Roadmap for pinegrow. What's cooking?

I just wanted to say thanks for all the great updates in the last year. They are really appretiated.

I’m curious if you have a roadmap or at least a list of things you’re working on next or you would like to approach. I love the surprises, but a little heads up would be awesome so I can plan ahead.

Thanks again for all your hard work!

6 Likes

What do you need?

Is there anything in particular you’re waiting for?

What do you need?

I wasn’t demanding anythig in the first place.

Is there anything in particular you’re waiting for?

I am just asking for ongoing projects or features the team is working on. Is it allowed to question?

cheers

Well, @tohotysuka, it seems that @TravelNotes mostly likely was just curious where you would like to see the road go! If there are specific features that you would like Pinegrow to add, it would be great to mention them for consideration by the developers.

Demand is a bit too strong of a word for a native English speaker to use in this context, but my list of feature requests that I would very much like to see added is in another post:

It looks like spell check and a proper table editor are popular requests. I also would like to see a “writing mode” to make it easier to write content in Pinegrow’s visual mode without the distraction/interference by the code highlighting and a couple other modest feature additions that have been standard in visual HTML layout programs for ages.

2 Likes

I totally agree! :slight_smile:

@tohotysuka To address the initial request, we actually don’t provide a roadmap.
This has been a long-standing choice that we’ve often defended here, allowing the small Pinegrow team complete freedom in deciding when to integrate new features, improve existing ones, or fix any potential issues.

That said, we’re always working hard, and our quieter periods often lead to the introduction of exciting features or improvements for the Pinegrow apps.

3 Likes

Fair enough, thanks!

UI/UX Overhaul This i think the team is already working on.
Pinegrow could benefit greatly from a “revolution” in its UI/UX design. I believe that an improved, more intuitive interface would break down barriers for potential users who may be deterred by the current design.

Robust Wordpress Menu Builder
A more powerful menu builder would also be a valuable feature. Pinegrow could develop this as an optional add-on, offering users more flexibility in creating complex menus.

Tailwind Wordpress Starter Template ?
It would be fantastic to have a preconfigured “Tailwind WordPress Theme” template available directly in the “Create a New Page or Project” section. This template could include pre-built pages like Blog, 404, Index, and Block Parts for block-based themes. This would streamline the design process for new users and make it easier for them to adopt Pinegrow’s workflow. You could even consider selling this template as a premium feature.

Keep up the good work!

1 Like

Personally, don’t think a “revolution” is really necessary, per se. The app is pretty sluggish — presumably because it essentially is a webapp — so I think improvements in code efficiency and speed would better to prioritize over dramatic interface overhauls.

It also would be nice if Pinegrow’s interface was tweaked to better conform with the interface standards of each operating system, but that’s a lot of work and the developers already have said that isn’t going to happen.

To be honest, I haven’t experienced sluggishness on my Mac, so I can’t relate to that issue. However, regarding the UI, while I’m used to it, I frequently hear feedback from testing users that it feels outdated and cluttered. I think Pinegrow could benefit from a UI/UX refresh—not a full overhaul, but more intuitive navigation and clearer section distinctions. Many users on forums have expressed similar sentiments, suggesting it could take cues from alike apps like Bootstrap Studio and Webflow to modernize without sacrificing functionality​…
Cheers

2 Likes

We likely will just have to agree to disagree. Pinegrow is measurably slower on a Mac than a native app; obviously it makes cross-platform development easier, though.

Personally, I don’t think the interface is that bad. It is a bit dated, sure, but I don’t think that updating just for the sake of design trends should be a high priority. I would prefer to see emphasis placed on addressing feature omissions, but maybe I’m alone in this respect and I will switch to a different app.

Any app of this complexity will have a bit of a learning curve and what is intuitive to one person might be less so to another. I only started referring to the documentation when I couldn’t find the spell check function and I was surprised that it didn’t exist. Then, there was no table editor. Then I started to see more and more that Pinegrow’s visual editor really is unsuitable for writing content. Then, I started to make a list of features that I think Pinegrow needs. When I joined the forum, I saw that many other people had some of the same suggestions.

Someone who places a high value on a simple and streamlined interface probably won’t choose a webapp over a native one regardless — a native app always will have a more suitable interface for a particular OS — and likely would lean toward either a native code editor or a design app that doesn’t even have the underlying code viewable/editable. By their nature, these types of apps can be simpler. The advantage of Pinegrow is that it does both, but it has some serious feature omissions that really make it inadequate for someone who wants to use the app to prepare content.

