New dashboard is already active on WordPress.com

Nov 24, 2015 12:30 GMT  ·  By

Automattic, the company behind WordPress, announced yesterday a redesign of the WordPress.com dashboard, one that would see the company take a bold step towards a new future when it comes to WordPress development overall.

The new dashboard was built as a side-project called Calypso, one that was started only a few months ago with the purpose of exploring new ways to speed up the WP admin panel.

The main difference between the old WordPress.com dashboard and the new version is that the development team dropped PHP as its main codebase and is now using 100% JavaScript, utilizing a mixture between Node.js and Facebook's React and Flux frameworks.

New dashboard is already active on WordPress.com

We won't get into the technical details since we're planning a separate article just for that, but the new interface is considered light-years ahead when it comes to speed and user interaction compared to the existing dashboard, coded in PHP & jQuery.

What you need to know is that Matt Mullenweg, Automattic's CEO and WordPress' creator, is viewing Calypso, the new WordPress.com dashboard, as the future of WordPress overall, which means you might find the new dashboard being integrated into upcoming WordPress CMS releases as well.

For now, the new dashboard is available by default for WordPress.com blogs, and if you're running the open source version of WordPress, you can use the Jetpack plugin to activate it for your own sites.

Automattic also released a Mac app, one that will make it easier for Apple users to update their sites from their desktop, without using a browser. Windows and Linux desktop apps are also in the works.

The new Calypso interface is fully responsive, mobile-first, and features built-in support for real-time updates and inline previews.

The new Calypso interface has been open-sourced

"A lot of people thought we should keep this proprietary, but throughout my life I’ve learned that the more you give away, the more you get back," Mullenweg explains.

The new Calypso dashboard has been open-sourced on GitHub, but Mullenweg says it will take some time until it finds its way into the WordPress.org project, since the community might reject it.

If they do accept it, Mullenweg also warns that there are a lot of technical difficulties that need to be solved before replacing the PHP-powered admin panel with the new, more modern dashboard.

New WordPress.com dashboard
New WordPress.com dashboard

New WordPress.com dashboard (3 Images)

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