WordPress, why we really need front end editing

We all know quite a few online website creation tools that lets one create a website without touching a single line of code, but unless your the end user, this kind of solution is not something you’ll recommend to your client. The current basic WordPress website workflow: Designer/Developer completes the implementation of the theme and a few plugins and trains the new user how to use the site.

Usability
The user goes into the admin makes some changes and refreshes the page/website and checks out the changes in another tab (the neat trick you showed them). So they switch between admin and the front a few hundred times before they are 100% satisfied. All is well, the website launches and now they get to feel proud, but this where we need to pause and think . Why does the user have to switch between the admin and the the front end so many times to manage their website ?

All we need is Edit and Save
If we could improve the lives of our users and take a little more hassle out of maintaining websites I suggest we shift our current focus from structure and design to simple front end content editing. And when I say content, I mean any content on the page ( page content, menu names, widget text ). Any content easily editable in the admin should be easily editable in the front end.

We need front-end-editing to remove the extra clicks synonymous WordPress website management and place more power in the hands of the end users.

Now There are already developers paving the way toward a better WordPress editing experience.

• This is WordPress core’s attempt to solve this problem: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-front-end-editor/ , get involved here: http://make.wordpress.org/core/features-as-plugins/ , http://make.wordpress.org/core/features-as-plugins/ .
• Barley front end editing Plugin – http://getbarley.com/editor/wp
• If you know you of any other please let me know.

I know this will soon play such and integral part as to how we’re managing our websites that we forget the time when we switched windows to view the final result.