Title: Widgets, Menus and Customize Changesets
Author: Andrew Ozz
Published: September 10, 2017
Last modified: December 19, 2023

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 [  ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/azaozz/) [Andrew Ozz](https://profiles.wordpress.org/azaozz/)
6:57 pm _on_ September 10, 2017      

# Widgets, Menus and Customize Changesets

Earlier today “converted” a Squarespace user, sat there and watched them struggle
with hierarchical categories, pages (and why they don’t show on the site), then 
creating a menu and adding to it. Then widgets… At the end had to explain how all
these work, they were pretty happy to set and use them.

From this user (well, hoping to find more “uninitiated” soon), it looks like a good
thing would be to tie creating pages with adding them to the menu. Also adding to
the menu on the separate Categories and Tags screens.

Apparently the separate widgets screen was easier to grasp for a first-timer, possibly
because it’s all about widgets/not that overloaded with all kinds of (new) things.

Menus were easier as soon as a menu was added to the proper location. However the
flowFlow Flow is the path of screens and interactions taken to accomplish a task.
It’s an experience vector. Flow is also a feeling. It’s being unselfconscious and
in the zone. Flow is what happens when difficulties are removed and you are freed
to pursue an activity without forming intentions. You just do it. of making a page
and then needing to add to the menu so the page shows on the site sucked. It was
even more confusing when I tried to explain that a tag can be created and then added
to the menu and it will show an “archive” of all the posts that were tagged with
it. The separate Tags screen makes this somewhat clearer, and having an “Add to 
the menu” button/link for each tag would probably be a winner.

Thinking that we need “Annoyingly Aggressive Help” for new users 🙂 Maybe something
like a modal overlay when they go to a page that is full of new concepts and “things”(
of course that modal will also need “Don’t show again!” button).

I’ve been looking at the discussions around Customize Changesets. They seem like
a good idea at first look, but IMHO they are an advanced feature that only few users
need, and only a fraction of these users will understand and use. Helping out this
person earlier made me think that what we have is already hard enough 🙂

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