @chexee in ticket [21583](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/21583)
on making Help and Screen options more discoverable.

In the State of the WordState of the Word This is the annual report given by Matt
Mullenweg, founder of WordPress at WordCamp US. It looks at what we’ve done, what
we’re doing, and the future of WordPress. [https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/](https://wordpress.tv/tag/state-of-the-word/).,
Matt talked about the 96% attrition rate on wp.com, and how it was probably higher
on WordPress due to the extra steps. If users are getting frustrated and walking
away from WP, how can we prevent that frustration?

**Goal:** to alleviate frustration in people who find the admin too difficult to
use.

(Note: changing the Admin is outside of the scope of this project. We are creating
help for the admin _as it is_. However, testing and research will inevitably show
up issues which we should record and make available for others to work on should
they wish to).

**Some questions to keep in mind:**

 * how can we best provide admin help to users?
 * what help do users need?
 * how can we ensure that help is unobtrusive for people who don’t need it?
 * what tools are available to us?
 * should we de-couple screen options and help?
 * how can we ensure that the help is accessible to all WordPress users?

### The process:

1. Research & Identifying the Problem
 Before fixing the problem, we need to discover
what problem users are facing. [@trishasalas](https://profiles.wordpress.org/trishasalas/)
has started [writing some questions for user testing](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/2013/08/13/user-testing-for-wordpress-3-8-admin-help/)
so we can identify at what stage the pain points are appearing. For example, are
they baffled when they first log in to WordPress, or are they having problems when
they are in the middle of work?

@jazz3quence has started [researching how other platforms are implementing admin help](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/2013/08/12/wordpress-3-8-dashboard-help/),
and the tools available. Once we have identified the problem we can match a tool
to it.

We should also draw up a list of WordPress plugins that are providing admin help(
WP-Help, for example).

2. Mockups
 Mockups and sketches will be created for the following:

 * the user interface
 * the user’s journey and interaction with the functionality

3. Design & Development
 A UIUI UI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout
of the page the user interacts with. Think ‘how are they doing that’ and less about
what they are doing. designer will put together the interface (to match MP6) and
developers will be needed to create the pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software
containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can
extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins
are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress.
These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory [https://wordpress.org/plugins/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/)
or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party.. After the first version we go on
to the next phase.

4. Test and iterate
 Testing and iterating for fun and profit.

5. Finish!
 Time for tea, beer, or scotch.

Who’s needed:

It would be desirable to get the following skills involved:

 * developers
 * UI designers
 * technical writers
 * WordPress users (for testing)
 * people who run WordPress training (to provide feedback)

[#3-8](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/tag/3-8/), [#admin-help](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/tag/admin-help/)