I would like to see Pinegrow work better for preparing content — and I joined the forum because I care — but maybe this isn’t the road the app plans to follow and I will need to use something else. I like the experience of the Espresso app for code editing (although BBEdit works well enough for me already). Espresso definitely is fast and streamlined, but it doesn’t allow visual editing at all. If Espresso offered visual editing instead of just a real-time preview, I wouldn’t have even tried Pinegrow. Well, maybe I would have tried it on Linux, but I wouldn’t have bothered on the Mac.

We will see where the road takes us! :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like

I know it’s more of an aesthetic thing, but it can really make a difference. The current UI feels a bit outdated, and while existing users like us have probably gotten used to it, new users might find it less intuitive—especially with the steep learning curve that this app demands. Making the app look and feel more modern and user-friendly could help increase the conversion rate. (Althoug the team has been gradually trying to fix some ui/ux things) on this I feel like that’s a big issue right now: market penetration. Without bringing in more users, pg is going to have a time growing.

Also, the WordPress market is brutal. There are so many people bouncing between platforms. You’ve got things like Cwicly going out of business and coming back, Bricks gaining tons of users every day, and Webflow’s pricing pushing people back toward WordPress. Pinegrow’s “I’m different” approach is valid and all, but in this space, it’s hard to make an impact unless you go all-in and really compete with the other players. That’s why for example I suggested a menu builder. See, I get why the team don’t want a menu builder but I just don’t want to try to code one my self ( is a pain in the axx) or buy a plugin for this. No.

One thing I’ve noticed is that starting a new project in Pinegrow is pretty slow, especially for WordPress. I suggested adding a good-looking starting template (whether it’s plain CSS, Tailwind, or Bootstrap) right from the “New Project” menu, with elements pre-configured. It would speed up the process and make it way easier for users to dive into a project. Just a thought that could make a big difference in user experience.

I also wanted to mention that I asked Kevin Geary (the creator of automatic.css) during one of his YouTube live shows what he thought of Pinegrow. His answer? “Horrible interface.” So, yeah… is just an opinion…from some one that knows the market very well!

Lastly, I think there’s a bit of a split in how different users see Pinegrow. Some folks treat it as a replacement for code editors like Espresso, VSCode, or Dreamweaver, while others (me) are focused on it as a WordPress builder. Like, I get the request for things like an HTML table editor, but that seems more like something importat for users who approach Pinegrow from the coding side. The audience is diverse, so it’s worth thinking about how to balance these different needs.
I admint I might be in the wrong place but Pinegrow is too good to be true. :slight_smile:

like you said, yes, we will see where the road takes us brother!
Have a nice weekend.

1 Like

Yes, this is more along the lines of what I would like from Pinegrow; Espresso with a visual edit mode or Dreamweaver without the overbearing corporate overlord. Or a more modern, up-to-date BlueGriffon without all the bugs. Any of those would do.

As is, I like Pinegrow in many respects — which is why I paid for it; to show my support — but I find myself having to switch over to other apps too often for really basic tasks — spell check, tables, look up the size of an image — and the visual editor mode losing links on copy-paste is a nightmare. It essentially makes editing impossible. I have never encountered an HTML editor that loses embedded links when you copy paste a block of text in a visual mode. :scream:

I think highlighting the elements and requiring a double click makes it awkward and not fun for actual writing. Most HTML editors with a visual mode just create a new paragraph tag when you hit return when writing — BlueGriffon even has a preference where you can toggle this on or off — but Pinegrow doesn’t seem to do this consistently (in the middle of an existing block of text, for example). When it does create a new paragraph, it’s not on a new line in the code, either. :slightly_frowning_face:

This part, from Pinegrow’s promo, I find awkward at best:

Use Pinegrow as a CMS for your static Html pages. Move elements around and double click on any element to edit its text content.

Maybe I’m overlooking something. Espresso has a handy “X-ray” mode to turn element visibility/selection on or off in the real-time preview; which is perfect, except it can’t be edited visually at all. I’ll think about this a bit; maybe Pinegrow could do something similar in visual mode — structure visible and clickable or structure invisible and content clickable.

As is, Pinegrow is just too much of a pain to use for writing; I find myself using other apps, but I’m optimistic it will get better going forward.

2 Likes