To avoid any confusion and answer some questions that have been raised I’ve created this small FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) to dispell any rumours and set the record as straight as I possibly can. If you’ve got any questions put them underneath and I’ll update the post accordingly.

Why isn't there a plugin to download?

When we first set out, I had tried to contact Matt regarding the idea, but he never got back to me. Uneffected I spread the word and with the inclusion of Michael to the team, Matt got back to us; originally he thought this was a fork, it wasn't. After a bit of emailing we got Matt on board and he oversaw all the development that went into the mockups that you see. When it came down to how this design would be implemented there were several ideas thrown out into the ether, including creating a plugin.

However after much back and forth it was decided that this design would be better implemented as part of the core WP install. In many ways it was also impossible to implement this design in any way apart from altering the core code, so a plugin was not an option.

If Matt needs any help or wants some clarity on how certain parts of the design should work the Shuttle team is ready and waiting.

What if I can make this into a plugin?

If a whizz however feels that they can use the core WP admin files and implement the design, PLEASE contact me and I'll be sure to give you EVERYTHING you need (spliced psds, colours, dimensions etc, hell I'll even setup an SVN for you as well. However I feel that this won't be possible and as such we're all going to have to wait for Matt and his excellent team to get on with the task. Patience is a virtue.

So you've created the code and Matt's going to drop it into the main code right?

Nope. We've not written any code. Actually that's a lie. Joshua began coding a plugin when it seemed fuzzy as to what Matt was planning on doing with the design. However since we got a firm commitment to the implementation of the mockups as you see them that sort of stopped. The issue was always how we would implement these changes and keep up with the daily changes that happen to WordPress from the dev team.

So do you expect the final thing to look like the mockups?

I sure fucking hope so. The Shuttle team was fighting over pixel placements, colour hues and the list goes on. There will be certain areas that might not work out exactly, as the internal discussion between the hackers list continues (specifically about the dashboard), amongst other things. However when it comes to the aesthetics Matt will hopefully contact us regarding how to implement areas before making final decision on the outcome.

So what exactly did you launch?

The design. We set out to make the WordPress admin both more usable and more beautiful to look at. We feel that the mockups (if implemented as shown) will elevate WordPress high and above the rest of the blogging and CMS systems available on the net currently. This is a very important step. We've learnt a great deal in the process and it's time we actually were more open about the results, after all it's called Open Source.