Interesting idea for a specific problem

  • somecodeiwrote

    (@somecodeiwrote)


    1 month ago

    I really like the idea and I think this could someday be something fairly good. I can’t call this production ready today.

    Within an hour of testing some basic functionality, I found 2 issues that would be a deal-breaker for the kind of client that would want this solution. I have posted them in the support thread, as a genuine attempt to help improve this plugin.

    Outside of these issues, the UI/UX is currently too strict for the type of client that I can see wanting this. You can’t move items. You can only edit a select number of text-based blocks. You can’t add new blocks – even from that same selection. You can edit the text of a text-based link, but not the link. I understand why these things are they way they are. However, for the type of client that wants this functionality, these limitations will probably create more confusion than it is worth.

    As of today, this plugin could be used for little more than copywriters fixing basic typos within a block of text.

    If I want a client to be able to edit text within layouts, but lock the layout – Gutenberg already has a solution for that. If I want an editor-level user with an incredibly streamlined admin experience, WordPress already has solutions for that. This plugin feels like a solution in search of a problem.

    I certainly see the potential and will keep an eye on this. I hope it improves and grows.

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  • Plugin Author jamiemarsland

    (@jamiemarsland)

    3 weeks, 6 days ago

    Thank you, genuinely. This is exactly the kind of feedback that makes a plugin better, and I appreciate you taking the time to test it properly and write it all up rather than just leaving a rating.

    First, the two issues you posted in the support thread: you were right on both, and they’re fixed in the upcoming 0.4 (releasing on 15th July). The concurrent-editing one was the serious one. It will use WordPress’s own post lock, so two people (front end or block editor) can’t overwrite each other, with a save-time conflict check as a backstop. The “block validation” error from pressing Enter is fixed too. Line breaks now save cleanly.

    On the bigger point, that the editing scope is too strict, that’s fair and I won’t be defensive about it. A few things have already moved: 0.3 added the ability to lock whole pages or individual sections, and 0.4 lets you enable additional block types yourself, including third-party ones like Kadence. Editing the link itself, not just the link text, is a real gap and it’s on my list. Moving and adding blocks is a deliberate line I’ve drawn for now, but I hear you that the boundary can confuse the very people this is for.

    On “a solution in search of a problem,” that’s the critique I think about most, so I want to answer it properly. The distinction I’m chasing is narrow but I believe real: this is for the client who will never open wp-admin or Gutenberg at all. Not an editor-role user with a streamlined admin, but someone editing the words directly on the live page, in context, with no interface to learn. For a lot of small-business clients that difference is the whole point. But you’re right that if a client is comfortable in the block editor, Gutenberg’s own content-locking is the better fit, and I’d happily point them there.

    So: early days, and aimed at a specific person rather than everyone. Thank you for keeping an eye on it. Feedback like this is genuinely shaping where it goes.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

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