[wp-testers] Don't Kill the Messenger

[wp-tester at spamex.com]

On Sep 27, 2007, at 2:42 AM, wp-testers-request at lists.automattic.com  
wrote:

> While WordPress attempted to gather a list of plugins and their
> compatibility with WordPress 2.3, it would have been impossible to  
> gather a
> complete list. I also don't really agree with Event Calendar 3  
> being one of
> the most popular plugins out there.
>
> The responsibility of testing for compatibility lied mainly with  
> the plugin
> authors, and as such it is not the responsibility of WordPress to  
> ensure
> that *every single* plugin works or is updated. They did their  
> best, and it
> has been recommended for a while that plugins didn't use SQL  
> directly, in
> favor of the API functions, so as to avert situations exactly like  
> this.
>
> I would recommend checking in with the plugin author.

Well, I'm sure he'll be hearing plenty. He's already heard from me on  
other issues.

The simple fact of the matter is that the WP people left these tables  
in there until the last minute, thus masking the problem.

If there appears to be no problem, it will not get fixed. I would  
have gladly addressed this earlier if I had known it would be a problem.

I applied nearly a textbook test cycle. I have a site under  
development, using a minimal number of plugins, carefully chosen to  
enhance synergy. I have written a number of heavy-duty plugins and  
themes that DO NOT access the database directly. I applied nightly  
builds; exactly as prescribed.

Yet, at the VERY LAST RELEASE, the system suddenly went pear-shaped.

It is disingenuous to suggest that it's my fault because I give you  
news you don't want to hear. I patched the problem, as I said,  
because I follow good best practices. I'm a professional software  
engineer with well over 20 years of heavy-duty softdev experience. WP  
is an excellent system, developed with professional standards, which  
is a chief reason I selected it to use for this site. This was a  
mistake, and it may not affect many people, but it was a mistake in  
process nonetheless.

I fully realize that the site I'm developing (http:// 
longislandna.org) "pushes the envelope," and is not a standard WP  
workflow, so I have been prepared from the start to encounter issues  
where there might be mismatches.

I'm a pro geek. I'll make it work. I'm working double-time to avoid  
hacking the core. The site is an extreme makeover of WP, but it  
follows the rules to the T. I have been able to immediately apply  
nightly builds to it because I have kept all the mods inside the API  
and the wp-content folder (including a complete reroute for mobile  
content, which is being developed now).

This was a boo-boo, and it wasn't mine. It's not a devastating one,  
and I'm not hitting the alarm klaxon. It's an open source project  
that gives me a very powerful and useful system for free. I very much  
appreciate that, and I am working the system exactly as prescribed. I  
have no problem with workarounds.

Chris