The Surreal News 9-10 AM Friday 1-10-20

Tonight I started working on some Shortcode processing in WordPress. This is an historically nasty problem because the Shortcode syntax and parsing is wildly dynamic. Shortcode syntax is only technically recognized for shortcodes registered at the time of parsing. This means that there is not a general Shortcode grammar. Whether a shortcode has “content,” meaning whether it expects a closing tag, depends on whether the closing tag exists in the post. This is a problem that has plagued me for years and I have generally just ignored. There’s an open Core issue in Trac for changing some shortcode parsing (#50683), and I have thought a lot about it. But I think there is more to explore, and more to gain. Maybe this goes nowhere, but keep your eyes open for it.

A website changelog helps creators document progress, celebrate small wins, showcase evolution, fuel creativity, and build audience trust. It can include updates, humor, and various formats, making it accessible for all.

A reflection on recognizing the right time to move on from creative projects and handling self-doubt.

OPENSTATION · COMMUNITY VOICES Formerly Desktop Mode, now a new way to feel at home in wp-admin. A plugin can accumulate installs. It is rarer for people to describe it as a new way of thinking. As of September 25, 2026, OpenStation, known in its earliest releases as Desktop Mode, has inspired 23 public WordPress.org reviews: 22 five-star and one four-star. OpenStation turns the WordPress admin into a spatial workspace: movable windows, a dock, a taskbar, widgets and virtual desktops. That is the feature list. The feeling is better told by the people who use it. The words that stopped us in our tracks 1. When a plugin becomes the default “I can’t imagine using WordPress any other way. I love this plugin so much.” — Nick Hamze, “Favorite plugin ever” That may be the highest compliment a tool can earn: not merely useful, but difficult to imagine living without. Nick’s review reads less like a rating and more like an invitation to join a movement. “This is a game-changer. Can never go back!” — ainom, “Absolute pure awesomeness” OpenStation begins as a striking visual idea, then quietly rewires expectations. Once several admin screens can live together, the old one-page-at-a-time flow feels surprisingly distant. 2. When the metaphor improves the work “It genuinely feels like using a lightweight operating system inside WordPress.” — spackenjaeger, “A revolutionary new WordPress admin experience” The operating-system metaphor is not decoration. Windows hold context. The dock makes tools reachable. Virtual desktops separate kinds of work. The familiar desktop grammar turns multitasking into something visible and natural. “Having several admin screens open at once changed how I work more than I expected.” — Juan Lentino, production user and plugin integrator Juan’s review is especially telling: he has run OpenStation in production since the Desktop Mode days and builds integrations against it. The novelty faded; the workflow remained. 3. When delight becomes productive “The desktop-style layout, draggable windows, dock, and taskbar make the admin area feel completely different in the best way.” — Marco Moreira, “A refreshing new way to use WordPress admin” Productivity software does not have to be joyless. The best interfaces reduce friction and add a little momentum, the feeling that the workspace is helping rather than merely waiting. “This plugin blowed my mind. It turns your wordpress admin in such a beautiful dashboard. What an experience.” — MauroS, “One word… Wow!” The wording is wonderfully unfiltered. Beauty, surprise and experience are not side effects here; they are part of the product. 4. When people see the road ahead “This is definitely something I would use on a daily basis. Well done!” — vepth, “I’m blown away” “Desktop Mode definitely stands out with its own approach.” — Rami Obeidat, “Modern and creative admin experience” Both reviews point to the same achievement: OpenStation is not chasing a generic “modern admin” look. It has a point of view—spatial, extensible and unmistakably its own. From Desktop Mode to OpenStation The project’s name changed because its ambition outgrew a mode. “Desktop Mode” described the first transformation. OpenStation describes the platform emerging around it: a place where WordPress apps, windows, widgets and workflows can meet. “The integration surface is unusually well behaved for a plugin this ambitious.” — Juan Lentino, WordPress.org reviewer and integrator That sentence matters as much as the praise for the interface. The magic users see is supported by a public API that plugin authors can build on, frequent releases and an opt-in design that keeps classic WordPress one click away. The best roadmap is a chorus Names change. Interfaces evolve. Code ships, breaks, improves and ships again. What stays constant in these reviews is the feeling that WordPress can be more personal, more spatial and more alive. OpenStation is still moving fast. But if the people already living in it are any guide, the destination is worth watching, and the journey is already changing how they work. Explore OpenStation on GitHub →Read all WordPress.org reviews → Quotes are excerpted from public WordPress.org reviews. Spelling is preserved; excerpts are linked to their original sources.

Bruce is one of my favorite writers. He packs profoundness. Also honored that he’s an advisor at Automattic, truly one of my idols. His blogs and books rocked my world when I was young.