Posted: Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 1:27 am. Filed in Administration, New Features, WordPress.com.
Tags: 2.7, crazyhorse
New Dashboard Design
You’ve probably gotten tired of hearing about it from us, but the day has finally come and the new dashboard is finally here. It’s now immediately available to everyone on WordPress.com.
Change is always tricky, but pretty much everyone who has already switched to the new design and layout (that we affectionately call Crazyhorse) prefers it after a day or two of using it.
Why is that? Well aesthetics are a matter of taste, and you might like or dislike the new look, but speed is not.
A big focus of this redesign was making everything faster. It loads faster. It’s faster for you to navigate. And nearly every possible task in WordPress now takes fewer clicks than it used to.
This means we can get out of your way and you can focus on what matters: your writing, your comments, your readers, your blog.
So take a few minutes to explore around, there are a ton of new features for you. Try rearranging your dashboard, or your write page. Click the arrows in the menu to expand modules and navigate faster. Go to your profile and turn on keyboard shortcuts for comment moderation. Poke and prod! 
For those following along at home, this new dashboard is going to be available as the 2.7 release on WordPress.org sometime next week. But because we update things so frequently here on WordPress.com, version numbers don’t apply as much.
Support is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you have any problems, and as always completely free. (Give us a little extra time to reply though, we’ll probably get a lot of folks contacting us.)
Love, Matt and the tireless WP team
December 5th, 2008 at 5:28 am
Loving it bro! I still can’t believe that all of this is still free. Are there going to be subscription fees or mandatory ads down the line? Do you guys get paid?
December 5th, 2008 at 5:38 am
WP.com is free free free! We get paid from ads and when you buy upgrades on your blog, like a custom domain or CSS.
December 5th, 2008 at 5:28 am
It looks great. It took me a minute though, but it is slightly cooler than the old dashboard. Thanks guys.
December 5th, 2008 at 5:33 am
Simple. Easy to use. Good job!
December 5th, 2008 at 5:33 am
This is amazing but I like the previous one also. But changes are necessary. Congrats for a new dashboard and its seems very user friendly too.
Love it.
December 5th, 2008 at 5:34 am
I love the new layout.. but can we get a we bit of a warning next time? I nearly had a heart attack when I logged it and thought that everything was broken!
December 5th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Really? We put up a warning post 2 days in advance, plus several posts over the past few weeks with previews, etc. in order to prevent anyone from being shocked. If you didn’t see the notices on your dashboard, you should contact support so they can investigate. Of course, if the notices appeared but you just didn’t click through to read them, there’s not much we can do about that.
December 5th, 2008 at 5:39 am
I guess it will take a little getting used to. I am still a bit lost.
1) Did you guys forget to put the “return to site” button?
2) It is a bit confusing, I almost posted a page instead of a post.
3) Also was a bit confused about which blog I was on (I have several blogs)
4) The comments section is fantastic
As always–standard statement I LOVE WORDPRESS, I LOVE WORDPRESS
December 5th, 2008 at 5:39 am
Love it….!!….And this one really rocks hard….!!…3 cheers….!!
December 5th, 2008 at 5:41 am
Great work guys! I love it!
December 5th, 2008 at 5:46 am
It’s so great it only took me 12 tries to upload 1 photograph. Faaaantastic.
December 5th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Thanks WordPress! The new interface is beautiful!!!
December 5th, 2008 at 5:48 am
Very good design in the new dashboard….
every links is arranged in good order………….GREAT !!!
December 5th, 2008 at 5:52 am
this is amazing, surprise!
simple but powerful, full content!
i love the structure, the color and the icons
December 5th, 2008 at 5:54 am
surprise!! very nice, i love it. Thanks!
December 5th, 2008 at 5:54 am
I love it! This is such an easy layout, very user-friendly, and everything is right at your fingertips.
Thanks!
December 5th, 2008 at 5:57 am
Most excellent design. Thanks Matt and the WordPress team. You guys are awesome.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:02 am
It’s neat and easy on the eye. Expandable, retractable and configurable is great. And it is faster, just got to find my way around again. It looks like a job well done.
One question; what happened to the “View All” option on stats? I remember two options, the default and the “all” which gave more info.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:05 am
Really nice,
Thanks dude
December 5th, 2008 at 6:07 am
wow.. awesome…
but… how about giving user the color choices…
thanks
December 5th, 2008 at 6:08 am
LOVE IT!!! It took a couple of minutes to get use to it, but would not go back to the old version now.
GREAT Job!!! I second- Can we have some more themes? and the option of adding Amazon Showcase/ Shelfari?
December 5th, 2008 at 6:08 am
i really like the new ver. simpler to use and better organized. thanks….
