Although I've built WP themes and have "dabbled" in Rails (building a blog like everyone else) and consider myself more of a front-end guy, this seems like overkill to me.
Not to mention most designers I know would look at this and roll their eyes.
I agree with you darksaga. This plugin is not for every designer out there, and it's way too difficult for a PHP newbie. But, for people who already know these languages, it's an incredible timesaver. So that's its target.
Not to mention most designers I know would look at this and roll their eyes.