[wp-hackers] GSOC - widget repository

[Doug Stewart]

On 3/30/10, Eitan Adler <eitanadlerlist at gmail.com> wrote:
> My understanding of the widget plugin repo is NOT that we want a
> seperate repository for plugins but rather a simplified procedure for
> installing and manipulating them. Perhaps instead of creating an
> entirely new repo the installation code would detect that you are
> installing a "provides-widget" plugin and immediately activate it and
> go to the widget managment page.
>
> Another option would be the ability to install plugins directly from
> the widgets page (or at least link to the installation page from the
> widgets page)


Perhaps we're looking at this the wrong way.

In this day and age, with Widgets having been in WP trunk for ages,
shouldn't the expectation be that any plugin providing a block of
output (as opposed to one that modifies the_content(), etc.) should
provide a widget in which to display said output?  I.e., that which
has previously been accomplished largely through custom template tags
ought now be available as widgets as well?

The question then becomes: how do we encourage/enforce the expectation
that all plugins producing output ought to at least provide an
optional widget interface as a bare minimum? (I know that, in many
ways, it's a "marketplace" enforcement, as it's now rare for me to
find such a plugin that DOESN'T at least provide a skeleton widget...)

-- 
-Doug
http://literalbarrage.org/blog/
@zamoose