1. More effects have been on the list for a long time but it is not a priority. The slide effects were choppy in earlier versions but I haven’t tested that in the CSS improvements in version 2.
Sliders are meant for images and when you start sliding non-fixed-width blocks it can be very distracting. Feel free to recommend a text-based slider or point me towards a plugin that does it already and I’ll have a look.
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2. This is my dilemma and I will gladly participate in a meaningful discussion with anyone interested.
TL;DR: Probably not, though I do plan to add more prebuilt templates.
It takes hundreds of lines of UI code to produce ten lines of CSS or a single UI setting. Learning a little code can go a long way. Learning a little Spanish makes for a better Mexico vacation 🙂
Any more non-coding options and I end up reinventing the wheel. As you know, the possibilities with CSS are endless and once I add things like borders, padding, etc. I fear the floodgate of requests will open. I believe very much in the WordPress philosophy so this plugin will remain as the 80%-90% solution (that already does more than most).
For the most part, I sense that people find that liberating. Too much choice is overwhelming for the everyday user. Decision fatigue is the bane of our modern existence.
The plugin does employ a custom template system. Were I in your shoes at this moment, I would create several custom templates for your clients to choose from. If you are including themes, it would be simple to make matching testimonials templates, either in the theme or as a collection in a plugin. Contact me at wpmission.com if you wish to explore that.
At the very least, you could craft single-purpose CSS classes for individual rules that could be added to the “CSS Classes” View option; e.g. “padding-20 margin-10 border-1-blue”. If that appeals to you, let’s talk about how simple selector UI should work.
I’m already envisioning version 3 as mere glue that brings together existing best-of-breed plugins for custom post type and custom taxonomy management, drag-and-drop style, social media integration, and so on. Then I simply attach a wheel instead of reinventing it.