December 5th, 2008 at 6:10 am
I miss the view button, I probably could use to the rest — it is organized, however it seems very busy for one page — But I will settled for view button again.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:11 am
One more voice for AWE-some!
December 5th, 2008 at 6:14 am
an awesome updates, I’m loving it so much.
like as tools options, “press this” features – I think on “edit-link-categories.php” – should be re-enable this java codes (given below) which helping so much to bookmark.
javascript:void(linkmanpopup=window.open(‘http://example.wordpress.com/wp-admin/link-add.php?action=popup&linkurl=’+escape(location.href)+’&name=’+escape(document.title),’LinkManager’,'scrollbars=yes,width=750,height=550,left=15,top=15,status=yes,resizable=yes’));linkmanpopup.focus();window.focus();linkmanpopup.focus();
December 5th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Could you contact support about that?
December 5th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Nice
December 5th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Good!
December 5th, 2008 at 6:24 am
Wow! It’s beautiful! Thanks so much, great job.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:25 am
The New dashboard design looks great .. i love it
December 5th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Sorry, I don’t like to knock others hard work– but I hate it. I, too, wish that everything in the technology world did not have to constantly change.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Gooooood..!
December 5th, 2008 at 6:38 am
It’s not what was in my head (which would have been awesome, but I’m bias), but it’s functional and easier to navigate. I’ll give it the full test tomorrow when I post something, but I’m pleased thus far.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Awesome. WordPress is such a great example of continual improve. I’ve been blogging on WordPress for 3 years now, and am constantly amazed by the cool improvements that you keep making. WOOOHOOO
December 5th, 2008 at 6:40 am
I not sure if I like it, maybe I amjust a creature of habit. I will try to keep an open mind and give it a good try.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Cool! Not in all matters but at least in this case faster is better.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:43 am
wow!!!
i love it….
December 5th, 2008 at 6:43 am
Love the drag and drop. That’s a great feature. Thanks.
Somethings are too wide to view on my laptop screen, however. The dashboard looks fine. But your post above cuts off on the right about 5 characters or so. Still working out the kinks?
December 5th, 2008 at 6:43 am
it’s a surprise for me… very nice… thanks a lot for the gift…
December 5th, 2008 at 6:46 am
Very nice and cool! If I had one complaint – on a 24″ monitor, it could use an option to fit everything in 3 columns, not 2. It just stretches everything.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:54 am
Semplice, più facile da usare, tutto più visibile… meraviglioso.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:04 am
Thank’s matt it’s cool and faster, i love quickpress more easy to post
December 5th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Supreme!
Change is always harder for some than others. People with difficulties now will not be able to imagine going back to the old design once they’ve used the new one for a couple of weeks.
A few aesthetic nitpicks, matters of preference:
- The polls icon is a bit of a blob and an eyesore. Why is it big red when everything else is small gray? Maybe because otherwise it just looks like a blob. Indeed, what is it exactly? A radio button, a jacket button, a nautilus shell? I have high hopes that one day it too will mature into a beautiful, seamlessly integrated icon.
- The two W icons at top left, one in the permabar and one next to the blog name, are overkill. Being so close to each other, they clash. There’s no danger of us not knowing we’re on your site! If you insist on having both — and there’s no doubt that it’s nice to have something to the left of the blog title — I’d be tempted to make the icon even more subtle, as if the features are bas relief of the same material. Same color, but slightly embossed. Or something like that.
- In comments “right now” on the dashboard, I would prefer icons for approved, pending, and spam instead of the primary colors, which really depart from the rest of the design (though they’re somewhat in cahoots with the poll icon). At first glance, it also doesn’t look like the break-down into these categories relates to the total comment count. The font sizes are the same, no divider, etc. Everything else in the right now box is its own entity. It would make more sense to the user to see the comment statuses and subtotals in smaller font, aligned further right than the total comments, or whatever.
Trifling details. Overall, an excellent step in the evolution of WordPress!
December 5th, 2008 at 7:12 am
very attractive! well done. i like it
December 5th, 2008 at 7:17 am
I just love it!! Thanks heaps WordPress! <333
December 5th, 2008 at 7:21 am
I like it. Thank u people)
December 5th, 2008 at 7:23 am
FANTASTIC!!
Very beautiful, thank you very much!
December 5th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Thanks a lot!!! I really appreciate that I can now reply to comments that easy and quick!! AWESOME!!
December 5th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Fantastic!
December 5th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Very nice job! Congrats, it’s better then ever blogging here now! It’s so fast I can’t believe it and I love the new look and feel.
Giving us layout options is icing on the cake…
The scientifically impossible I do right away
The spiritually miraculous takes a bit longer
December 5th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Great stuff, hardworking WordPresss team!
