When it comes to writing software – regardless of the type – it seems as if it’s always easy to get the first 80% done. This isn’t a new problem, either. You may have also heard it stated as:

80% of the work is done 80% of the time.

Or some variation thereof.

But anyway, when it comes to a project like WordPress – which is software – and it comes to projects being built on top of it – which are also software – then it stands to reason that they are subject to falling into the same trap.

And they are.

This is why this particular aspect of the philosophy is so important.

Of course, for anyone who has followed not only WordPress but who have worked on projects that sit on top of it as a foundation, then you know that deadlines have slipped and work that we do does miss deadlines.

There are so many different reasons that people can list for this that an entire series of posts could be written about each one in and of itself. That doesn’t mean that this part of the philosophy is being ignored, nor that we should treat it lightly.

If anything, I think it builds a stronger case for why it’s needed.

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When you look around the world – both online and offline – it appears as if the world is beginning to value simplicity more than it has in a very long time.

By this, I mean that the way that things are designed: From billboards or magazine covers, to the minimalistic approach of interior decorating, all the way down to the interfaces on our phone. On top of that, I think that we’re collectively beginning to understand that simplicity is not necessarily an antonym for complexity – instead, it’s a way that functionality can be achieved such that it’s easy for the consumer.

Complex operations happen all of the time through the use of simple actions. Think about what happens when you turn the key to your car, press the power button on your computer, and so on.

The neat thing is that WordPress values simplicity to the point that it’s included within its very philosophy. And for the past few articles, I’ve been writing about the WordPress philosophy and how we – as people who help to drive the WordPress economy – are disrespecting the philosophy.

I want us to turn that around.

First, if you’re just catching up, be sure to read the previous articles in the series:

• Out of the Box
• Designing for the Majority
• Decisions, Not Options
• and Clean, Lean, and Mean

With that said, let’s talk about simplicity.

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Over the past week or so, I’ve been looking at each of the pillars of the WordPress Philosophy – many of which I think that we, as developers and designers, have completely ignored in our work – and have been talking through what is says, what we’ve done, and potential ways that we can correct it.

Up to this point, I’ve covered:

• Out of the Box
• Designing for the Majority
• and Decisions, Not Options

There’s obviously more to come since the philosophy encapsulates more than just those three. So I’m going to continue moving forward with “Clean, Lean, and Mean,” which is arguably one the pillars that’s talked about the least.

I say that because when you talk to other people about WordPress or building things for WordPress, they are generally familiar with some of the ones mentioned above (and some not mentioned yet), but this is not only one that you don’t hear much about, but this is one that I’ve think many of us have just completely disregarded.

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Over the last few posts, I’ve been sharing my thoughts on the WordPress Philosophy and how I generally think that many of us who build things for WordPress are ignoring the philosophy that drives the application for which we build.

So far, I’ve talked about how I think we do a bad job of making sure everything works out of the box, and I’ve also talked about how we do a better job at designing for our peers than we do designing for the majority.

If you’re not aware of anything that I’m talking about, then make sure to read the WordPress Philosophy and it will bring you up to speed as to exactly what these posts are all about.

With that said: The third point, Decisions, Not Options, is arguably my favorite point in the philosophy, but it’s the one that we’ve trashed the most.

And that’s a sad thing because I think that if we’d paid more attention to it, then we wouldn’t have so many of the complaints about so many different themes, vendors, marketplaces, and so on as we do today.

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