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Last active December 26, 2015 06:49
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MP6

The WordPress admin has not had a major visual overhaul since 2.7, and its age is starting to show. In a rapidly changing web environment where users are starting to expect good design, we need to make sure that our aesthetics match — better yet, exceed — their high expectations.

MP6 is a movement towards modernity. It is an exploration into the infinite possibilities that exist for improvement within our existing framework. It is a tenderly crafted visual update to the admin that we all know and love. MP6 is the future.

Screenshots

What problems are we trying to solve?

The current wp-admin has:

  • An outdated visual appearance
  • Outdated technology
  • Low contrast
  • Suboptimal readability

We've solved these problems with the following:

Modern aesthetics

  • Open Sans — a font as free as we are.
  • Cleaner styles — goodbye decoration, hello simplicity. Affordances still welcome.
  • Let it breathe — increased spacing between elements, which allow for better overall hierarchy and whitespace to guide the eye

Improved contrast and readibility

  • Higher contrast dark default color scheme — great for eyes of all ages
  • Lower contrast light default color scheme — helpful for those with dyslexia and sensitivity to light
  • Refined typography — larger font sizes, crafted with better readability in mind

Future-forward

Inherently HiDPI

  • Vector icons — beautiful and crisp at any resolution
  • CSS effects instead of images — cleaner, faster, and more flexible

Responsive

Why MP6?

Results

While we haven't explicitly user tested this new skin, it's been running on WordPress.com for months with minimal issues. The same old WordPress admin functionality is still there, just with a fresh coat of paint.

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