[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #50280: Enable auto-updates shows for plugins with no support

[WordPress Trac]

#50280: Enable auto-updates shows for plugins with no support
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 Reporter:  elrae                                |       Owner:  audrasjb
     Type:  enhancement                          |      Status:  reopened
 Priority:  normal                               |   Milestone:  5.5
Component:  Upgrade/Install                      |     Version:  trunk
 Severity:  normal                               |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-patch dev-feedback has-dev-note  |     Focuses:  docs,
                                                 |  administration
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Comment (by dd32):

 Replying to [comment:28 TimothyBlynJacobs]:
 > So this requires 3rd party plugins to add `auto-update-supported =>
 true` to the response object and the no update object to have their plugin
 available for auto updates?

 No, it requires either a) That, or b) to set the appropriate `no_update`
 key in their Update Handler which triggers various other things in
 WordPress.


 Replying to [comment:29 pbiron]:
 > While I understand the [https://make.wordpress.org/core/2020/07/15
 /controlling-plugin-and-theme-auto-updates-ui-in-
 wordpress-5-5/#comment-38986 concerns] raised by @stephencronin (and
 others), those concerns are really about updates in general

 I kind of agree with you that a lot of the concerns that people raise, are
 centered around update-support and not necessarily about Automatic
 updates.
 However, it's IMHO short sighted to disconnect automatic updates from
 updates in general; they're very much reliant upon each other and tightly
 tied together.

 > The presense of the `Enable auto-updates` link is **not** a ''promise''
 that updates will ever be available for a particular plugin/theme: it
 merely allows site admins to opt-in to auto-updates **if** an update ever
 becomes available.

 And that's the issue I have here - It's not clear to WordPress users that
 that's the case.
 While we can't be 100% sure that every plugin installed on a users site
 can be updated, we know which ones we can update, and that's an important
 distinction to make.

 Take the Jetpack Manage interface for example, it makes it clear to the
 user that automatic updates are simply not viably supported. The option
 I've presented in the PR however would work with 3rd-party plugin update
 systems, where Jetpack doesn't.
 [[Image(https://i0.wp.com/cldup.com/Z5PzGv5e-v.png)]]


 > But if a particular plugin is not hooked into the Updates API (either by
 being hosted in the .org repo, having it's own updater code, or because
 its updates are handled by yet another plugin such as
 [https://github.com/afragen/github-updater GitHub Updater]) **and** the
 unavailablity of updates is a concern, then core should do something to
 inform admins of that fact...independent of the auto-updates UI!

 Yes, that's an option, but the lack of a ''different feature'' in
 WordPress doesn't mean that this feature should ignore a massive use-case
 of WordPress. If anything, as presented here, we can partially implement
 that exact missing feature by simply not enabling the UI for plugins we're
 not sure if they support updates or not. It's not ''that feature'' but
 rather just a side effect of exactly that.

 It's complicated though, because some 3rd-party plugins that DO include an
 update handler won't be able to receive automatic updates or update
 notifications in general if they're disabled (Unless it's handled by yet
 another plugin).

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/50280#comment:30>
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