[wp-hackers] Plugin options page

[Jennifer Hodgdon]

Alex Günsche wrote:
> There are many plugins that need to add options to the admin panel. For
> many plugins, this is only some few options. It is unneccessary to
> create a separate subpage for that, an additional fieldset on an
> existing page would already be sufficient.
> 
> I wonder if WordPress could introduce an additional Options page, where
> plugins with few options can just hook in, add their one or two options
> in a fieldset and have their separate "Save" button (and maybe a global
> "Save" for the page). I know that there is ./wp-admin/options.php, but
> this is not very userfriendly.
> 
> Alternatively, the existing Options pages could get new hooks, so the
> plugins could simply add their options there.

Here's my 2 cents:

a) I personally don't think it is much less work to have your plugin 
create its own options page, vs. adding to an existing options page.

b) I think it is easier for the plugin user to find the plugin options 
if they are on a separate page dedicated to that plugin and named with 
the plugin name, rather than trying to guess which regular options 
page the plugin author might have chosen to put them on. A separate 
generic "Plugin Options" page would be OK, but since most existing 
plugins already have their own options pages, it might be empty most 
of the time. Alternatively, if lots of plugins started using the 
generic "Plugin Options" page, it could become really long and unwieldy.

c) Having two separate Save/Submit buttons on the same page seems like 
it would be confusing.

     --Jennifer