Add experiments settings page to the plugin

[karmatosed]

Having a settings screen to enable experimental features could be good. This was discussed during WCEU contribution day and I have done 2 really rough starting mockups to begin the work on this.

First, there needs to be a link in the menu, I would suggest something like this (note that all copy needs working on in these examples):

I chose the word 'experiments' to avoid going onto 2 lines, settings could also work.

A simple settings page would contain all the options, off by default:

What do people think? I would love specific feedback on the copy/ Style wise this does use the default wp-admin settings page which in this case probably makes sense to use over diverging.

[paaljoachim]

@karmatosed
I think this is a very good idea Tammie! When experimental features are created a check box can easily be added into the Experiments screen to turn on the specific feature. It makes testing a lot easier as I would then mainly focus on specific experiment I just activated. I also find the wording clear and straightforward.

[kjellr]

This looks great. Would it be appropriate to include some sort of disclaimer about the experiments here? As in: They may have limited functionality, etc.

[richtabor]

Just a thought, but if something like #16401 was available, the settings could be placed right within the editor - instead of having another admin page. 🤔

[youknowriad]

@richtabor I think the issue, in that case, is that some of these experimental features go beyond the editor screen (widgets, customizer)

[richtabor]

@richtabor I think the issue, in that case, is that some of these experimental features go beyond the editor screen (widgets, customizer)

Ah good point Riad. 👌

[noisysocks]

Cool idea! Should it be a user setting or a site setting?

[youknowriad]

I think a site setting makes more sense. What do you think?

[paaljoachim]

Actually could a site setting become a very early exploration of a global setting?

[mapk]

@karmatosed's mockups here work great to get this going. I believe the word "experiments" is a great indicator that this section is hairy. Some added text on the page to further explain this as @kjellr pointed out is always a safe bet too.

[tellthemachines]

Hey @karmatosed should this page have a "save settings" button or should the settings automatically be saved on clicking the checkboxes?

Also, for the functionality that is already available: the widgets screen and legacy widgets block, should we now make them not available by default? My concern is anyone already using them might not know where they've gone. Or should we only add to this section new features as they become available?

[youknowriad]

we now make them not available by default?

There's still the possibility to have an "upgrade" script explicitly adding the setting while by default when installing the plugin, it will be unchecked. But we still need to discuss the best default value. Being enabled by default might make sense.

[karmatosed]

@tellthemachines we should probably have 'save settings' as all other pages do. I wish we didn't have to :)

[tellthemachines]

@karmatosed it should be technically possible to not have the "save settings" button, the question is more should we stay consistent with the rest of wp-admin?

[karmatosed]

@tellthemachines thanks for the confirmation, I agree as other pages have it we should also. Do you want me to mock that up or are you ok just adding in?

[tellthemachines]

@tellthemachines thanks for the confirmation, I agree as other pages have it we should also. Do you want me to mock that up or are you ok just adding in?

@karmatosed happy to add it in, the styles are already there. I'll let you know when it's ready for a review 😄

[karmatosed]

@tellthemachines thanks, that's great!

[tellthemachines]

The experiments settings page has been merged, so we can close this now!