[wp-hackers] Degrading gracefully with deactivated plugins?

[Dan Thrue]

Without reading the entire thread, wouldnt a solution be, that plugin
developers started using do_action apply_filter in the templates
instead of our own functions?

Just a thought, i suggested the same thing to Michael for Kubrick v2,
to predefine some hooks in the theme...

Lets take the former example:

snip:
> <?php if(function_exists('wp_cc_output_metadata') { wp_cc_output_metadata() } >
>
> <?php _cpf('wp_cc_output_metadata') ?>

Instead we would have a hook like:
<?php do_action('wp_output_metadata'); ?>

and the plugin would apply to it as usual: 
<?php add_action('wp_output_metadata', 'wp_cc_output_metadata'); ?>

I think this is a fair and good discussion on how to make the cleanest
and most "friendliest" plugins...


On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 14:59:27 -0500, Firas D. <fd at firasd.org> wrote:
> Owen Winkler wrote:
> 
> > Can we please not add any of these strange functions and just provide
> > better documentation for switching themes, upgrading, and applying
> > plugins, and be sure that authors of themes and plugins adhere to
> > developer guidelines regarding these issues?  Isn't it the expectation
> > of a user, who added those function in the first place, that the
> > functions the plugin provides will stop working when they disable the
> > plugin?  How stupid are we going to assume WordPress users are?
> >
> > I'm tired of providing support for other people's poorly crafted
> > themes (and there are suddenly a *lot* of them now, thanks) that don't
> > work with my plugins because they're not built with any nod to
> > compatibility.
> 
> What happens when I turn off a plugin that I've put a call to in my
> template? My site dies quite ungracefully, and if outputting errors to
> the browser is off, I don't know what's wrong and my CSS screws up
> because the HTML stopped being outputted upon the undeclared function
> fatal issue. This is an experience issue for end users, not a
> get-out-of-jail-free issue for theme devs.
> 
> My point is that it's not stupid to stumble across this issue. Switch
> theme, rid yourself of a plugin, switch to your previous theme (with its
> customized templates) after a while. I dunno, there are many many ways
> one could come across this despite not being stupid, and I've personally
> seen a handful of questions on #wordpress as a result of this; usually
> their errors are off and their site looks hideous because of the
> half-applied CSS.
> _______________________________________________
> wp-hackers mailing list
> wp-hackers at lists.automattic.com
> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-hackers
>