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 1.  ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/5e52265402626dacf1e982ee9b7c2f0c7cbfc58f6fe8620d44cbb842cd83ddc6?
     s=32&d=mm&r=g)
 2.   [esmi](https://profiles.wordpress.org/esmi/)  12:27 pm _on_ August 13, 2013
 3.  We also need to ensure that this additional help is also available to disabled
     users who may not use a mouse or be able to see. I’d be happy to help on that 
     front.
 4.   * ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/78e12b0e0fd945bd7d661af2b0ca95c1509d09a7a1f528ded21bbd604192c662?
        s=32&d=mm&r=g)
      *  [Siobhan](https://profiles.wordpress.org/siobhan/)  2:38 pm _on_ August 13,
        2013
      * definitely. have added that to the list of questions. It’d be great if you 
        could help us with that.
      * ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4f684f4cc972282de186d82860316d741081e106110096762e4b2588b3d5920a?
        s=32&d=mm&r=g)
      *  [Graham Armfield](https://profiles.wordpress.org/grahamarmfield/)  6:04 am
        _on_ August 14, 2013
      * You beat me to it esmi, I was going to say much the same thing. The Help panel
        is currently hard for some users – especially for screen reader users. Some
        work was done in 3.5 to improve the access to whatever elements are in the 
        Screen Options tab. The Help tab (if it’s going to stay) needs some similar
        thought.
      * Have you got this on your radar Siobhan or do you need a tracTrac Trac is the
        place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like
        GitHub.[https://core.trac.wordpress.org/](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/).
        ticket to be raised to flag it?
         - ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/78e12b0e0fd945bd7d661af2b0ca95c1509d09a7a1f528ded21bbd604192c662?
           s=32&d=mm&r=g)
         -  [Siobhan](https://profiles.wordpress.org/siobhan/)  10:56 am _on_ August
           14, 2013
         - I don’t know if the Help Tab will stay in its current state or if we’ll 
           completely change it. Whatever we do, we’ll want to make it accessible.
 5.  ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7c6016cf71cbc7e5a2375177b36674a1948d0cea7995f16ee8707c9c2194b6e8?
     s=32&d=mm&r=g)
 6.   [hanni](https://profiles.wordpress.org/hanni/)  2:07 pm _on_ August 13, 2013
 7.  Here are a few plugins to get us going:
 8.   * [SH Contextual Help](https://wordpress.org/plugins/sh-contextual-help/) – allows
        customisation of default help content.
      * [Help for WP`](https://wordpress.org/plugins/help-for-wp/) – videos accessible
        from the dashboard.
      * [Help Menu](https://wordpress.org/plugins/help-menu/) – looks somewhat untended.
      * [Screen Options and Help Show Customize](https://wordpress.org/plugins/screen-options-and-help-show-customize/screenshots/)–
        not a help pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group 
        of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality
        or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written
        in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These
        can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory [https://wordpress.org/plugins/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/)
        or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. per se, allows customisation
        of help tab display.
      * [Custom Dashboard Help](https://wordpress.org/plugins/custom-dashboard-help/screenshots/)–
        perhaps more geared towards network announcements, but allows for a readme 
        style text to be placed on the dashboard.
      * [WP Help](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-help/) as mentioned.
 9.   * ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/78e12b0e0fd945bd7d661af2b0ca95c1509d09a7a1f528ded21bbd604192c662?
        s=32&d=mm&r=g)
      *  [Siobhan](https://profiles.wordpress.org/siobhan/)  2:40 pm _on_ August 13,
        2013
      * Fancy installing all of these and seeing what we could potentially steal from
        them?
         - ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d6d6254d551f10047c16ac27288de32bfa5d96a399f1bcf618ac6b49656424f7?
           s=32&d=mm&r=g)
         -  [Chris Reynolds](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jazzs3quence/)  2:52 pm
           _on_ August 13, 2013
         - I am also going to look at some current WordPress plugins and how they use
           help within the pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing 
           a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can 
           extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress
           plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly
           with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory 
           [https://wordpress.org/plugins/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/) or can 
           be cost-based plugin from a third-party. (if they aren’t using the Help 
           tab, which most aren’t).
         - ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7c6016cf71cbc7e5a2375177b36674a1948d0cea7995f16ee8707c9c2194b6e8?
           s=32&d=mm&r=g)
         -  [hanni](https://profiles.wordpress.org/hanni/)  3:15 pm _on_ August 13,
           2013
         - Yes ma’am! 🙂
 10. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d6d6254d551f10047c16ac27288de32bfa5d96a399f1bcf618ac6b49656424f7?
     s=32&d=mm&r=g)
 11.  [Chris Reynolds](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jazzs3quence/)  2:53 pm _on_ 
     August 13, 2013
 12. fixed some typos
 13. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4afd830f71468aa93bb1c1953c2ad4ed93cd4316bc0a4db3614ff13a775cf4a5?
     s=32&d=mm&r=g)
 14.  [Eric Amundson](https://profiles.wordpress.org/sewmyheadon/)  3:16 pm _on_ August
     13, 2013
 15. Would be happy to help after we get the Theme Dev Handbook released. 🙂
 16. Pingback: [WordPress › Dashboard help plugins « Make WordPress Documentation](http://make.wordpress.org/docs/2013/08/20/dashboard-help-plugins/)
 17. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/be47aa80c062d1dd85355c169b172f25b293283358dc9430186134dfcccf5dc2?
     s=32&d=mm&r=g)
 18.  [Stagger Lee](https://profiles.wordpress.org/stagger-lee/)  11:51 am _on_ August
     8, 2014
 19. Perhaps one “custom content type” that can be called inside Help tab with Ajax.(
     to not unnecessary overload admin pages load).
 20. Just some ordinary (private, non indexable) posts called in Help part. I have 
     in mind mostly Youtube videos and turorials about WordPress. My clients reactReact
     React is a JavaScript library that makes it easy to reason about, construct, and
     maintain stateless and stateful user interfaces.
      [https://reactjs.org](https://reactjs.org/)
     very positively on video tutorials. There are never words i can use to explain
     to them how one Youtube video can explain.
 21. It demands Ajax or similar, to not make unnecessary and stupid calls to Youtube
     servers on each page load/refresh.
 22. Pingback: [The future of WordPress | Easy Web Design Tutorials](https://www.easywebdesigntutorials.com/the-future-of-wordpress/)

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# Post navigation

[← User Testing for WordPress 3.8 Admin Help](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/2013/08/13/user-testing-for-wordpress-3-8-admin-help/)

[@samuelsidler and I have put together the specs… →](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/2013/08/14/samuelsidler-and-i-have-put-together-the-specs/)