So when are you guys gonna be filthy-rich icons in the Ivy league of Bill Gates and the rest of the e-biz multi-millionnaires, eh? 
December 5th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Really well executed change, it is very much appreciated the way you have invested in the research, design and implementation. I think this is one of the best upgrades I have seen from any website. Kudos to the company and everyone involved.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Beautiful.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:35 am
It’s simply amazing. WordPress was and will be the best service like this! Thanks for your work
)
(now i’m just praying for some new themes
December 5th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Is it possible to switch to the old dashboard design? I like it simple back then.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Nope.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:39 am
it’s great, cleaner and more functional… got used to it very quickly.
December 5th, 2008 at 7:43 am
a very hight design! Thanks U
December 5th, 2008 at 7:45 am
I find it more pleasant to use.. Great job!
December 5th, 2008 at 7:50 am
I like it. Especially the Stats section.
Looks like you guys really enjoy what you are doing
December 5th, 2008 at 7:50 am
I’m sorry… I hate it! It’s smaller, more complicated and I don’t like to type my posts on this new design. I was very fond of the old one… isn’t it possible to keep it? I find this design quite… childish actually! I’m sorry because I know it’s a lot of work for you guys, and it’s always a good thing to update your way of working, but…
December 5th, 2008 at 7:55 am
My first impression of 2.7 wordpress, it blows away the previous version! Outstanding! It’s not hard at all to get acclimated to the new version. You guys and gals did a great job in putting together a great foundation for the next five years! Thank you!
December 5th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Liking it
December 5th, 2008 at 7:55 am
two thumbs for the intuitive dashboard.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Not liking it at all! The previous design seemed cleaner and a lot more intuative. This seems very cluttered. I can’t really see any usability benefits from this new design at all. I appreciate you guys have put a lot of effort in but…
December 5th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Excellent. Well done guys. It has a good look about it and you could immediately tell that a lot of hard work and sleepless nights had gone into this redesign.
Well done guys.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:10 am
I’m Lovin’ It!! thanks!
December 5th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Very nice, even better organized, thanks!!!
December 5th, 2008 at 8:11 am
I can’t even find the visit site button. It’s insane. I understand the motivation to make things faster, but how do I view my own blog!
December 5th, 2008 at 8:12 am
It looks so NEAT. much nicer than before; thank you very much.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:12 am
wow… the new wordpress is great! like a lot more than the old one!much easier to use the board!
great job!
December 5th, 2008 at 8:13 am
It looks so NEAT. sort of a more professional/efficient look. much nicer than before; thank you very much.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:14 am
good job! and i noticed things were quicker.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:14 am
btw… i use Firefox 2 and it works fine
December 5th, 2008 at 8:19 am
I like it so far, it will need getting used though
December 5th, 2008 at 8:26 am
WordPress is getting better and I’m getting bored again having the same UI on more than 5 blogs that I run.
Can you add more colors soon?
I’m really getting confused and almost published a post on a wrong blog. Lol
December 5th, 2008 at 8:26 am
thanks that’s great…
December 5th, 2008 at 8:27 am
the new design is awesome! thankyou!
December 5th, 2008 at 8:32 am
What is the use of “reply” to comment? Is there going to be comment thread support?
December 8th, 2008 at 2:40 am
Yes, threaded comments will be available soon, once themes have been upgraded to support it.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:34 am
I love it! It’s awesome!
December 5th, 2008 at 8:34 am
very clean and organised. well done guys . it is a really good effort …and result
December 5th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Nice design!.Beautiful and simply.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Don’t love it as well.
Where is the link to my homepage?
Don’t find it (-;
December 5th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Love it! Love it! Love it!
December 5th, 2008 at 8:38 am
I hate it. Last time you changed things I had problems uploading pics, now it takes so much time to go from one feature to another. The dashboard is filled with information you don’t need as the first thing to see, it takes time to scroll for ages, because half of the page is empty, such a waste of space. And the space I do need has become so small because all of the clutter on the right and left side instead of the clear and easy way at the top.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I actually like the new design. The only thing I dislike is the fact that they removed the “Visit Site” button! That was an incredibly easy and fast way to check updates you made on the blog. I sure think you should bring it back!
December 5th, 2008 at 8:47 am
@wisdomjunkie – click on the blog name
December 5th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Nice work. And if change scares people, just make sure they don’t look outside.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:55 am
It’s so beautiful!!! I love it! Thanks!
December 5th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I like it
December 5th, 2008 at 8:58 am
This new dashboard is a hundred times better than the previous one, wich I have to say I never liked. Comparing the loading times it’s like we have switched from a snowspeeder to the millenium falcon.
Please, don’t change it completely again in the next release.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Great Job!