WordPress to pivot with “a radical simplification of the interface” for mobile?

It’s one of the most used web tools around (and powers over 10% of websites) but WordPress is about to get a “radical” redevelopment in the coming months, according to the organisation’s founder, Matt Mullenweg.

The blogging platform-come-content management system has become an industry standard over the past 9 years (WordPress celebrates its 9 birthday on May 27) but that time has seen the interface become more complicated while the organisation itself has been fending off increased competition from Twitter, Facebook, and other blogging platforms.

The reason for the change, according to Mullenweg, is the increasing number of users accessing the platform through mobile devices.  Speaking at the paidContent 2012 conference Mullenweg said he has been working on “a radical simplification of the [WordPress] interface” which he described as “a complex tool, [that’s] like the back of a digital SLR… that doesn’t work on a phone.”

But this won’t just be a simple rejigging of the interface for mobile devices – Mullenweg implies that the mobile redevelopment of WordPress will be a major pivot for the organisation.  This would suggest that WordPress, as with others such as Twitter and Facebook, is putting some significant investment behind the mobile web in the coming months.

We’ll have to wait and see what they come up with but to be honest WordPress doesn’t get the credit it deserves for the services it provides the web.  Although, that said, a mobile-friendly version of WordPress is long overdue (yeah I know there’s an app).

Let’s just hope that the mobile version of the site doesn’t sacrifice WordPress’s power in favor of quick access.