Toolbar: Replace the "+ New" and Comments icons with plain text labels and swap their order

[lucasmdo]

The Problem

• The Comments item shows only a speech-bubble icon and a number. People who have not used WordPress before often do not know what this icon means.

• The "+ New" item already shows the word "New" next to a plus icon. The plus icon does not add any new meaning. It just takes up space and repeats what the word already says.

On top of that, the Comments item sits before the "+ New" item. Adding new content is a much more common action than moderating comments, so the order feels backwards.

The Proposed Change

1. Replace the speech-bubble icon on the Comments Toolbar item with a plain text label: Comments 3 (where 3 is the current number of comments waiting for moderation).
2. Replace the plus icon on the "+ New" Toolbar item with just the word New.
3. Swap the order so that New comes before Comments.

See the attached image. The top bar is the proposed change. The bottom bar is what WordPress looks like today.

Why This Helps

• Clearer for everyone. A word is easier to understand than an icon, especially the first time someone logs in.
• Better accessibility. Visible text works better for a bigger audience.
• Less visual clutter. The plus icon next to the word "New" is redundant. Removing it makes the Toolbar cleaner.
• Better order. Creating new content is a more common task than moderating comments. Putting "New" first matches what people do most often.

[joedolson]

The "plus" icon is actually meaningful, for several reasons. It's a non-textual affordance that conveys the concept of "addition", which can help people working outside their native language more quickly identify the purpose of the link. Having supporting icons that are associated with text links is generally considered a helpful tool for understanding intent and purpose.

I agree, however, that the comments icon is unhelpful. It could be useful as a supplemental icon, but on its own is not particularly meaningful.

[joedolson]

In my opinion, we can't realistically increase the amount of space core features take up unless #65308 is solved, so that nodes aren't just lost.

I believe there are other tickets related to improving the adminbar overflow problems, and these should all be treated together.